What Is the Price of Schisandra Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Planting Methods
Schisandra is also known as Wumeizi, mountain pepper, and other names. It is the dried ripe fruit of Schisandra chinensis or Schisandra sphenanthera, plants of the Magnoliaceae family. In ancient medical texts it was called Chizhu, Xuanji, and Huiji, and it was first listed among the superior-grade medicines in the Shennong Bencao Jing. Its medicinal value is extremely high, with effects such as astringing and securing, boosting qi and promoting fluid production, and tonifying the kidney and calming the heart. Let us now take a look at schisandra seed prices and planting methods!
How much does a jin of schisandra seeds cost?
The price of schisandra seeds is about 70 to 80 yuan per jin, but prices vary depending on variety, place of origin, quality, and other factors. There is also a distinction between northern schisandra and southern schisandra, and northern schisandra is usually superior in quality to southern schisandra. Schisandra seedlings have well-developed root systems (about 20 to 30 cm long), a dwarfed plant height (8 to 15 cm), solid plants with no leggy branches, and an extremely high transplant survival rate. They begin bearing fruit in the second year after planting, with the peak production period from three to ten years. Fresh fruit yield is 1500 to 3000 jin per mu, and dry product yield is about 300 to 400 jin per mu.
Schisandra Seed Treatment Methods
1. Seed selection: For schisandra seeds, it is best to select from the fruiting clusters during the autumn harvest, keeping clusters with large, uniform berries for seed use, and drying and storing them separately. When drying, never use fire roasting, heated brick bed drying, or pan frying; they can be sun-dried or shade-dried and stored in a ventilated, dry place.
2. Soaking in clean water: Soak the schisandra seeds in clean water until the fruit flesh swells, then rub off the flesh. While rubbing off the flesh, remove the shriveled seeds floating on the water surface. After rubbing off the flesh, soak again in clean water for 5 to 7 days so the seeds fully absorb water, changing the water once every two days.
3. Low-temperature treatment: After soaking, scoop out the schisandra seeds, drain them, and mix them evenly with about twice their volume of wet sand. Place them in a pit about 0.5 m deep prepared outdoors, cover with 10 to 15 cm of fine soil, then cover with brushwood for low-temperature treatment. By May to June of the following year, the seeds will split and can be sown.
Schisandra Sowing and Seedling-Raising Techniques
1. Seedbed site selection: For a schisandra seedling bed, fertile humus soil or sandy loam can be chosen. For seedling raising, a raised bed is preferable. The bed soil should be raked fine and freed of impurities, and 5 to 10 kg of decomposed barnyard manure per sq m should be applied and thoroughly mixed evenly with the bed soil. Level the bed surface and sow.
2. Timely sowing: Schisandra is generally sown with treated seeds from early May to mid-June, in drills or by broadcasting. For drill sowing, the row spacing is 10 cm, with 1.5 to 3 cm of soil covering the seeds, and the sowing rate is about 30 grams per sq m.
3. Seedbed management: After sowing schisandra, build a frame 1 to 1.5 m high and cover it with straw mats or reed mats for shade. Water when the soil is dry so that soil moisture remains at 30 to 40%. Once the seedlings grow 2 to 3 true leaves, the shade mats can be removed.
Schisandra Field Management Methods
1. Irrigation and fertilization: After schisandra plants survive transplanting, keep the soil moist. Irrigate once before freezing to help them overwinter. During the bud, flowering, and fruiting stages, they need plenty of nutrients in addition to sufficient water. Apply topdressing 1 to 2 times per year, with 5 to 10 kg of decomposed farmyard manure per plant.
2. Branch pruning: Schisandra branches can be pruned in spring, summer, and autumn. Regardless of when pruning is done, 2 to 3 nutrient branches should be selected and retained as main branches, and the vines should be trained onto the trellis.
(1) Spring pruning: Generally carried out before the branches sprout. Cut off overly dense fruiting branches and dead branches. After pruning, the branches should be appropriately spaced and not interfere with one another.
(2) Summer pruning: Generally carried out from early to mid-May to early to mid-August. Mainly cut off basal branches, inner-canopy branches, overlapping branches, and diseased or pest-damaged branches.
(3) Autumn pruning: Generally carried out after leaf fall. Cut off the basal branches that grew after summer pruning, and promptly apply a wound-healing antiseptic film to the pruning wounds.
3. Trellising and transplanting: Schisandra should be trellised in the second year of planting. Cement posts or angle steel can be used as uprights, with wooden poles or No. 8 iron wire stretched as a horizontal line near the top of the uprights. Place a bamboo pole or wooden pole at each main vine, then train the vines onto the trellis.
4. Thickening the fruit stalk: For schisandra, spray fruit-stalk-strengthening agent during the bud stage, young fruit stage, and fruit expansion stage respectively to thicken the fruit stalk, increase nutrient transport, prevent flower drop, improve pollination capacity, raise the fruit set rate, speed up expansion, and ensure high quality and high yield.
5. Loosening soil and weeding: During the growing period of schisandra, loosen the soil and weed in a timely manner to keep the soil loose and free of weeds. When loosening the soil, avoid injuring the root system. Make a tree basin at the base of the schisandra plant to facilitate irrigation.
6. Earthing up for overwintering: Before winter sets in, earth up soil at the base of planted schisandra to protect the plants through the winter safely.