Seed propagation technology of Asarum

Asarum, alias: Asarum, Herba Asari, Latin name: Asarum sieboldii Miq. Perennial herbs of Aristolochaceae and Asarum; rhizome erect or transverse, 2-3 mm in diameter, 1-2 cm long internodes, with multiple fibrous roots. Leaves usually 2, leaf blade cordate or ovate-cordate, apex acuminate or acute, base deeply cordate, apex rounded, leaf surface sparsely short hairy, densely on veins, leaf dorsal only veined hairy; stamens inserted in middle of ovary, filaments subequal to anthers or slightly longer, connective prominent, short conical; ovary semi-inferior or nearly superior, globose, shorter, stigma lateral. Fruit subglobose, ca. 1.5 cm in diam., brownish yellow. The florescence is from April to May.

Growth habit

Asarum prefers a cool, moist environment, avoiding bright light and drought. The soil should be loose, fertile and rich in organic matter.

Generally, the seeds are sown at the beginning of July and the seeds are cracked at the beginning of August, and the radicle is exposed in the middle of August. It can reach 4 cm in early September and more than 6 cm in October. The seedlings did not emerge in the same year, and the buds were unearthed after breaking dormancy at a low temperature below 4 ℃ to the next spring when the local temperature rose to about 6 ℃. 8Mel reached the peak seedling stage at 12 ℃. The growth and development of Asarum is very slow, only two cotyledons grow in the second year after sowing, one true leaf only grows in the spring of the third year, there are still five true leaves in the fourth year, or a few of them blossom in the fourth year, and most of them bloom and bear fruit in the fifth and sixth years. The seedlings were unearthed in spring, and the aboveground parts were basically shaped in May, and no new branches and leaves grew in the future, even if the stems and leaves were lost due to diseases, insects or injuries. The rhizome dormates in the ground, forms a small bud in autumn, and pulls out smaller leaves after overwintering. Therefore, it is very important to protect the healthy growth of the aboveground parts.

Seeds have dormancy habits, so seeds need to be moisturized and stored after harvest, so that the seed embryos continue to differentiate and develop, and the post-ripening process can be completed after 30 minutes. Seeds avoid drying and have a short life span, generally about 30 days.

Both strip sowing and sowing are possible for sexual reproduction, and sowing is better. When the seeds were first collected, the germination rate reached 96%, dry for 20 days, 81% for 40 days, 29% for 60 days, and only 2% for 60 days. Therefore, after the seeds are ripe and harvested from June to July, they should be sown immediately. For some reason, the seeds could not be sown. After mixing 3 parts of wet sand and 1 part of seeds evenly, they were buried in the shade to maintain proper humidity, but the seeds could not be sowed later than the end of July at the latest, which would affect the long roots. About 5kg of fresh seeds are needed per mu.

Seeding is often used to raise seedlings in the forest. Because of its loose and fertile soil, the seeds are easy to emerge, and the seedlings are evenly distributed, which is conducive to root growth. Remove 3-5cm from the bed before sowing, flatten the bottom of the border with an iron rake, mix the seeds with 5-10 times fine sand or fine humus, evenly remove on the trough surface, the distance between seeds is 1-2cm, and then cover 1-1.5cm with sifted fine humus. The bed is covered with a layer of firewood or leaves to preserve moisture and prevent erosion by Rain Water. The sowing amount is 15g/ square meters.

Strip sowing on the bed is laterally spaced 10cm, 5-6cm wide. In a flat-bottomed shallow trench with deep 3cm or so, spread the seeds evenly into the ditch (seed spacing 1-2cm, sowing rate 12-15g/ square meters;), cover 1-1.5cm with sifted fine humus soil, step on your feet, water them, and cover with a layer of firewood or leaves to preserve moisture after 2-3 days.

Asarum can not take root in that year after sowing, and the mulch should be removed in time before emergence in the spring of the second year to facilitate seedling emergence.

The transplanting seedlings were cultivated for 2-3 years and then transplanted. It can be planted in spring and autumn, but it is better to plant in autumn. After the leaves fade in autumn and before the buds germinate in spring, select strong seedlings with complete roots free of diseases and insect pests. Cluster planting was carried out in a trench with a distance of 15-20cm and a depth of 9-10cm on a prepared seedbed. Cluster spacing 8-10cm, 3-4 seedlings per clump, 2-3 large seedlings, bud head away, slightly raised, the root is fan-shaped stretch; if the soil is dry, need watering, after water infiltration, cover soil 7-8cm (field transplanting cover soil can be shallow), slightly suppress. After autumn planting, the border is covered with dead branches and leaves to prevent Rain Water from scouring or soil consolidation. If transplanting in early spring, a shade should be built. Rhizome propagation is often carried out in combination with drug collection. After the Asarum was dug out, most of the rhizomes and fibrous roots were processed into medicine, and the full and robust rhizomes with terminal buds were selected and planted with 4-5cm, 2-3 buds and 15-20 fibrous roots.

1 seed screening

Asarum seeds matured in the middle and late June. After picking and stacking for 2-3 days, when the fruit is cracked and the flesh is powdery, rub it on a sieve, wash the seeds and pulp that fall under the sieve, remove and throw away the shrunken seeds floating on the water, remove the semi-mature seeds suspended in the water and sow them separately, and use the full seeds sunk under the water to raise seedlings.

2 seed disinfection

Asarum seeds often carry all kinds of germs. In order to avoid or reduce the seeds carrying all kinds of pathogens, the seeds should be disinfected before sowing. Soak the seeds with 1000 times of 50% carbendazim wettable powder or 1000 times of 50% carbendazim wettable powder for 30 minutes, remove them and dry them slightly before sowing.

3 sowing seeds at the right time

Asarum seeds have the characteristics of physiological post-ripening and can not be stored at dry room temperature. Therefore, seeds should be sowed immediately after mature harvest and washing in mid-and late June, and those seeds that cannot be sown in time for some reason should be treated with sand. Seeds treated with sand storage can be sown at any time, but no later than the previous sentence in August at the latest. It is easy to break the radicle if sowing too late, and the seeds that break the radicle will not emerge after sowing.

4 thickness of soil cover

Asarum seed is small, germ top soil ability is weak, sowing soil is too thick will affect seedling emergence, reduce seedling emergence rate, and prolong seedling stage; cover soil is too thin, the surface soil is easy to cause buds after drying. Therefore, the thickness of soil cover should be properly controlled when sowing, and 1cm is generally appropriate.