Propagation methods of Dendrobium, a perennial herb of Orchidaceae

Dendrobium, also known as Dendrobium, is a perennial herb of Orchidaceae, which is a precious traditional Chinese medicine; it is divided into Dendrobium nobile, Dendrobium candidum, Dendrobium candidum, Dendrobium candidum and Dendrobium candidum. Dendrobium is known as "the first of the nine immortal herbs in China".

Dendrobium is used as medicine with fresh or dry stem, which has the functions of benefiting stomach and promoting fluid, nourishing yin and clearing heat, mostly used for Yin injury and fluid deficiency, mouth dryness and thirst, less retching, deficiency and heat after illness, dark vision and so on. It is also a sacred medicine widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat kidney yin deficiency from ancient times to the present.

Dendrobium is not only used in the clinical formula of traditional Chinese medicine in China, but also has a great demand for export and industrial raw materials of proprietary Chinese medicine. The annual demand is 80 ~ 1 million kg.

The reproduction methods of Dendrobium can be divided into two categories: sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction.

Sexual reproduction: Dendrobium seeds are very small, each capsule has about 20,000, yellow terminal shape, usually does not sprout, only in sufficient nutrients, suitable humidity, moderate light environment conditions can germinate and grow, generally need to be cultured in the tissue culture room.

There are three kinds of asexual reproduction.

One is plant propagation: in spring and autumn, it is better before Dendrobium germinated at the end of March or early April. The 1-year-old 2-year-old plant with good growth, no diseases and insect pests, developed root system and more germination was selected as the seed plant, which was uprooted, withered branches and broken branches were removed, and the overlong fibrous root was cut off. The old root was retained about 3 cm, and it was divided into several clusters according to the number of stems. Each cluster must have 4-5 branches of stem, which can be used as seed stem.

The second is cutting propagation: it is carried out in spring or summer, and it is better from May to June. Select the 3-year-old strong plant, take its full and round stem segment, each segment retains 4-5 nodes, about 15-25 cm long, inserted in limestone or river sand, the depth is not falling to the degree of the stem, when the axillary buds on the stem germinate and grow white air roots, you can transplant. Generally, when selecting materials, the upper stem segment is mainly used. Because of its top advantage, the survival rate is high, the number of buds is large, and the growth and development is fast.

Third, high bud propagation: mostly in spring or summer, mainly in summer. Dendrobium plants for more than 3 years will sprout axillary buds (also known as high buds) on the stem every year, and grow aerial roots to become seedlings, which can be cut off and transplanted when they grow to 5-7 cm.