A Detailed Guide to Blue Honeysuckle Planting Techniques and Cultivation Management Methods
Blue honeysuckle, also known as goat milk berry and black bear berry, is a rare, purely natural edible berry with a sweet-and-sour taste. It is rich in nutrients, can be eaten fresh, and can also provide pigment; it can also be used to make wine, beverages and jam, and has extremely high edible value. In addition, it has extremely high nutritional value, and is said to have the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, lowering blood pressure, increasing blood cell count, and treating anorexia in children. So how should it be planted? Let's learn about it together.
1. Site selection and land preparation
Choose a sunny, conveniently irrigated, flat or gently sloping site for planting. It is best to choose loose, fertile, well-drained sandy loam or sandy soil for planting, with a pH value preferably between 4.5-7.5. During cultivation, for the convenience of management as well as harvesting and sales, the planting site is best located in an area with convenient transportation. Before planting, deeply plow the soil to mature it, remove weeds and residual plant debris, and apply decomposed organic fertilizer during plowing to improve soil properties, increase soil nutrients, and give the plants enough nutrients for growth and development.
2. Propagation
Blue honeysuckle can be propagated by various methods such as sowing, cuttings and division. For sowing, harvest the mature fruit, take out the seeds, and store them in moist sand. The following year, choose a fertile, loose, well-drained area for sowing, and generally after two years of cultivation, it can be used for afforestation. Cuttings generally begin in spring when the temperature rises above 15 degrees; choose current-year branches from the mother plant as cuttings, smear rooting powder on the base, and insert them into fertile soil, and after 2-3 years of cultivation they can be planted out. Blue honeysuckle has extremely strong sprouting and tillering ability, so for division propagation, after selecting good roots, simply plant them in fertile soil, and the survival rate can reach as high as 95%.
3. Field planting
When planting, choose strong seedlings bred from improved varieties. The seedlings are required to grow vigorously, have well-developed root systems and plump buds, with seedlings over 25cm tall and with main roots over 25cm long being preferred. Generally, a mature blue honeysuckle clump can reach about 1.5-2 meters tall, and the crown width can reach 2-2.5 meters, so when planting, in order to maintain ventilation and light transmission between plants, the row spacing is generally controlled at 4×4 meters. Generally, about 600 planting holes are dug per hectare, and it is appropriate to plant one plant per hole, with the spacing between plants controlled at 20×20cm. When planting, hold the seedling upright, firm the covering soil by stepping on it, and water thoroughly once after planting, so that a vigorously growing clump can form as quickly as possible.
4. Orchard management
After planting and survival, water frequently to keep the soil moisture content above 40% to meet the plant's water needs, and at the same time drain promptly if the soil becomes waterlogged. Blue honeysuckle likes fertilizer, but it is relatively sensitive to chemical fertilizers, so apply farmyard manure as much as possible when fertilizing, and avoid chemical fertilizers, so as to maintain the purity of the fruit as a green food. After planting, according to the field soil and weed conditions, carry out intertillage and weeding 2-3 times each year to promote the growth of the plant's root system. Blue honeysuckle has strong sprouting ability; in order to increase new branches in the clump, cut it back to the ground and cut the stems to promote the sprouting of new branches.
The above is an introduction to blue honeysuckle planting techniques. I hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about planting knowledge, please follow us.