How to Grow Agastache rugosa (Korean Mint) Seeds from the Lamiaceae Family? A Detailed Guide to Its Benefits, Effects and Side Effects

Agastache rugosa, also known as huoxiang, hexiang, canggao, shanhuixiang and other names, belongs to the order Lamiales, family Lamiaceae, and is a perennial herbaceous plant with both culinary and medicinal value, widely cultivated in China. So do you know what methods there are for growing Agastache rugosa seeds? What benefits and effects does it have? What side effects does it have?

I. Methods for growing Agastache rugosa seeds

1. Land preparation and sowing

For the Agastache rugosa seedbed, it is best to choose a plot of loam or sandy loam with convenient irrigation and drainage, easy management, and medium-to-high fertility, and apply 22.5 tons per hectare of decomposed barn manure as base fertilizer while plowing. Then open furrows, break up the clods of soil, and shape it into a turtle-back-shaped seedbed with a 1.5-meter-wide border ditch; water the bed surface with 7.5 tons per hectare of decomposed human and animal urine to moisten it, mix the seeds with fine sand or plant ash and evenly scatter them on the bed surface, then cover with about 1 cm of fertile soil made of fine soil:plant ash = 1:0.5, and finally build small arches with bamboo strips or small twigs at intervals of about 80 cm over the bed surface and cover with plastic film to keep warm and raise seedlings. Generally, each hectare of field requires 120-150 sq m of seedbed and 2.25-2.7 kg of seeds.

2. Temperature management

After sowing Agastache rugosa seeds, when the temperature is kept at 20-25°C, seedlings emerge in 10-15 days; when the emergence rate reaches 70%, remove the film. The suitable growth temperature is 18-25°C. For Agastache rugosa sown in spring of the same year, when the seedlings are 12 cm tall and the main stem has 5 pairs of leaves, branching begins to occur at the leaf axils at the base. After June, as the temperature rises and the rainy season arrives, Agastache rugosa enters a period of vigorous growth.

3. Water and fertilizer management

Both the stems and leaves of Agastache rugosa are used medicinally, so it is best to apply complete fertilizer (including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), such as human and animal manure, oil cakes, etc. For the first topdressing, after loosening the soil when the seedlings are 3 cm tall, apply 1.5-2 kg of decomposed dilute human and animal manure water per sq m; afterward, when the seedlings are 7-10 cm, 15-20 cm and 25-30 cm tall respectively, after cultivating and weeding, apply 1500 kg of decomposed human and animal manure water per mu each time, or apply 10-12 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu. Water should be applied after fertilizing, and no more topdressing is needed after the rows close.

4. Cultivation and weeding

When the Agastache rugosa seedlings are 3 cm tall, promptly thin out the overcrowded seedlings so that each young seedling has a nutritional area of 4 sq cm, or carry out seedling separation with a plant spacing of 6-8 cm. For hole-sown Agastache rugosa, keep 3-4 plants per hole; for drill-sown, thin to a plant spacing of 10-12 cm, with the two rows staggered when finalizing the stand. Gaps should be replanted on cloudy days, and after planting, water once with dilute human and animal manure water to help them survive. Before the first harvest, cultivate and weed 2-3 times, respectively when the seedlings are 3 cm, 12-15 cm and 21-24 cm tall. When the seedlings are 25-30 cm tall, after the second harvest, earth up 6 cm to protect the roots.

5. Irrigation and drainage

Agastache rugosa fears both drought and waterlogging. Before rooting after planting or cuttings, water once each morning and evening every day; the amount of water should not be too much, just enough to moisten the bed surface. During growth, if drought occurs and the bed surface turns white, irrigation should be introduced once every 5-8 days, leading water into the border ditches to a depth of 1/2-2/3 of the bed height, and letting the water slowly seep in and moisten the bed surface. In the rainy season or during heavy rain, attention should be paid to drainage to strictly prevent water accumulation, so as to avoid root rot and plant death. Therefore, when planting Agastache rugosa in paddy fields, high beds and deep ditches should be built precisely to prevent excessive rainwater from accumulating and affecting the normal growth of Agastache rugosa.

6. Cold protection and overwintering

For Agastache rugosa that needs to overwinter, especially young plants established in summer and autumn, cold resistance is poor, so in areas with frost, at the beginning of winter, grass should be covered or a shed built to protect against frost, or the north-facing side should be blocked and plastic film added to keep warm and prevent cold damage. It is best to apply pig and cattle barn manure at the end of autumn, add burnt soil ash and burnt mud to mound the base and keep it warm. For Agastache rugosa planted in September, rapeseed or other tall, broad-leaved winter crops can also be interplanted in early October to shield against frost and protect against cold damage.

7. Harvesting and processing

Agastache rugosa is harvested for tender stems and leaves or young seedlings from April to June. When buds appear and flowers open, collect the inflorescences, wash them clean and cut them into sections. Or harvest during the full flowering period from July to August, choosing a sunny day to cut the plants level with the ground, then transport them back to be quickly sun-dried, dried over a heated bed, or shade-dried for later use, yielding 4500-7500 kg per hectare. Agastache rugosa is considered best when the stems and branches are green in color, dry, rich in leaves and strongly aromatic.

II. What benefits and effects does Agastache rugosa have?

Agastache rugosa is pungent in flavor and slightly warm in nature, entering the spleen, stomach and lung meridians. It has the effects of dispelling summerheat and releasing the exterior, transforming dampness and strengthening the spleen, and regulating qi and harmonizing the stomach. It mainly treats fever and chills, dizziness, chest and epigastric stuffiness, poor appetite and heaviness of the body, vomiting and diarrhea caused by externally contracted summerheat-dampness, cold-dampness, damp-warmth and dampness obstructing the middle burner, as well as morning sickness during pregnancy, restless fetal movement, bad breath, sinusitis and tinea of the hands and feet.

1. Effect of dispelling cold

Agastache rugosa has the effect of dispelling cold. It is slightly warm in nature, can disperse wind-cold, and is good at treating externally contracted wind-cold in the summer months.

2. Effect of removing dampness

Agastache rugosa has the function of removing dampness. It is pungent and slightly warm, good at aromatically transforming dampness, and has a very good therapeutic effect on summerheat-dampness and damp-warmth in summer.

3. Effect of clearing heat and relieving summerheat

Agastache rugosa has the effect of clearing heat and relieving summerheat. Summers are hot and heatstroke is easy to occur, so we all drink a little Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid to prevent and relieve summerheat, and it is deeply loved by people.

4. Treating vomiting and hiccups

Agastache rugosa is a commonly used medicine for treating vomiting and hiccups, and the effect is better when combined with Atractylodes lancea, Magnolia officinalis, dried tangerine peel, Pinellia ternata and others.

5. Effect of promoting digestion

Agastache rugosa can promote digestion. The volatile oil it contains can promote gastric juice secretion, enhance digestive function, and has an analgesic and antispasmodic effect on the human stomach and intestines.

6. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects

Agastache rugosa has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functions. It can dilate microvessels and has a slight diaphoretic effect, can relieve exterior pathogenic factors, and treat externally contracted exterior syndromes. Agastache rugosa has an inhibitory effect on common pathogenic fungi as well as Staphylococcus aureus, alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus, Diplococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Shigella dysenteriae.

7. Improving immunity

Agastache rugosa can effectively enhance the body's immune function. The methylchavicol and anethole contained in Agastache rugosa have the effects of raising white blood cell counts, and are antibacterial and antispasmodic. For tumor patients and patients with low white blood cell counts caused by long-term exposure to radiation or drugs, it has the effect of raising white blood cell counts and improving immunity.

III. What side effects does Agastache rugosa have?

Generally has an effect on the stomach

Contraindicated groups:

People with yin deficiency and hyperactive fire, or with excess pathogens and constipation, are forbidden to take Agastache rugosa.

After understanding who is not suitable to eat Agastache rugosa, we can make better dietary choices. In addition, in daily life we should also pay attention to food combinations, so that we can better achieve health.