Cultivation Techniques for the New Honeysuckle Variety Jiufeng No. 1

The new tetraploid honeysuckle variety "Jiufeng No. 1" was developed through collaboration between Jiujianpeng Agricultural Science and Technology Park Co., Ltd. of Pingyi County, Shandong Province, and the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Using the traditional diploid honeysuckle "Damaohua" - the main cultivar of Pingyi County, known as "China's Hometown of Honeysuckle" - as the parent, it was bred as an autotetraploid through polyploid breeding technology. On December 5, 2004, this achievement passed the provincial-level scientific and technological achievement appraisal organized by the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Lu Ke Cheng Jian Zi [2004] No. 813), which concluded that it "reached the international leading level in honeysuckle breeding research."

1 Main Traits

1.1 Stems and Branches

This variety has thick, sturdy stems and branches with strong upright growth, making it easy to prune into a reasonable tree structure. The average internode length is 4.60 cm. The proportion of flowering branches is 91.7% in 2-year-old plants and 99.6% in 3-year-old plants, with virtually no water sprouts, and the flower buds terminate the shoots. These morphological characteristics form the basis for creating a reasonable plant architecture, increasing flower number, and achieving high yield and efficiency.

1.2 Leaves

The leaves are heart-shaped with obtuse-rounded tips, averaging 5.97 cm in length and 4.50 cm in width. These leaf characteristics help form a larger photosynthetic area and higher photosynthetic efficiency, increasing the accumulation of photosynthates and dry matter. This is the morphological and physiological basis for the high yield of this new variety.

1.3 Flowers

The flower buds average 4.91 cm in length (maximum 6.50 cm), with a base diameter of 2.52 mm and a tip diameter of 6.27 mm, and petal thickness of 0.32 mm. The anthers' length and width, as well as the stigma diameter and nectary diameter, are all relatively large.

1.4 Trichomes

The leaves and young stems have dense, coarse, stiff, and long trichomes. This morphological characteristic gives the variety strong resistance to aphids and mites, greatly reducing pesticide use during cultivation. It facilitates green, pollution-free honeysuckle cultivation in accordance with GAP requirements, with little or no pesticide application, making it particularly suitable for pollution-free cultivation.

2 Content of Active Ingredients

This variety has a relatively high content of chlorogenic acid (its main active ingredient). According to analysis by the Linyi Municipal Institute for Drug Control, its chlorogenic acid content is 30% higher than that of "Damaohua."

3 Yield Performance

3.1 Weight of 1,000 Buds

The fresh weight of 1,000 buds of this variety is 310 g, an increase of 157.5% over the bud weight of "Damaohua" (120.4 g).

3.2 Number of Flower Buds

This variety has few water sprouts and many flowering branches. Plants 1 to 2 years old have a small number of water sprouts, and after the 3rd year there are virtually none. A 2-year-old plant has 4,624 flower buds per plant, 12.64% more than "Damaohua" (4,105).

3.3 Demonstration Yield

Based on multi-year, multi-site yield measurements, this variety averages 225.80 kg of dried flowers per mu, an increase of 83.6 kg of dried flowers per mu over "Damaohua" (average 142.20 kg of dried flowers per mu), a yield increase of 58.79%.

4 Main Cultivation Techniques

4.1 Planting

Planting can be done in early spring or late autumn. Dig holes at a spacing of 1 x 1.5 m between plants and rows, with 444 clumps per mu and 2 seedlings per clump. Firm the soil and water thoroughly. Planting can also be done reasonably along field edges and terrace banks according to the terrain.

4.2 Cultivation and Weeding

Cultivation and weeding should be carried out 3 to 4 times per year.

4.3 Fertilization

Within 1 to 2 years after planting, when the plants are establishing their clumps and form, more decomposed human and animal manure, plant ash, urea, potassium sulfate, and other fertilizers should be applied. In spring and summer, dilute human and animal manure slurry should be the main fertilizer, applied at 1,000 to 2,000 kg per mu; too concentrated a slurry must not be used. The amount of fertilizer depends on the size of the clump. For plants over 5 years old, apply 5 kg of farmyard manure, 50 to 100 g of ammonium sulfate, and 150 to 200 g of superphosphate per plant in spring, or 5 to 10 kg of human and animal manure. For plants under 5 years old, reduce the amount accordingly. After the first flush of flowers, mainly apply chemical fertilizers as a top dressing: 250 g of urea and 1,250 g of superphosphate dissolved in 50 kg of water for foliar spraying, which significantly rejuvenates the plants and increases yield. Before winter, apply decomposed compost and barnyard manure, with an appropriate addition of cake fertilizer, to aid overwintering.

4.4 Training and Pruning

4.4.1 Conventional training aims to prune honeysuckle into a low, upright small shrub with umbrella-shaped branching. Pruning is divided into winter pruning and growing-season pruning. Winter pruning: honeysuckle planted for 1 to 2 years requires winter pruning. Winter pruning can be carried out from December to late February of the following year, that is, before honeysuckle buds break. First cultivate the main trunk by cutting off the upper branches so that the plant height is about 35 cm, prompting branching. Keep 5 to 6 vigorous branches on the upper part of the main trunk. Shoots that emerge in the current year are generally flowering branches. For branches, cut off the upper parts of branches at all levels, retaining only 5 to 7 pairs of buds, to encourage new branches. Because old branches do not flower, winter pruning should remove dead and old branches and diseased or damaged branches to reduce nutrient consumption, and thin out overly dense branches that affect ventilation and light penetration. At the same time, remove branches growing downward and young shoots emerging from the base. Through winter pruning, 4- to 5-year-old mature clumps are generally maintained with a crown spread of 80 to 120 cm and 80 to 120 fruiting mother branches, with 8 to 10 cm spacing between mother branches. The purpose of growing-season pruning is to promote the formation of multiple flushes of flowers and increase yield. It is carried out after each peak flowering period. The first time is in early June after the first flush of flowers, pruning the spring shoots; the second time is in late July after the second flush, pruning the summer shoots; the third time is in early September after the third flush, pruning the autumn shoots. Growing-season pruning should mainly be light pruning: vigorous branches retain 4 to 5 nodes, medium branches are cut back to retain 2 to 3 nodes, and the spacing between branches remains 8 to 10 cm.

4.4.2 Pole-assisted training: Set up poles beside the plants as a trellis to let the stems climb onto it. Through winter and growing-season pruning, the branches can be evenly distributed, facilitating ventilation and light penetration. Pole-assisted training has the characteristics of good training results and rapid yield improvement, and it also has strong tolerance to fertilizer and water and facilitates pruning and flower picking.

4.5 Pest and Disease Control

The main disease is brown spot, controlled by spraying 600-fold dilution of 50% mancozeb. The main pest is the Chinese honeysuckle round-tailed aphid, controlled by spraying 2,500-fold dilution of 15% yashijing.

4.6 Harvesting

Generally from late May to mid-October, harvesting is done in 4 flushes. After picking the unopened "large white stage" flower buds, dry them promptly by natural air-drying, sun-drying, or oven-drying, and store properly after thorough drying.