How to grow Schisandra seedlings? A detailed practical guide
Schisandra is the berry of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., a plant in the magnolia family. It has a wide suitable growing range and can be grown in both north and south. Because it is mainly produced in the Northeast region, it is also often called northern schisandra. Its fruit is used as medicine and has the effects of benefiting qi and astringing the lungs, nourishing the kidneys and warming essence, and promoting fluid production and quenching thirst. Its medicinal value and economic value are relatively high. In recent years, with the expansion of its processing and application scope, international trade volume has increased year after year, product value has steadily risen, and development prospects are very broad. In production, schisandra seedlings are in very short supply, and accelerating seedling production is urgent. Nursery stock propagation can use sowing, cuttings, and layering, but in production seed propagation is mainly used. Based on my own seedling-raising practice, the seedling-raising techniques are briefly introduced as follows:
I. Seed collection and seed treatment
Around mid-August of the same year, select seeds that are large, plump, and basically uniform in maturity (turned red) for picking. Wash the fruit pulp off the berries with clean water, skim off shriveled seeds, then soak in a 0.1-0.3% potassium permanganate aqueous solution for about one hour, rinse clean with water, and dry in the shade indoors for one week, turning once a day. Then mix with 3 times clean fine sand and store in the open in a cool, dry pit no deeper than 40 cm. If there are many seeds, every 50 cm in the pit use bamboo sticks or corn stalks tied into bundles to make "vent holes." Keep the sand at a certain moisture level (best is when it forms a ball in the hand without dripping water), and cover with 20 cm of clean sand. During storage, check 2-3 times each month. If the seeds are found to be moldy and heating, immediately turn the storage pit, disinfect, or move them to another place for separate storage. Store in sand until late March of the following year, and check whether the seeds have cracked. If cracking has begun, appropriately increase the sand moisture content and turn them up and down. If there is no cracking, use a plastic arched shed to raise the temperature. When two-thirds of the seeds have cracked, sowing can begin.
II. Nursery site selection and pre-sowing preparation
Because schisandra seeds are small and difficult to emerge, the nursery site should be chosen on loose, fertile sandy loam land with convenient transportation, flat terrain, sufficient water source, and good drainage and irrigation. The nursery site should be deep-plowed before the soil freezes, to help loosen the soil and kill insects and sterilize. About half a month before sowing, to prevent seedling diseases and insect pests, while preparing the land apply 10 kg of imported carbofuran, 5 kg of carbendazim, and 10 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. Break up clods, pick out all weeds and stones, and rake the plot level.
III. Sowing
After the above preparatory work is completed, sowing can begin. Usually raised-bed seedling cultivation is used, with bed height 20 cm, bed width 120-150 cm, path 20-25 cm, row spacing 15 cm, ditch depth about 5 cm, and seeding rate 8-12 kg per mu. Cover soil to a uniform thickness (about 1.5-2 cm), then cover well with straw curtains, water thoroughly, and set up a shade net.
IV. Field management
When the emergence rate reaches about two-thirds, remove the straw curtains, loosen the soil and weed in time. Weeding should be done "early, small, and completely." At the same time, to prevent seedling leaf blight, after the seedlings unfold leaves spray 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture once a week for 2-3 consecutive sprays. When the seedlings grow to 5-6 leaves, overly dense plots can be transplanted on rainy days with root dipping, and shaded and watered in time. Fertilization mainly uses N fertilizer for foliar spraying at 1-2% concentration once every half month, for about 5-6 sprays. When the seedlings grow to about 30 cm tall, promptly pinch off the growing tips of overly vigorous seedlings to promote sturdy growth. After the Beginning of Autumn, temperatures gradually decrease. On rainy days remove the shade net, and at the same time stop applying N fertilizer. Spray 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate every 7-10 days for 2-3 times to promote lignification of the seedlings.