Cultivation and Disease Control of Lycium barbarum

When it comes to wolfberry, people think of red wolfberry, and few people know that there is also a vegetable wolfberry that can eat its tender leaves.

Lycium barbarum L. is a deciduous shrub of Solanaceae with a plant height of 1m. Branches slender, long curved or drooping, young branches angular, skin gray, glabrous, usually with short spines, born in leaf axils. Leaves alternate or clustered on short branches, leaf blade ovate, ovate-rhombic or ovate-lanceolate, entire. Flowers often 1-4 clustered in leaf axils, calyx campanulate; corolla funnelform, lilac, margin ciliate, 5-parted. Berry ovate or oblong, red, seeds numerous, flat reniform, yellow, flowering 6-9 months, fruiting 8-11 months.

Lycium barbarum L. has strong adaptability, cold tolerance and drought tolerance, but is afraid of waterlogging. Artificial cultivation with deep soil, fertile, good drainage sandy loam and neutral or slightly alkaline soil is good. Attention should be paid to:

1. Land selection and preparation

Select sandy loam near water source, light loam next. Salt content below 0.2% is appropriate. Deep ploughing 20-30cm in autumn, applying manure 2000-2500kg per 667m2, applying fertilizer 4000-5000kg if sufficient, spreading evenly into the soil, and watering with frozen water. Before sowing in the next spring, shallow tillage and fine harrowing shall be carried out, with width of 1m and unlimited length, and the ridge surface shall be leveled to be planted.

II. Sowing time and method

Vegetable wolfberry can be sown in spring, summer and autumn. In northern China, it is generally sown in spring and sown in late March. Soaking seeds in warm water at 40℃ for one day and night before sowing can promote neat emergence. When sowing, shallow furrows are opened for drilling, the depth of the furrows is 3-5cm, and the furrows are spaced 30cm apart. The seeds are mixed with sand evenly, scattered into ditches, covered with 2-3cm soil, watered after light treading, and the seeding amount is 0.5-0.7kg per 667m2. Days of drought can be used in the ridge surface with straw, wheat straw, rape straw, etc. cover, remove the cover after emergence. Pay attention to weeding, loosening and insect control.

III. Cutting or tillering seedling planting

After thawing in spring, the cultivated land with sufficient basal fertilizer is made into high ridges with width of 30 cm, height of 20cm and ridge spacing of 20 cm, and cuttings or tillering seedlings are planted according to plant spacing of 10-15cm. After planting, water in the furrow, with wet high ridge is appropriate. Pay attention to tilling and loosening soil to promote rooting.

IV. Field management

After sowing or planting, attention should be paid to intertillage and weeding. After cutting or tillering seedlings take root, fertilizer should be applied 1-2 times a month, and watering should be appropriate to keep the soil moist. 50-60 days after sowing, the seedlings can be harvested when the height is about 50cm. From May onwards, harvest will be tender slightly cut off, leaving 2-3 shoots, ready to continue growth and development. After slightly tender packaging can be sold on the market.

V. Pest control

Chinese wolfberry gall mite. It mainly damages leaves, tender shoots and buds of Lycium barbarum L. The damaged leaves are densely covered with yellow round raised spots, which are pale purple or black gall in severe cases. The growth of plants is seriously hindered, resulting in the decrease of fruit yield and quality.

Control methods: (1) Spraying pesticides before and after overwintering when a large number of adult mites appear to reduce the density of pest mites. 50% acaricide colloidal suspension 600 times solution, 50% sulfur suspension 300 times solution or 1.8% ebiscin 3000-4000 times solution can be selected. (2)To master the exposure period of adult gall mites or the active period of adult sting mites, spray O. 5 Baume sulfur mixture, 4% acarb EC 2000 times solution or 50% sulfur suspension 300 times solution for 2-3 times.

2. Lycium barbarum negative mud insect for vegetables. It mainly damages the tender leaves and shoots of Lycium barbarum L. Adults and larvae feed on leaves, resulting in irregular notches and holes, seriously eating whole leaves, and excreting feces on branches, seriously affecting the quality of vegetable wolfberry products.

Control methods: (1) When the overwintering larvae and adults recover in spring, irrigation and loosening of soil are combined with field management to destroy the overwintering environment and eliminate the overwintering insects. (2)4 In the middle of the month, when the adults begin to live, 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate can be mixed with 4000mL per hectare and appropriate amount of water, sprinkled into the field, and then cultivated. (3)At the stage of seedling and adult infestation, spray 90% trichlorfon crystal 1000 times, 20% mefenapyr 3000 times or 20% fenvalerate 3000 times, depending on the insect condition, for 3-5 times at intervals of about 10 days.

3. Lycium barbarum L. Adult aphids or adult aphids gather mostly on tender leaves and buds to prick and suck juice, causing tender shoots to be brown and withered. When serious, the leaves are covered with oily secretions, called "oil sweat", which affects photosynthesis, makes the leaves fall early and the tree is weak.

Control methods: (1) The branches pruned in autumn and winter are burned intensively to eliminate overwintering eggs; the long branches are cut off in time in the growing season to eliminate aphids clustered in young parts and reduce the density of insects in the field. (2)At the early stage of damage, spraying in time can select 20% fenvalerate 2000 times solution, 50% miyejing 3000 times solution and 10% imidacloprid WP 1500 times solution.

VI. Harvesting

When the main stem height of Lycium barbarum L. is 20cm, the tender tip can be picked for eating, and the tender tip can be eaten. In warm season, it is harvested once every 15-20 days, and in cold season, it is harvested once every 30-40 days.