Artificial cultivation techniques of Glycyrrhiza uralensis

Licorice, also known as sweet grass, is a common Chinese herbal medicine for tonifying the spleen and replenishing qi, and it is also the most widely used traditional Chinese medicine, which has the effect of clearing heat and detoxification, eliminating phlegm and relieving cough. Powerful efficacy, mostly wild, after the expansion of market demand, the slow rise of artificial planting, the following pro-agricultural network to bring you licorice cultivation techniques.

1. Soil selection and land preparation

Wild licorice grows mostly in arid and semi-arid sandy soil and loess hilly areas. it is resistant to drought and heat, and is suitable for planting in sandy soil with loose fat and good drainage. The soil can be slightly saline-alkali, with a ph value of about 8. Turn the soil deep, break up the clods, clean up the gravel and so on, and level the ground.

2. Seed treatment

Before planting, select high-quality varieties with strong disease resistance and high yield. Licorice seed skin is thick and hard, and direct sowing is not easy to sprout, so it is necessary to treat the seeds. The treatment methods are different, but the ultimate goal is to make the seed coat rough and enhance water permeability. In some places, the seed coat is ground rough with a rice machine. Others soak the seeds in water, soak the seeds in warm water for 8-10 hours, then mix the seeds with diluted sulfuric acid, wash them and dry them, and sow them, so that the survival rate of sowing is more than 90%.

3. Sowing seeds

Licorice is resistant to drought, heat and light, so it is suitable for sowing in spring, summer and autumn, among which sowing in May is the best, when the temperature is high, which is beneficial to seedling emergence, applying sufficient base fertilizer before sowing, using strip sowing or hole sowing. Sowing row spacing and plant spacing is 30x15, sowing 3-5 seeds per hole is the best, sowing soil cover firmly.

4. Field management

The seedlings can be interspersed when the seedlings reach the height of 15cm. In addition, the seedlings should be ploughed and weeded in time after sowing, usually 3-4 times in the same year, and then the times of intertillage can be reduced appropriately with the growth of the plant. The water and fertilizer management of licorice is also extremely important. About one month after seedling emergence, the seedlings should be watered once, and then watered every other month. Before entering winter, licorice should be watered to survive the winter. After licorice is planted with sufficient base fertilizer, there is basically no need to apply any fertilizer.

The above are the artificial cultivation techniques of licorice brought to you by the pro-agricultural network. Licorice has a long planting cycle and generally takes 3-4 years to harvest, which is best in autumn. Dig up the rhizome, remove the small roots and buds, wash and dry them.