Agastache rugosa Seed Planting Methods, Benefits, Effects and Side Effects Explained in Detail

Agastache rugosa, also called Hexiang, Canggao, and mountain fennel, is a perennial herb in the Lamiaceae family. It can be used both as a food ingredient and as medicine, and is widely cultivated in China. To grow it well, you cannot be careless at any stage, whether seedling raising, water and fertilizer, or harvesting. The methods are explained clearly below in one go.

Agastache rugosa Seed Planting Methods

Soil preparation and sowing: The seedbed should be chosen on loam or sandy loam with convenient drainage and irrigation and medium-to-good fertility. When plowing, apply 22.5 tons of decomposed barn manure per hectare as base fertilizer, shape it into a turtle-back seedbed with a 1.5 m wide side ditch, and moisten the bed surface with 7.5 tons/ha of decomposed human manure and urine. Mix the seeds with fine sand or plant ash and scatter them evenly over the bed surface, cover with about 1 cm of fertile soil (fine soil:plant ash = 1:0.5), then use bamboo strips or small branches to build a small arch shed every about 80 cm and cover it with film for warmth. Generally, each hectare of field requires 120-150 sq m of seedbed and 2.25-2.7 kg of seeds.

Temperature, water and fertilizer: After sowing, keep the temperature at 20-25°C, and seedlings will emerge in 10-15 days. When the emergence rate reaches 70%, remove the film. The suitable growth temperature is 18-25°C. For seedlings sown in spring of the same year, when the seedling height is 12 cm and the main stem has 5 pairs of leaves, branching begins at the leaf axils at the base; after June, as the temperature rises and the rainy season arrives, it enters the vigorous growth period. The stems and leaves of Agastache rugosa are both used as medicine, so fertilizer should preferably be a complete fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, such as human and livestock manure or oil cake. The first topdressing is after loosening the soil when the seedlings are 3 cm tall, applying 1.5-2 kg of decomposed dilute human and livestock manure water per square meter; afterward, apply topdressing once each when the seedlings are 7-10 cm, 15-20 cm, and 25-30 cm tall, applying 1500 kg of decomposed human and livestock manure water per mu each time, or 10-12 kg of diammonium phosphate, and water after fertilizing. Once the rows close, no more topdressing is needed.

Thinning and intertillage: When the seedlings are 3 cm tall, thin out the overly dense seedlings in time so that each young seedling has 4 square centimeters of nutrient area. You can also transplant seedlings, with a plant spacing of 6-8 cm; for hole sowing, keep 3-4 plants per hole, and for drill sowing, thin according to a plant spacing of 10-12 cm and set the final stand with the two rows staggered. Where plants are missing, replant on a cloudy day and water once with dilute human and livestock manure water after planting to help them survive. Before the first harvest, carry out intertillage and weeding 2-3 times, respectively when the seedlings are 3 cm, 12-15 cm, and 21-24 cm tall; after the second cutting, earth up 6 cm to protect the roots.

Irrigation and overwintering: Agastache rugosa fears both drought and waterlogging. After planting or cuttings, water once in the morning and once in the evening every day before rooting, just enough to moisten the bed surface. When drought occurs and the bed surface turns white, irrigation should be introduced once every 5-8 days, leading water into the furrows to a depth of 1/2-2/3 of the bed height and allowing it to slowly seep in and moisten the bed surface; in the rainy season or after heavy rain, drainage must be done to strictly prevent root rot from water accumulation, so when planting in paddy fields, build high beds and deep ditches. For Agastache rugosa that needs to overwinter, especially young plants set out in summer and autumn, which have poor cold resistance, in areas with frost, cover with grass or build sheds for frost protection in early winter, and you can also block the north wind side and add plastic film; it is best to apply pig and cattle barn manure at the end of autumn, and add burnt soil ash and burnt mud to mound the roots for warmth; for those planted in September, in early October you can also interplant tall-stemmed broadleaf winter crops such as rapeseed to block frost and protect against cold.

Harvesting and processing: From April to June, tender stems, leaves, or young seedlings can be picked; when buds and flowers appear, pick the inflorescences, wash them, and cut them into sections; alternatively, in July-August during full bloom, choose a sunny day and cut the plants level with the ground, then after bringing them back, quickly sun-dry, flue-dry, or shade-dry them for later use. Each hectare can yield 4500-7500 kg. In commercial products, those with green stems and branches, dryness, many leaves, and a rich aroma are considered best.

Benefits and Effects of Agastache rugosa

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 fortifying the spleen, and regulating qi and harmonizing the stomach. It mainly treats chills and fever, dizziness, chest and epigastric stuffiness, poor appetite and heaviness of the body, and vomiting and diarrhea caused by externally contracted summerheat-dampness, cold-dampness, damp-warmth, and dampness obstructing the middle burner. It is also used for morning sickness during pregnancy, restless fetal movement, bad breath, sinusitis, and tinea of the hands and feet.

Specifically: its slightly warm nature can dispel cold, and it is good at treating externally contracted wind-cold in the summer months; its aromatic nature transforms dampness, giving it very good effects on summerheat-dampness and damp-warmth in summer; people are prone to heatstroke in summer, and the commonly taken Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid is a classic for preventing and relieving heatstroke; it is also a commonly used medicine for treating vomiting and counterflow, and works better when combined with Atractylodes lancea, Magnolia officinalis bark, tangerine peel, and Pinellia ternata. The volatile oil it contains can promote gastric juice secretion and enhance digestive function, and has analgesic and antispasmodic effects on the stomach and intestines; it can dilate microvessels and cause slight sweating, helping to relieve exterior pathogens and treat exterior syndromes, and it has inhibitory effects on common pathogenic fungi as well as Staphylococcus aureus, alpha-hemolytic streptococci, pneumococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and dysentery bacilli; among its components, methyleugenol and anethole have the effects of raising white blood cell counts and fighting bacteria, and for tumor patients and people with low white blood cells caused by long-term radiation exposure or drugs, it can raise white blood cells and enhance immunity.

Side Effects and Contraindications of Agastache rugosa

Although Agastache rugosa is good, it generally has a certain effect on the stomach, and it is forbidden for those with yin deficiency and hyperactive fire or excess constipation. Before using it as medicine or in food therapy, first understand your own constitution and pay attention to food combinations, so that its value can be brought into play more safely.