Cultivation and management of licorice

Licorice, also known as sweet licorice root, red licorice, powder grass, is a leguminous plant, which is used in medicine with the rhizome of the root.

Licorice is a perennial herb, 30-40 cm high. The root is stout, cylindrical, sweet, the outer skin is brownish red, the stem is erect, and the lower part is micro-lignified. Leaves alternate, butterfly-shaped, purplish red. Seeds oblate. The florescence is from June to July and the fruiting period is from July to September.

Licorice flavor Ganping, with heat-clearing and detoxification, moistening the lungs and relieving cough, reconcile the role of various medicines, for the brother of all medicines. With the exception of waterlogged depressions and land with high groundwater level, all other land can be planted.

I. cultivation techniques

① seed propagation. The seeds were sown in early April. Because the seed cortex of licorice is hard and thick, and its light and water permeability is poor, it is best to try to wear out the seed coat before sowing, or soak it in warm water and hide it in wet sand for 1 month before sowing, so as to accelerate the seed germination. When sowing, open a shallow trench according to the row spacing of 30 cm, the ditch depth is about 1.5 cm, spread the seeds evenly into the ditch, cover about 1 cm of soil, and the seed consumption is 2-2.5 kg per 667 square meters (1 mu).

② rhizome propagates. The rhizome propagates and grows fast. When picking licorice in spring and autumn, the coarse root is used as medicine. The small rhizome is selected and cut into small segments of 12 to 15 cm, with 2 to 3 buds in each section. The rhizome is trenched according to the row spacing of 30 cm, the ditch depth is 10 cm, and the rhizome is placed in the ditch according to the plant spacing of 15 cm. Finally, the soil is raked flat, suppressed and watered.

II. Field management

Always keep the soil moist before and after emergence to facilitate the growth of seedlings after emergence, and should be watered in time for drought. When the seedlings grow 2-3 true leaves, it is necessary to carry out inter-seedling, after determining the plant spacing of 10-12 cm. Weed in time, after the plant grows up, the rhizome is exposed to the ground, and the soil should be cultivated properly. Before freezing, 2000-2500 kg of miscellaneous fertilizer should be applied every 667m2. Food crops can be planted in order to make full use of the land. After the rhizomes of licorice cover the whole field, there is no need for special management.