Cultivation techniques of Magnolia

Magnolia white micro-green, Yingjie Qingli, is a Chinese specialty flower, with 2500 years of cultivation history. Alias Magnolia, Ying Chunhua, Wang Chunshu, for Magnoliaceae, Magnolia belongs to deciduous trees, plant height up to 15 meters, generally planted in the north for about 5 meters. The crown is round and ovate, there are large scales on the winter buds, and the shoots and buds are pubescent. The cultivated species have numerous dwarf branches and large and dense flowers. The seed has straight plant height, sparse branches, sparse leaves and flowers, but strong adaptability and rapid growth. Leaf blade large, alternate, Obovate to long elliptic, apex with very short protuberance, base cuneate, entire without serrate, leaf surface bright and sparsely pilose, abaxial leaf veins also pilose, petiole very short. Flowers large, solitary at the top of branches, bell-shaped petals Obovate, white, fleshy, with fragrance, calyx white, very similar to petals, with 9 to 15 petals. The first leaves open in spring and the florescence is about 8 to 10 days. The aggregate fruit is cylindrical, the young fruit is green, brown and dehiscent after maturity. The seed is suspended outside the fruit by the filaments connected to the placenta at the hilum. The outer Testa is red fleshy, the inner Testa is bony, and the fruit is ripe in October. Varieties are purple magnolia, the outer perianth purplish red, the inner perianth reddish, open at the same time with the leaves, fragrant. Magnolia can be divided into 6 to 11 types according to the number of petals, the erect or reverse curl of perianth, the width of petals, flower color and florescence.

Magnolia is native to the Yangtze River Basin in China, and is most cultivated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Hubei. The modern cultivation area gradually moved northward, and it is also cultivated in the central and southern parts of North China. Its cold resistance has a certain limit, Beijing is the northernmost limit of ground planting, can only be planted in a small environment of leeward and sunny, and needs to be protected from cold and air-drying in winter. Sex prefers a warm and humid environment with shade on the side and a little shade tolerance, while adult trees prefer light. Neutral and slightly acidic soils rich in humus, fertile, moist and well drained are required to grow poorly in saline-alkali soil. Magnolia belongs to fleshy whisker root system, like fertilizer, not only afraid of waterlogging, but also avoid drought, so it can not be planted in low-lying saline-alkali, dry and barren areas. It has a certain resistance to sulfur dioxide.

Magnolia is sensitive to temperature and blossoms earlier to the south. Beijing blossoms in May, Henan in April, Shanghai in March and Kunming in February.

Usually sowing, cutting, striping and grafting can be propagated. The main purpose of sowing is to cultivate rootstocks. The seeds of Magnolia must go through a low temperature of 0 ℃ to 7 ℃ in about 100 days to break dormancy and germinate, and can not be dehydrated and dry. It is best to sow seeds in autumn with picking or sowing in early spring after overwintering in open field sand storage. Hardwood cuttage is difficult to take root. In recent years, the Beginning of Autumn has successfully tried green branch cuttage with heel. The cutting substrate is half-mixed with plain sand and peat soil, and the cutting container can be inserted into a cuttage box or seedling basin, and the cuttings are inserted, covered with film, heat preservation and moisturizing, and maintained in a sparse shade. After winter, they are moved to a low-temperature or medium-temperature greenhouse, and gradually take root in early spring next year. Striping propagation, the south often selects two or three-year-old sturdy branches after the flower fade, first peeling them in a ring, and then pressing the high branches, which can take root in the same year, and then cut off the mother in the early spring of next year and planted separately. Grafting is the main method of breeding magnolia. In the south, sowing seedlings or purple magnolia and magnolia are often used as rootstocks and cut in the Autumn Equinox. The new shoots in early spring can grow to 60cm to 100cm after autumn, and can blossom after 2 to 3 years. The seedlings of Magnolia and Magnolia can also be moved after flowering in spring, and can be cut off from the mother about 2 months after healing, and then planted in the basin.

When Magnolia is planted in the garden, 4-5-year-old grafted seedlings should be selected, and the seedlings should be carefully bandaged with complete soil blocks according to the specifications, and the bare root transplantation can not survive. The time of planting in spring should be from the fade of flowers to the time of spreading leaves, and it is better to plant in September in autumn, so that the wounds of roots can be healed and new roots can be produced before winter. In order to prevent wilting during transplanting, part of the leaves should be cut off before seedling emergence to reduce evaporation, but the petiole should be retained to protect axillary buds from damage. More fully mature organic fertilizer should be applied in the planting hole, and a layer of planting soil should be covered with the fertilizer to prevent direct contact between the fertilizer and the root system to prevent infection and decay.

The callus ability of Magnolia branches is weak, so it should be trimmed less if it is not necessary, and if it must be pruned for shaping, it should be operated when the leaf buds begin to stretch after flower fade. Fertilizer should be applied twice a year, once ditching from October to November to apply delayed organic fertilizer, and once combined with irrigation to apply liquid fertilizer after flower fade. The lower part of the newly planted plant (within three years) should be choked up and the upper part covered with grass to prevent severe cold and air-drying before the beginning of winter in the north. Pot should be on the bucket, winter into the cold room or cellar for the winter. Magnolia is a traditional precious flower and tree in China. Because it blossoms without leaves, it is best to use evergreen coniferous trees as the background when planting in the garden.