How to Grow Peonies? Detailed Cultivation Methods and Techniques
Peony, also known as "parting grass" and "the prime minister among flowers," is one of the six great famous flowers of our country. Its blooms are gorgeous and deeply loved by people, with extremely high ornamental value. At the same time, it is also a traditional Chinese medicine, with effects such as nourishing blood and astringing yin, relieving pain and reducing fever, and it also has beauty and skin-nourishing benefits, able to moisturize the skin. Many people like to use it to make tea. So how should it be grown? Let's take a look together.
1. Planting Preparation
Peony is a plant with fleshy roots and likes an acidic environment, and it fears waterlogging. Therefore, when planting, you must choose loose, well-drained, slightly acidic soil for planting. Never use alkaline soil for planting, as it can very easily cause the leaves to wither and the plant to die. In addition, peony likes light and can only grow luxuriantly in an environment with sufficient sunlight, with even more brilliant flower colors. It can also tolerate shade but fears intense light exposure, so facilities for shading and sun protection should be prepared. Long-term exposure to strong sunlight can cause scorching and lead to a prolonged flowering period.
2. Propagation Methods
There are many propagation methods for peony. When growing it as a medicinal plant, two propagation methods are generally used: division and sowing. However, sowing takes too long; generally, it takes 4-5 years from sowing to flowering, so division propagation is mostly chosen. Division propagation is carried out from August to September. Use a 3-year-old plant as the mother plant, carefully dig out its fleshy roots, and generally each mother plant can be divided into 3-5 daughter plants, with each daughter plant needing to carry 2-3 buds. When dividing, place the roots in a cool place to dry for one day. At this time, the peony roots are easy to break. After division, the roots can be dipped in mud slurry before planting. If not planting immediately, do not cut and divide them; they can be stored in sand for later use.
3. Planting
When planting, do not bury too deep. It is appropriate for the buds to be 2 cm into the soil. Too deep is unfavorable for bud growth and can cause root rot, while too shallow is unfavorable for flowering and prone to frost damage or death from sun exposure. After planting, management should be strengthened. Generally, if the divided roots are relatively large, they may bloom in the second year, but with fewer flowers, so it is recommended to remove them to avoid nutrient consumption and enable the plant to grow robustly. If the roots are small, growth is generally poor, and they will not bloom in the second year; they must be cultivated for 2-5 years before they can bloom normally.
4. Field Management
After planting and after the seedlings emerge, they must be watered regularly and at fixed times so that they have enough water for growth and development, and maintenance work must be done well. At this time, the seedlings are extremely fragile and highly susceptible to external influences that can cause death, such as invasion by pests and diseases. The main diseases of peony include gray mold, brown spot disease, red spot disease, and rust disease, and the pests include scarab beetles, aphids, and scale insects, so pest and disease control work should be done well. Peony can tolerate high temperatures and low temperatures, but these extreme temperatures will affect its growth. In high temperatures, shade it, and in low temperatures, prevent frost damage. Peony does not have a large fertilizer requirement. One week after the flowering period, phosphorus fertilizer should be applied once, and two weeks after, apply it once more. At ordinary times, watering with thin fertilizer water is sufficient.
The above is all the content on how to grow peonies. We hope it can help you. To learn more about growing knowledge, please stay tuned to us.