Cultivation techniques of Vitex Vitex

Vitex trifoliata L. is the mature seed of Vitex trifoliata L. of Verbenaceae. Also known as sand Jing Zi, Bai Bai Jing, Shi Jing Zi and so on. It has the effect of dispelling wind-heat, clearing away the head, calming the liver and cooling the blood. Its leaves also have detumescence pain, cooling blood hemostatic function. They are distributed throughout the country.

1. Selection and preparation of land

Select sand dunes, barren states, beaches, lakesides, riverbanks and other sunny places in low mountain areas, and loose sandy soil or sandy soil that is not easy to accumulate water. In addition to nursery grounds, generally do not have to make a ridge, can be directly open hole planting. Nursery land should be 20 cm deep, 2000-3000 kg farm manure per mu as base fertilizer, rake evenly, make a width of 1.3-1.5 meters of the bed.

II. Sowing

Available seed cuttings layering and sub-propagation, but production to mainly cuttings propagation.

Cuttage propagation: spring and autumn two seasons, but in spring rainy weather cuttings for good. 1 - 2 year old branches without diseases and insect pests are selected, cut into cuttings with length of 20 cm and 2-3 nodes, inserted into seedbed according to plant spacing of 6×15 cm, buried deeply about 2/3 of cuttings, solid soil, watered thoroughly and covered with grass. Spring cuttings were planted in autumn of the same year, and autumn cuttings were transplanted in early April of the following spring. The cuttings can also be cut into 40-50 cm cuttings and inserted directly into the field.

III. Field management

1. Intertillage and weeding: 1~2 years after planting, the plants are short and have not been sealed, so attention should be paid to intertillage and weeding. Generally, it is carried out before germination in spring, after leaf implementation in June and winter, and intertillage combined with soil cultivation in winter.

2. Topdressing: In the first two years after planting, human and livestock manure is mainly applied, generally combined with intertillage and weeding. After 2 years, the plants begin to blossom and bear fruit, so phosphorus fertilizer should be applied twice a year, the first time before flowering, the second time after pruning, and 1% calcium superphosphate aqueous solution can be sprayed 1-2 times at flowering stage, which has obvious yield increase effect.

3, drainage irrigation: ponding easy to cause serious flower drop fruit, and lead to disease, so the rainy season should be removed in time ponding.

4, pruning and topping: after 5 to 6 years of growth, the branches are densely clustered, and the old branches, weak branches, dead branches and diseased branches should be cut off during hibernation to promote the growth of new branches. When the new branches grow to about 1 meter, they should be topped to facilitate flowering.

IV. Pest control

1. Leaf spot disease: occurs from July to September and damages leaves. The control method is to plant at high altitude; clean the countryside after fruit harvest in autumn; spray 1:1:100 times of Bordeaux mixture before disease onset; spray 65% 500 times solution of Zineb or 75% 800 times solution of Chlorothalonil before flowering at the initial stage of disease onset.

2, blowing cotton scale insects: April to May, May to June and August to October serious damage, damage young branches, leaves and young fruits with nymph. Control method: clear up the weeds in the countryside; spray 8-10 times turpentine mixture or 3-5 times baume sulfur mixture in winter to kill the overwintering insects; spray 80% dichlorvos 1000 times solution in the occurrence period.

V. Harvesting and processing

Vitex trifoliata L. begins to blossom and bear fruit in the third year after planting, and can be picked when the fruit turns from green to gray brown. However, due to the large differences in climate around the fruit maturity varies greatly, generally 9-11 months to mature, should be harvested in batches. The fruits collected are stacked indoors for 3 to 4 days, and then spread out and dried to remove impurities.