Cattail is a plant that cannot grow without water
Cattail is a flowering plant that possesses ornamental, medicinal and economic value at the same time. It originally grew mostly in the wild, but now it can also be grown indoors in pots.
Introduction to cattail
Morphological characteristics: a perennial herbaceous emergent marsh plant with a persistent root system. The rhizome is white, long and creeping. The stem is cylindrical, upright, hard and solid inside. The leaves are flat and strap-shaped, more than 1 m long, smooth and hairless, with a long sheath at the base that clasps the stem. The flowers are unisexual, in a terminal cylindrical spadix resembling a candle; the flowers are small and greyish brown.
Ecological habits: prefers a warm environment with plenty of light; management is extensive.
Garden uses: for accenting garden ponds and lakesides, flower borders and potted cultivation.
Species identification: the difference between cattail and sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is that the cattail's spadix is greyish brown and grows on the middle to upper part of the plant; its leaves are slender with no midrib; sweet flag has an obvious leaf-like spathe, its spadix is yellow-green and grows at the base of the plant; its leaves are slightly wider and have a midrib.
Main value: it has relatively high economic value; the pollen, known as Pu Huang, is used in medicine; the leaves are used for weaving, papermaking and so on; the base of the young leaves and the tips of the rhizomes can be eaten as vegetables; the female inflorescence can be used as filling for pillow cores and cushions. It is one of the important aquatic economic plants.
How to grow cattail
1. Cattail cultivation uses vegetative propagation. Before planting, select and dig out from the cattail field seedlings with relatively thick pseudostems, relatively wide leaves that are scallion-green and glossy, vigorous growth, and with some roots and rhizomes attached, to use as planting stock. The planting spacing is 50 x 50 cm or 65 x 65 cm. When planting, where the water layer is shallow, plant deeply, so that all the seedling roots enter the soil; where the water layer is deeper, dig holes, support the seedlings and mound soil to steady the roots, but the seedling leaves must be exposed above the water surface, otherwise the cattail seedlings will suffocate from lack of oxygen. After planting, keep the cattail field at a shallow water level, which favours the sprouting and tillering of the cattail buds.
2. Cattail is an aquatic crop, so its cultivation cannot be separated from water, and throughout its growth it requires a very large amount of water. Therefore, when planting cattail, choosing a place with a sufficient water source is the first and most important thing.
3. After planting cattail, what needs attention is shallow-water care; regularly clearing the weeds among it and appropriately adding fertiliser during the cattail's growing period have a very good effect on its growth and also result in a great many flowers, so every step and detail in growing cattail cannot be neglected.
4. Cattail itself has extremely high requirements for water and temperature, so usually once the temperature reaches 20°C, cattail is very easy to keep alive, and such an environment also makes cattail grow quite fast, making its leaves broader and glossier in colour, growing better. Cattail is very sensitive in its response to temperature, so its entire growth period includes three different stages - sprouting, tillering and flowering - and temperature needs to be controlled.
5. When most cattail plants have stopped growing, the leaves are dark green, mature and firm, and the tissues are already filled out, this is the proper time for harvesting. Harvesting too early or too late both affect the quality of the cattail leaves and are unfavourable for weaving and processing. To favour the regeneration of the cattail plants' perennial roots, choose a sunny day and harvest when there is no dew on the cattail plants; the cutting height should follow the requirement of leaving most of the cattail plants' pseudostems, achieving a "clean cut at the sheath, cut the leaves". In newly planted cattail fields, the first year generally yields 1500-2250 kg of dried cattail per hectare; the second year it can double; the third year it reaches its highest at about 5300-6000 kg. Afterwards, because the cattail plants age year by year and soil fertility declines, the yield also decreases year by year, and by the fifth or sixth year renewal must be carried out.
The cattail's plant form is upright and distinctive, giving a very unusual ornamental effect. If you are interested in it and want to add a bit more warmth and moisture to your home, you can choose to grow some aquatic plants; sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is a very good choice.