Plantain is a well-known plant grass. It is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Plantainaceae and the genus Plantain. It is also known as plantain and toad leaf.
Its morphological characteristics are: long taproots, semi-succulent, multi-lateral roots, relatively developed root system; basal leaves, rosette-shaped, lying, diagonally spreading or upright; leaves with plump paper and oval shape, The leaves are generally 3-12 cm long and 1-3.5 cm wide. The seeds are oval in shape, flat on the ventral surface, and are yellowish brown to black in color when mature.
Its living habits are: It has strong adaptability to the environment, is cold and drought tolerant, and can live well in barren and fertile soil. This plant genus has a strong reproductive capacity, and the main method of reproduction is by seeds.
Its function is: the young plant is edible, and after the adult plant, the whole plant has medicinal value.
This herb has been recorded as early as in the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", one of my country's four most famous ancient books. It is recorded that Plantain is a whole plant that can be used as medicine. Plantain is sweet in taste, cold in nature, non-toxic, and is used as medicine. It has the functions of dispelling phlegm, antibacterial, clearing liver and improving eyesight, lowering blood pressure and diuresis.
So how do you plant and manage plantains to achieve high yields? Below, the farmer’s sister-in-law will share with you the planting and management methods of dandelions
Although Plantago is a kind of plant with wide adaptability to the environment, strong stress resistance, and not strict requirements on soil, it can be grown in various soil types. It is a plant that grows very well, but if you want to have high yields, you still need to plant it in moist, fertile, organic-rich, loose land. Therefore, moist, relatively fertile, sandy soil should be the best choice for sowing land. Before planting, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied. 3000~5000kg of decomposed farm manure can be applied per acre, and then the plot should be plowed to ensure that the manure and soil are fully consistent before sowing.
◇For seedling cultivation and sowing, the seeds must first be germinated and soaked. Soak the seeds in clean water for about 2 hours, then drain the water and wrap them with clean gauze and place them in an environment of 15-20 degrees for germination. During the germination period, Make sure the seed buds are moist, and they will germinate in about 5 days. At this time, you can start sowing. When sowing, we can place 2 to 3 seed buds in one hole. The depth of the hole is 3 cm, the row spacing is 20-30 cm, and the plant spacing is 5-8 cm.
◇The sowing method of dry seed sowing can be drill sowing or direct broadcasting. Before sowing, mix the seeds with fine sand and rub them lightly to remove the oil on the outside of the seeds. Then spread the seeds evenly in the trenches. Make trenches with a row spacing of 20~30cm and a depth of 1~1.5cm. The seeding rate is 1~1.5cm per row. 2-4g per square meter, then cover the seeds with fine soil, the amount of covering soil is 3 cm. Covering the soil shallowly will help improve the germination rate of the seeds, and then add water to cover the field. The seeds can germinate after 7-8 days. The germination rate of this sowing method is generally above 90%.
Plantain grows slowly. After the seedlings emerge, soil loosening work must be carried out in time to promote rooting. When the seedlings grow to 2-3 leaves, the seedlings must be divided or fixed. The spacing between rows is 20-30cm, and the spacing between plants is 10-15cm. The spacing of 10cm to 15cm is most suitable for retaining seedlings.
Plantain likes fertilizer. During the entire growth process, top dressing and foliar fertilizer should be applied reasonably 1-2 times. For foliar top dressing, quick-acting fertilizers such as potassium dichloride phosphate or urea can be added. . After fertilizing, the leaves will grow vigorously and have enhanced resistance. It can also promote the growth of ears and achieve high yield.
The first fertilizer addition should be in May. The underground top dressing should mostly be based on farmyard manure added with water. 3000Kg of light human and animal manure can be applied per acre to enhance its growth; the second The second top dressing can be carried out in early July. At this time, plantain enters the stage of young panicle differentiation, and some young panicles are extracted from the leaf axils. Nitrogen must be controlled to supplement phosphorus, potassium, boron fertilizers and hormones to create conditions for flowering and seeding.
When entering the rosette stage, watering should be controlled and water should not be allowed to accumulate at the bottom. Because the bottom leaves of the plantain grow flat on the ground, it will not grow until the plantain plant begins to grow. Water should be controlled properly during the period to avoid accumulation of water at the bottom, which may lead to leaf rot.
?◆The main diseases that harm plantain are: leaf blight and root rot.
The main damage characteristic of leaf blight is the cotyledons of the plant. The disease starts from the cotyledons at the bottom of the plant and gradually spreads upward. In the early stage of the disease, small round, brown spots appear on the leaf surface, and the lesions continue to expand. , the center shows grayish brown, and finally the cotyledons dry up and the plant becomes necrotic.
The main damage characteristics of root rot are as follows: in the early stage of the disease, the roots and rhizomes will show brown to dark brown lesions, which will gradually fester, until the plant's outer bark falls off in the later stage, leaving only the xylem, and above ground Some branches will wither or the cotyledons will turn yellow. In severe cases, the entire plant or branches will become necrotic.
For the prevention and control of these two types of diseases, early prevention should be the main focus. From the seedling stage to the entire growth period, you can choose to spray 600 times of carbendazim and 500 times of zinc. Spray and control once every half a month or so, and the diseased plants that appear must be dug out and disposed of in time to prevent the disease from spreading and harming other seedlings.
Aphids are the main pests that like to harm plantains. They are widely distributed, and these pests overlap in generations and can reproduce for more than ten generations every year. It is harmful mainly by sucking the sap from plants. When plantain is harmed by it, it will cause the ear segments to become shortened and bent, and the young leaves to curl downward in a deformed manner, making the plant short and dwarfed, seriously affecting the quality and quality of plantain. For aphid control, we can use spinosad insecticide spray to control aphids.
? Plantain harvesting can be divided into two parts: seed harvesting and whole plant harvesting.
◆Seed Harvesting: The shell of the lower part of the plantain ear initially turns light brown, and the shell of the middle fruit initially turns yellow. When harvesting, we can use the changes in the upper fruit as the harvesting standard. When you see that the flowers on the upper part of the fruit have been harvested, you can start harvesting the seeds.
★What should be noted here is that the seed harvesting work must be carried out in batches. Because the heading period of plantain is long, the ones that head first mature early, so they must be harvested in batches, every 3 to 5 days. Cut the ears once a day and gradually finish cutting the ears. Another thing to note is: Seed harvesting should be done in the morning or on cloudy days to prevent fruit cracking and grain loss during harvesting on sunny and warm days.
◆ Whole-grass harvesting: Whole-grass harvesting can be done when the plantain seedlings grow to 6 to 7 leaves, or when the plant body grows to 13 to 17 inches tall. When harvesting, the whole plant can be uprooted, washed and placed in a ventilated and cool place to slowly air-dry. After the roots and neck are dry, it can be stored.
★Note that the whole harvested grass must not be exposed to strong light to avoid destroying the medicinal properties of the grass and causing losses.