Detailed Explanation of Notoginseng Cultivation Techniques and Planting Management Key Points

Notoginseng is propagated by seed. Seeds set by three-year-old plants are selected, and when a large number of fruits ripen and turn red in November to December, the seeds are harvested. The fruit skin is removed, and the mature, plump, pest- and disease-free seeds are immediately sown in winter. If sowing cannot be done in time, the fruits should be spread out in a sieve at a thickness of about 3 cm and stored in a ventilated, shady place for 7 to 10 days. For seeds to be transported elsewhere, the fruit skin should be removed, the seeds washed clean, mixed with twice their volume of wet sand, and stored in a wooden box.

The sowing site and transplanting site should be chosen as high, dry land with good drainage, loam or sandy loam, a sunny gentle slope (slope of 5 to 15 degrees), or virgin or second-year fallow land. In autumn, the land is plowed repeatedly, then given 3 plowings and 3 harrowings, the soil harrowed fine, and beds 25 to 35 cm high and 100 to 120 cm wide are immediately made, with the bed surface shaped like a comb back, and a drainage ditch of 45 to 60 cm between two beds. Before sowing and permanent planting, apply 3000 to 5000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu, and add 25 to 35 kg of superphosphate or calcium magnesium phosphate. Spread the fertilizer evenly over the bed surface, then turn it into the soil layer at a depth of 4 to 6 cm.

In the south, winter sowing is mostly used, by dibbling, with a row spacing of 6 cm and a plant spacing of 5 to 6 cm. After sowing, cover with fine fertile soil, just enough to cover the seeds. Then cover with weeds to prevent the bed soil from crusting. In the south, winter-sown seeds sprout in about 3 months and emerge completely in 4 months. In the north, if spring sowing is used, the seeds must be stored in wet sand and sown as germinated seeds, emerging 1 month after sowing.

Transplanting and permanent planting are done one year or two to three years after sowing. In the south, planting is mostly done in December; in the north, mostly in November or from mid-March to early April (after the soil thaws), when the buds have not yet sprouted. When digging up the seedlings, do not damage the roots, and plant them separately according to large, medium and small grades. Planting methods: 1. Open a flat-bottomed trench on the prepared bed surface, 3 cm deep and wide enough to hold the notoginseng root, with the bud pointing downhill and the tail facing uphill, at a row spacing of 17 cm x 15 cm. 2. Double-plant planting: open a small horizontal trench on the bed surface, 2 to 3 cm deep, with a trench spacing of 15 to 20 cm, then place two notoginseng plants in the trench every 20 cm with buds facing buds and tails facing tails; for the two plants at the edge of the bed, the roots face into the bed. Cover with the prepared fertilizer as you plant, about 3 cm thick, so as not to expose the buds. Then cover with about 3 cm of grass, following the principle of not letting the soil show.

Notoginseng likes shade, so artificial cultivation requires building a shed for shade. After land preparation and bed making, use wooden sticks, bamboo, corn stalks, weeds and other materials to build a 1 to 1.5 m high flat-topped shade shed. The light transmittance of the shade shed must be adjusted at any time according to different growth stages and seasons. Stronger light is needed during the sowing and emergence stage and the bolting, flowering and seed-setting stage; especially at the seedling stage, the light transmittance must not be lower than 35%. In dry seasons with strong sunlight, the shade shed should be appropriately densified to reduce light transmittance.

After the seedlings are fully established in early spring, weeds must be removed frequently and promptly, and the soil loosened promptly after rain; when the notoginseng rhizome is exposed, soil should be banked promptly. Notoginseng roots are shallow, so topdressing should follow the principle of "small amounts, many times." When using farmyard manure as topdressing, it must be fully decomposed. During the seedling stage, apply more smoked soil, once after leaf expansion, at 150 to 200 kg per mu; apply again half a month later; after May, apply mixed organic fertilizer again at 2500 kg per mu; after June, apply 2000 kg of clear manure water each month until August. After permanent planting, apply dry fertilizer once in April to May of the following year, and apply clear manure water once each month from June to August, at 1500 to 3000 kg per mu. For large notoginseng over three years old, the topdressing time and frequency should be increased, starting after leaf expansion, with clear manure water once a month at 1500 to 2000 kg per mu, plus plant ash; apply mixed dry fertilizer at the bud stage and flowering stage at 3000 kg per mu; apply a bud-covering fertilizer again in September to October to protect the buds and promote vigor.

Throughout the entire growth period of notoginseng, the soil must be kept moist and must not dry out. In the rainy season, strengthen drainage and do not let water accumulate.

Removing flower bolts is a new measure to increase the yield and quality of notoginseng. Starting from the second year, promptly remove the flower bolts each year when notoginseng begins to bolt and flower. Those reserved for seed are excepted.

Notoginseng has many pests and diseases, so prevention and control should be strengthened. Damping-off (also called "rotten foot plague") damages seeds, seed buds and seedlings. Control methods: 1. Before sowing, treat the soil with 1 kg of quintozene per mu; 2. Before sowing, soak the seeds in 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture for 10 minutes, or disinfect them by soaking in 1:10 garlic juice for 2 hours; 3. In the early stage of the disease, drench the affected area with a 200-fold dilution of quintozene. Root rot damages the roots. Control methods: 1. Choose well-drained plots for planting and drain promptly in the rainy season; 2. Select robust, disease-free seedlings when transplanting; 3. Promptly pull out diseased plants and disinfect the diseased holes with lime; 4. During the disease period, drench the affected area with a 1000-fold dilution of carbendazim or a 1000-fold dilution of 50% thiophanate-methyl.