How to Grow Dutchman's Pipe? Detailed Explanation of Planting Methods and Technical Key Points
Dutchman's pipe, also known as Shui Ma Xiang Guo and She Shen Cao, is a medicinal herb used to clear the lungs, relieve cough, cleanse the intestines, and treat hemorrhoids. It has the effects of regulating qi, removing dampness, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, lowering blood pressure, and fighting inflammation, but it should be used with caution by those with deficiency-cold and weak spleen and stomach. In addition, it is also a plant listed on the carcinogen list by the international health organization, which makes the controversy surrounding Dutchman's pipe cultivation extremely great. Today we are mainly here to learn about the cultivation techniques of Dutchman's pipe, so let's take a look at the explanation below.
1. Site Selection and Land Preparation
Dutchman's pipe has the characteristics of liking light, tolerating shade, tolerating cold, and having strong adaptability. For Dutchman's pipe cultivation, it is advisable to choose sandy yellow soil with sufficient soil fertility, good permeability, good drainage, sufficient water sources, and rich humus content. Deeply plow the soil to a depth of at least 30 cm, then plow the land together with base fertilizer; the base fertilizer is mainly farmyard manure or compost, used in combination with compound fertilizer. Before planting, the land still needs to be turned and leveled again, and the land should be leveled and finely prepared, with trenches opened to form beds. The bed surface is about 1 m wide, and the trenches interconnect with each other to facilitate drainage and water diversion.
2. Timely Planting
Dutchman's pipe is generally sown and raised as seedlings in spring when the temperature rises, preferably in March or April, when the seedling emergence rate is highest. If Dutchman's pipe is to be transplanted, it needs to be done before the winter freeze. When planting, it should be planted at a row spacing of 35 to 40 cm and a plant spacing of 25 to 30 cm. In addition, after planting, watering should wait until spring, and the watering should be sufficient and thorough. During the seedling-raising period of Dutchman's pipe, we should water appropriately and apply nitrogen fertilizer as a top dressing, with each application amount not too large. Later, it is necessary to increase the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to improve the quality of the seedlings.
3. Later-Stage Management
After Dutchman's pipe is planted, we should frequently loosen the soil and remove weeds. Generally, the number of soil loosenings each year is about 3 to 4 times, and each time it is combined with top dressing. For the first top dressing of Dutchman's pipe, we mainly use nitrogen fertilizer, but the amount should be controlled to avoid excessive vegetative growth of the branches and leaves. The second is fertilizing before flowering, mainly with decomposed farmyard manure, combined with a small amount of phosphorus fertilizer. The third and fourth times we usually mainly use phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, which can improve the yield and quality of Dutchman's pipe. In addition, when Dutchman's pipe grows to about 30 cm, supports should be set up to guide them to grow along the supports. Finally, during the peak growth season of Dutchman's pipe, we should reasonably prune some branches that grow too vigorously but have no flower buds, which can improve the efficiency of nutrient utilization.
4. Pest and Disease Control
For Dutchman's pipe, we mainly need to prevent root rot and leaf spot disease. These two diseases are basically caused by improper water management, so during the planting process we need to strengthen field management and pay attention to drainage. Secondly, in the early stage of disease onset, we can use Tuzet and Bordeaux mixture respectively for control. In addition, we may also encounter damage to the leaves by the Dutchman's pipe swallowtail butterfly. First of all, we need to do a good job of field cleaning and use Qingchongjun for control.
Dutchman's pipe generally matures from September to October each year. At this time, if Dutchman's pipe changes from green to yellow, it indicates that it has matured and can be harvested. This is all the content that the editor wants to share with everyone today. I hope it can help everyone, and at the same time I also thank everyone for their long-term support of the editor's work.