How to carry out field management of licorice? Four key points to master

Cultivation: Licorice seedlings grow slowly, and weeds have a relatively large impact on them. Cultivation should be combined with timely removal of weeds, with weeding 2-3 times in the same year. After the plants grow larger, weeds become fewer. Pay attention to pulling out weeds, and avoid hoeing the soil, so as not to damage new shoots sprouting from the rhizome.

Topdressing: Licorice belongs to the legume family, and its root nodules have nitrogen-fixing ability, so nitrogen fertilizer is generally not applied, and phosphate fertilizer is mainly used for topdressing. After the aboveground parts of licorice wither in late autumn, 2000 kg of decomposed farmyard manure can be applied per mu to cover the ground, so as to increase ground temperature and soil fertility.

Thinning: For direct-seeded seedlings of the same year, thinning can be done once they have 2-3 true leaves. Remove weak seedlings, diseased seedlings, and variant seedlings, and keep strong seedlings and large seedlings. In the same year, the plant spacing for final thinning should be 10 cm-15 cm. In the 2nd year, remove impurities, inferior plants, and weak plants again, and the final plant spacing should reach about 30 cm. The basic number of seedlings per mu is 5000-6000 plants.

Drainage and irrigation: Although licorice is a xerophytic plant, it still needs a certain amount of water during the seedling stage, and the soil should be kept moist. If there is a long drought without rain before and after emergence, irrigate promptly to avoid drought stress that causes the newly emerged tender buds to wilt.