The culture method of iron tree

Tieshu likes a warm, hot and humid environment, is not resistant to cold, grows very slowly, and has a life span of about 200 years. Trees more than 10 years old in the tropics and subtropics of southern China blossom and bear fruit almost every year, while iron trees cultivated in the Yangtze River basin and northern parts of China often do not blossom for life, or occasionally blossom and bear fruit. Iron tree likes light, likes iron element, and is slightly resistant to semi-shade. When planting in the open field in Shanghai, warm measures such as straw bandaging should be taken in winter. Like fertile, moist and slightly acidic soil, but can also withstand drought. The growth is slow and the plants more than 10 years old can blossom.

The Propagation method of Iron Tree

Reproduce with seeds and tillers; harvest mature seeds in autumn and sow them in high-temperature sunny sandy soil, furrow sowing, ditch depth 6-10cm, furrow distance 20-40cm, hole sowing plant spacing 10-15cm, covering soil thickness equal to 2 times of seed diameter, slightly suppressing, covering grass and watering to keep moist. After emergence, scatter the cover grass.

1. Tillering propagation. Cutting tillers on the trunk and planting in sandy loam with row spacing of 20-30cm, plant spacing of 10-15cm, covering soil of 6-8cm, shade, easy to survive under semi-shade condition.

2. Trunk cutting propagation. Cut the trunk into 10cm or so segments, buried in sandy soil, covered with 4-6cm, often watered to keep moist, wait for the cadres to send out new buds, they can be planted separately.

3. Sowing and reproduction. The seeds are collected at the end of autumn, sowed with picking and sowing, and sowed on demand in spring; the seed coat is thick and hard, and the bud is slow, which usually germinates after 4-6 months; the temperature should be above 15 degrees, the soil cover should be deeper, about 3 cm, and it can germinate in about 2 weeks at 30-33 ℃; the seedlings grow slowly, and the seedlings need 2 to 4 years to transplant.

Cultivation methods of Iron Tree

1. Cultivate soil. Preferably fertile sandy loam. The matching ratio is one part of loam, one part of compost humus soil and one part of coal ash, which is fully mixed. This kind of soil, loose and fertile, permeable and breathable, is very suitable for the growth of iron trees.

2. Trim. When the stem grows as high as 50 cm, the old leaves should be cut off in spring, and then cut once a year, or at least once every 3 years. If the plant is still small and the degree of expansion is not ideal, you can cut off all the leaves, which will not affect the angle of the new leaves and make the plant more perfect. When pruning, you should cut to the base of the petiole as far as possible to make the stem neat and beautiful.

3. Change the basin. Potted iron trees should pay attention to changing pots, at least once every 5 years. When changing the basin, the basin soil can be mixed with phosphate fertilizer such as bone powder, and the best time to change the basin is about 15 ℃. At this time, if the growth is exuberant, some old roots should be cut off appropriately to facilitate the growth of new roots in time.

Field Management of Iron Tree

Always keep the soil moist after sowing, pay attention to weeding and topdressing after emergence, and plant once after 2-3 years of cultivation. In 4-5 years after planting, weeding was carried out 3 times a year, in April, June and October, and topdressing twice in April and October, and fertilizer could be used in human and animal manure or soil fertilizer. After that, it was only ploughed once in spring and autumn every year, and soil and miscellaneous fertilizer was applied in autumn.

Tieshu likes micro-tide soil environment, because its growth rate is very slow, so we must pay attention to the amount of water should not be too large, otherwise it is not conducive to the normal physiological activities of its roots. From March to September every year, applying dilute liquid fertilizer to the plant once a week can effectively promote leaf growth. Try to keep the environment ventilated, otherwise the plant is easy to get shell insects. Tetranychus likes warmth and avoids severe cold. The suitable temperature for its growth is 20-30 ℃, and the overwintering temperature should not be lower than 5 ℃.