Peony Planting and Care Management Methods and Profit Analysis

The peony has brightly colored flowers, a jade-like smile and pearl-like fragrance, an elegant and unrestrained bearing, and a magnificent appearance, and has long enjoyed the reputation of “king of flowers.” Peony flowers are large and fragrant, hence they are also known as “national beauty and heavenly fragrance,” and they are currently cultivated widely across the country. Do you know how to plant peonies? How should care and management be carried out? What are the profits?

I. Peony planting techniques

1. For peony planting, choose loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil, and plant in a wind-sheltered, sunny place that does not easily accumulate water. Planting is generally done from late September to early October. The planting depth should be such that the junction of roots and stems is level with the soil surface. The size of the planting hole should be enough for the roots to spread out. Leave some fine soil in the hole and shape it into a small mound, so that the roots sit firmly on the soil. Straighten out the root system, then backfill with soil, firm it down, and water thoroughly two or three times. A plant-to-row spacing of 50X50 (cm) is suitable.

2. Sowing: Peony seeds mature in early August and should be harvested promptly and sown immediately. If sowing is too late, the seeds will not readily germinate the following spring. Peonies grown from seed take 5-6 years to bloom, so this method is generally used only when breeding new varieties.

3. Division: Dig up a large peony plant that has grown for more than five years together with its roots, place it in a cool place to air for 2-3 days, and when the roots become soft, divide it into small plants of 2-3 shoots per group and plant them in the nursery field.

4. Grafting: Cut soil shoots sent up by a large peony plant or one-year-old short branches, trim 2-3 cm of the base into a wedge shape, and insert it into a 15-20 cm long peony rootstock (Paeonia lactiflora root), wrap it tightly with hemp fiber, smear on mud, and plant it. The grafting time is from early September to early October. Grafted seedlings should be planted in trenches, with a plant spacing of 10-15 cm and a row spacing of 30-40 cm. After planting, build up a soil ridge so that the scion is not exposed above the soil.

II. How to carry out care and management

1. Fertilizing: Apply fertilizer at least three times a year. The first time is before flowering to promote blooming; the second time is half a month after flowering to replenish the nutrients consumed by flowering; the third time is before overwintering, as winter fertilizer. The fertilizer is mainly decomposed cake fertilizer. The amount suitable is 0.5-1 kg per plant each time, and a chemical compound fertilizer may also be mixed in.

2. Watering: Peonies are relatively drought-tolerant, but they still need watering during dry seasons to keep the soil moist. After rain, promptly drain away accumulated water.

3. Pest and disease control: A common peony disease is brown spot. The control method is to start after flowering each year and spray Bordeaux mixture or thiophanate-methyl and carbendazim solution once every half month. Before winter, promptly prune off diseased leaves and burn them, and before sprouting in spring, spray with lime sulfur mixture.

The main peony pest is the cottony cushion scale. In summer and autumn, the white insect bodies attach to branches and the undersides of leaves. They can be killed by spraying with 500-times fluoroacetamide or 1000-times omethoate solution, or by brushing the branches with lime sulfur mixture after winter begins.

The main underground pest is the grub. Control method: use 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate at 1000-1500 times dilution to wash and water the roots at a depth of 20-30 cm, with 0.25 kg per mu being suitable.

III. What are the profits of planting peonies?

Take oil peonies as an example: according to the current nursery stock market trend and dense planting density, the investment in the first year is about 1000 yuan per mu, and depending on the intercropping method, the investment per mu increases accordingly. That is, after planting peonies, the returns from peonies in the first two years are relatively low, and there may even be no return in the first year, so intercropping should be carried out, combining short-term and long-term crops, to ensure returns. With sowing and planting, benefits can be seen in the third year, and with seedling planting, after two full years. The high-yield period lasts more than 30 years, and in the high-yield period, 400 kg per mu can be produced. Referring to the current guaranteed purchase price of 20 yuan/kg, and calculating with 30 years as one production cycle for peonies, the average annual net income per mu is more than 6000 yuan, which is 4-5 times that of traditional crop planting.

Oil peonies are about 30,000 per mu! Medicinal peonies are 20,000-30,000! Ornamental peonies fetch a high price! It is just that the sales channels are not good.