Cultivation techniques of Peony Flower

China is the origin of peony, and peony is also loved by the majority of people. In order to better develop tree peony and give full play to its ornamental value, this paper analyzes the related morphology and ecological habits of tree peony from the cultivation history of tree peony, through the description of the breeding methods, cultivation management and flowering regulation of tree peony. the cultivation techniques of tree peony were discussed.

Cultivation History of Peony Flower

Peony has been known as the king of flowers since ancient times, known as "national color Tianxiang", known as "rich flowers". Peony has a long history of cultivation in China for more than 1500 years. The Tang Dynasty was already a precious flower in the imperial palace, and the Peony Garden was specially opened up in Lishan. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the peonies in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Bozhou, Caozhou, Jiangnan and Lanzhou all shone brilliantly, pushing the peonies into the "king of flowers". Now, China, the United States, Japan, the Netherlands and other countries, through cross breeding, have cultivated new commercial potted peony varieties.

Biological characteristics of peony flower

1. Morphological characteristics. Peony belongs to deciduous shrubs of Paeoniaceae. Generally, the stem is 1 ~ 2 meters high, and the one who is as high as 3 meters. Branches are clustered from the ground, with obvious nodes and leaf scars. Fleshy taproot, without lateral roots. 2-Ternate-pinnately compound leaves, surface dull, green, glabrous, abaxially powdered, nearly glabrous. Flowers solitary; branches apical, large, 10-30 cm in diameter. Most of the cultivated varieties are double flowers with rich colors, such as yellow, white, red, pink, purple, green and so on. The florescence is from April to May. Follicles, seeds black. The ripening period is from mid-August to early September.

2. Ecological habits. Tree peony is a cultivated species, and the original tree peony is produced in northwest China and Qinling Mountains. It likes cold winters that contribute to dormancy and mild summer climate conditions that are favorable for flower bud differentiation. It is more cold-resistant than heat-resistant. It can usually withstand a low temperature of-20 degrees, but if the temperature exceeds 32 degrees, it will have an adverse effect on the peony. I like light, but I don't like basking in the sun. Its root is fleshy, likes dryness, dislikes dampness and is afraid of waterlogging. It is suitable for fertile pine and well-drained soil, and the soil PH value is neutral or acidic; it can also grow normally in alkaline calcareous soil, but avoid saline-alkali soil. The growth of the plant is slow, and the new shoots wither every year, resulting in the phenomenon of "retreating branches", so it is said that the peony grows by one foot and retreats eight inches. Seedlings are usually 5 or 6 years old.

Cultivation techniques of Peony Flower

1. Methods of reproduction

(1) ramet propagation. Asexual reproduction can keep the excellent characters of mother plant basically unchanged, and this method is mainly used in the reproduction of ornamental peony. Peony has no obvious trunk and is a tufted shrub, which is very suitable for ramet and is relatively simple and easy to do. The methods and steps are as follows:

① chose the suitable ramet time. The ramet of tree peony is generally from late September to early October, during which the ground temperature is very suitable for the formation of new roots of tree peony. If it is planted early, because the external temperature is still high, it is easy to cause winter buds to sprout and produce new branches, that is, "autumn hair", which not only consumes nutrients, but also reduces the ability of cold and drought resistance, which is very disadvantageous to the flowering of the next spring growth. If the new roots are planted too late, the new roots are weak or do not produce new roots, and the plant grows weakly in the following year, with few tillers, short and thin branches, and is easy to die in case of drought.

② ramet method. Tree peony can be propagated after growing for 3 years, but it is suitable for 4-5 years old. First, the mother plant was dug out of the ground and dried in the sun for 2 days to soften the root but not dry too much, and split in the place where it was easy to separate. the lower part of the new ramet should have a better root system, and each plant should have 3-5 tillering buds. The plant can be divided again after 5 ~ 6 years. The old branches on the upper part of ramet seedlings should be cut off at the upper 3-5cm of the root neck before planting. If there are no tillering buds or too few or thin tillering buds, there should be 3 latent buds below the cutting site. The main purpose of cutting off the old branches is to avoid the consumption of nutrients in the roots by the leaves and flowers of the old branches, promote tillering and enhance the growth potential of ramet seedlings.

The planting method of ③ plantlets. The seedlings were quickly dipped in the mixture of methyl isophosphates and Luheng No.1, and then planted after drying. At the same time, in order to stimulate the formation of new roots, rooting agents such as indolebutyric acid and naphthylacetic acid of 50-200mg/L can be added to the mixture to promote rooting and enhance growth potential. When planting, it is like "three buries, two steps and one lift" in forest production, that is, first put the seedling vertically into the hole, put its root, gently lift the seedling with one hand, and fill the pit with the other. When the soil is in the middle of the pit, gently lift the seedling by hand, gently shake it left and right, make the fine soil close to the root, tamp it around the seedling with a stick, then fill the soil, tamp it, and finally fill the planting hole. After planting, the planting hole is sealed into a mound with loose soil, and the mound is generally higher than the ground 15-20cm.

(2) Graft propagation

The main considerations are grafting time, rootstock, scion and grafting method.

① grafting time. Peony can be grafted from late September to early October, and it is suitable for White Dew (September 7-8) to the Autumn Equinox (September 23-24), especially before and after White Dew, the survival rate of grafting is the highest, which may be the response of peony grafting to specific temperature and humidity. Before and after White Dew, the air temperature is 20 ℃ and the deep ground temperature of October is 18 ℃, so the survival rate is high.

Selection of ② rootstocks. The rootstock is usually peony root bean or peony root. Using peony root as rootstock, grafting is not cheap because of its thinner and more hardware. the propagated plant grows slowly at the beginning, but the base of scion is easy to root and sprout more, which is beneficial to later ramet and longer life. The root of Paeonia lactiflora is used as rootstock, because its Lignification is relatively weak, the operation is more convenient, and the survival rate is relatively high. However, the root of the scion has fewer roots, less tillers, and a shorter life span. The rootstock should be dried for 2 days, and then grafted after losing water and softening, so that the incision is not easy to split and easy to operate.

③ scion. Scion is best to pick soil buds to grow into branches, its tissue is full, vitality is exuberant, the base is easy to produce new roots and sprouting new branches, and the survival rate is high. If there are few sprouting branches, only the annual branches in the upper part of the crown can be used as scions. The length of scion is generally 5-10cm, the thickness is more than 0.5cm, and there are 2-3 full buds.

④ grafting. After splicing or cutting, bind with hemp instead of plastic film strip, coat it with mud and plant it into a deep and wide basin. The basin soil should be injected with tide, generally without watering and moisturizing with soil.

(2) sowing and propagation

Ornamental peony is often used in cultivating new varieties, with the exception of medicinal peony. When the peony fruit is ripe and naturally crack and scatter black seeds, it is necessary to pick the fruit before the fruit is about to crack, put the fruit in a sieve to dry, and sow the seeds immediately after the seeds are collected in September. Pay attention to keeping the soil moist. After the seeds spent the winter in the soil, due to the stimulation of low temperature, the epicotyl elongated in the spring of the second year, and the seedlings were unearthed.