What are the planting methods for Scutellaria barbata?
Scutellaria barbata is a perennial herbaceous plant. It is not only petite and lovely in appearance, often made into potted plants to decorate home environments, with high ornamental value. It can also be used medicinally as a whole plant, with effects such as pain relief and blood stasis dispersal, clearing heat and promoting diuresis, and anti-cancer properties, and is widely used in medicine. Let's take a look at how it is planted below.
1. Site selection
Scutellaria barbata often grows wild in moist places by field edges, ditches, or roadsides, because it prefers a warm and humid environment. Soil that is too dry is unfavorable for its seed germination and growth, and it has low requirements for soil. Therefore, when planting, choose a location close to a water source based on this habit, so that irrigation is convenient. Before planting, deeply plow the soil. During plowing, apply 1000 kg of barnyard manure and 20-30 kg of compound fertilizer as base fertilizer, mix them evenly with the soil, level and rake the surface, and then make raised beds with a height of 1.3 m and a width of 20-30 cm. Drainage ditches are required around the beds.
2. Sowing
Its main propagation method is sowing. It can be sown in the other three seasons except winter. Its fruits mature in autumn, at which time the seeds can be collected, sun-dried, threshed, and impurities removed. After the seeds are dried, store them for later use. When sowing, open furrows on the bed surface at a row spacing of 30 cm, with a furrow depth of 3-5 cm; it should not be too deep. Mix the seeds with plant ash and sow them evenly into the furrows, using about half a jin of seed per mu. After sowing, cover with a layer of fine fertile soil, and do not compact it excessively. After sowing, sprinkle water to give the soil a certain moisture, then cover the bed surface with a layer of rice straw to keep warm and moist, so as to facilitate seedling emergence.
3. Field management
Seedlings generally emerge in about half a month. After emergence, remove the covering straw in time. When the seedlings grow to 1-2 cm, carry out weeding and fertilization. Weeding is best done manually; do not use herbicides, so as to avoid seedling death caused by phytotoxicity. Apply one application of dilute human and livestock manure water. When the seedlings grow to 3-4 cm, carry out thinning and replanting to improve the seedling growth environment. After thinning, also weed and apply one application of dilute human and livestock manure water. When the seedlings grow to 5 cm, they can be fixed in place and transplanted. When transplanting, dig holes at a plant and row spacing of 20×20 cm, with one seedling per hole, then cover with soil, compact, and water.
4. Pests and diseases
Scutellaria barbata has strong vitality and a certain resistance to diseases. During cultivation, diseases rarely occur. What generally harms its growth are aphids and cabbage white butterflies. They continuously gnaw on the stems and leaves of the plant, and in severe cases cause the stems and leaves to wither and die. Therefore, when encountered, spray with 90% trichlorfon 800-1000 times solution, which takes effect relatively quickly.
The above are the planting methods for Scutellaria barbata. I hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about medicinal herb cultivation, please follow us.