How can outdoor cultivation of Gastrodia elata achieve high yields?

Artificial cultivation of Gastrodia elata adapts to a very wide range of conditions; regardless of the height of the mountain, regardless of shady or sunny slopes, and regardless of sandy or loess soil, Gastrodia elata production can be developed. So how can high yields be obtained?

① Flat planting on hillsides. In mountainous areas with heavy autumn waterlogging and rain, when Gastrodia elata is planted in pits, except in a few well-drained places, the pits mostly accumulate water, causing rot and reduced yields. Cultivation by piling soil on the slope surface occupies much land and is easily affected by summer drought and high temperatures, which is unfavorable to the growth of Armillaria mellea and Gastrodia elata, making high yields difficult to obtain. However, bed planting or horizontal cultivation can achieve high yields. The method is: on slopes above 25°C, because rainwater does not easily remain, fungal logs and fungal branches should be placed crosswise to help receive rainwater and enhance moisture retention; on slopes below 25°C and in cold, damp, high-altitude areas, fungal logs and fungal branches should be placed lengthwise to help drain excess water. Only when soil moisture and temperature are properly regulated can the vigorous growth of Armillaria mellea be promoted and the role of suppressing competing fungi be achieved.

② Cultivation by the single-layer fungal log and branch-and-leaf mulching method: At present there are many methods of artificial cultivation of Gastrodia elata, such as one-layer planting, two-layer planting, three-layer planting, and many others. The fungal bed filling materials include two types: using fungal logs alone, and adding layers of branches and leaves above and below the fungal logs. Practice shows that fungal beds with bare logs have a high rate of empty pockets, and are especially unsuitable for cultivation on yellow mud hillsides. Mulched fungal beds (that is, on the basis of single-layer fungal logs laid flat, using half-rotted broadleaf branches and leaves as a bottom layer plus half soil) have a very good promoting effect on the growth of Armillaria mellea and Gastrodia elata. Comparing the bottom layer with the cover layer, the bottom layer is more important than the cover layer. Because Gastrodia elata mainly grows under the fungal logs, the bottom layer is the nutritional foundation for the growth of Armillaria mellea and Gastrodia elata, so attention must be paid to the quality and thickness of the bottom layer; the cover layer should also use a mixture of half soil and half branches and leaves, mainly to regulate the temperature and humidity in the Gastrodia elata pit. The branches and leaves used for the bottom layer and cover layer are best half-rotted broadleaf branches and leaves, and the fungal logs should also have fish-scale notches cut into them; the cuts should be large, deep, and dense. Because fish-scale notches are suitable for inoculation, Armillaria mellea grows many thread-like tips of rhizomorphs at the fish-scale notches. These thread-like tips have strong vitality and easily combine with Gastrodia elata, thereby increasing Gastrodia elata yields.

③ Rational crop rotation is an important measure for sustained high yields of Gastrodia elata. Practice has proved that continuously planting Gastrodia elata in the same place for many years changes the soil properties, causes degeneration of the Gastrodia elata seed stock and Armillaria mellea inoculum, and results in reduced yields. The effective measure to solve this problem is to change the location every year and carry out rational rotation. Wherever Gastrodia elata has been planted, at least 5 years should pass before planting it again in rotation; in this way, Gastrodia elata yields will not decline.

④ Using the three-layer companion planting method with interlayered branches and leaves to cultivate Gastrodia elata can make full use of the land area.