Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Imitation Wild Cultivation of Gastrodia elata

Imitation wild cultivation of Gastrodia elata means imitating the wild growing environment of Gastrodia elata for artificial cultivation, which both maintains the quality of wild Gastrodia elata and increases yield. The specific methods are as follows.

1. Selection of Seed Tubers

Use collected wild Gastrodia elata tubers as seed tubers, or use seedling tubers bred through sexual propagation techniques for crossbreeding as seed tubers. The seed tubers are required to be yellow in appearance, free of scars, free of black spots, conical in shape, and uniform in size. Degenerated Gastrodia elata that has been planted for many years cannot be used as seed tubers.

2. Selection and Cultivation of Fungal Wood

The fungal wood should be selected from hard miscellaneous wood of moderate thickness (diameter 5-8 cm), with evenly developed fungal strands, no loosening or shelling of the outer bark, dense mycelium under the bark, and no contamination by foreign fungi.

You can also cultivate fungal wood yourself, or if conditions permit, purchase Armillaria mellea for cultivation. You can also collect wild Armillaria mellea or expand cultivation using fungal wood previously used for Gastrodia elata production, but this method easily introduces foreign fungi that contaminate the fungal wood, so strict selection should be carried out during cultivation.

The specific method is: dig a pool trench 1.0 m wide, 50-70 cm deep, and of unlimited length in a place far from pollution sources. After stacking new hard miscellaneous wood sticks with a diameter of 5-8 cm and a length of 80-100 cm in the sun for 1 week, lay them flat in the trench and fill the gaps with river sand. Every two layers of wood sticks, evenly place fungal spawn or fungal strands and fungal wood, laying 6-8 layers in sequence up to ground level. After filling with enough water, cover with 20 cm of soil, then cover with leaves or rice straw. In dry weather, replenish water in time. Cultivation should be completed by early July at the latest.

3. Site Selection

Choose shady slopes, semi-shady slopes, or semi-sunny slopes of 5°-15° for cultivating Gastrodia elata. The mountain land should have a certain forest cover with a canopy density above 70%. Sandy loam soil and humus soil are preferable, and heavy clay soil should be avoided. Do not apply too much manure to garden plots. The soil should have good permeability, no water accumulation, and tall-stem crops for shading.

4. Cultivation Methods

In early spring when the ground temperature reaches 10°C, Gastrodia elata can be planted, generally starting in mid-to-late April. Dig pool trenches along the mountain with a depth of 25-30 cm, a width of 1.0 m, and a length of less than 10 m, or dig pit trenches 25-30 cm deep and 1.0 m in both length and width. Use the alternating placement method of fungal wood and new wood for planting, that is, place one stick of fungal wood and one stick of new wood flat in the pool, then backfill with soil until the fungal wood is almost but not fully exposed, then place seed tubers along both sides of the fungal wood at a spacing of 8-10 cm, cover with 20-30 cm of soil, and cover with dead branches, fallen leaves, or weeds to help control temperature and retain moisture.

5. Management

In normal years, no special management is needed; in dry and high-temperature years, irrigation and cooling should be carried out; in flood years, deepen the operation paths and raise the pool beds to prevent Gastrodia elata from rotting under long-term water accumulation. The optimal soil moisture content for Gastrodia elata growth is 55%-65%, the suitable temperature is 14°C-25°C, and the optimal temperature is 20°C.

6. Harvesting, Processing, and Storage

In early November, when the ground temperature drops below 10°C, Gastrodia elata has stopped growing, and it is time to dig and harvest. Farmers who have mastered sexual propagation techniques can select large and high-quality arrow tubers for sexual propagation next year, and the remaining arrow tubers and larger white tubers can be sold as commercial @#@136@#@. Medium white tubers and smaller ones are kept as seed tubers.

The selected commercial tubers need to be processed. First wash the tubers, then steam them in a pot for 15-25 minutes when the water boils (the time depends on the size of the tubers), then dry them. The initial drying temperature is 60°C-70°C, maintained for 3-4 hours, then lowered to 50°C. Pay attention to ventilation and moisture removal until completely dry.

Seed tubers should be stored in an empty house where no one lives. Build a pool bed with bricks inside the house, place one layer of seed tubers and one layer of river sand in the pool, with the seed tubers not touching each other. The sand is required to be pollution-free, with humidity below 20%, and temperature controlled at 0°C-5°C.