How to plant Alpinia officinalis seeds

1. Seed collection

The mature seeds will generally turn orange-red around the White Dew solar term and can be picked at this time. When taking seeds, choose fruits with good growth momentum and full and uniform fruits. Cut them with a knife and remove the shells. Prepare a basin of warm water, put the fruit in and soak it for a while, then rub the pulp with your hands to separate the seeds, pour out the water, take out the seeds and place them in a cool and ventilated place. It cannot be planted directly but must be placed in the sand and stored until the spring of the following year.

2. Sowing time

Sowing can be done throughout the year except in summer, but winter and autumn are the best times. In winter, a heat preservation shed can be added.

3. Sowing Method

1. Choose a piece of sandy land with good drainage, close to water source, sunny and fertile, preferably slightly acidic land. The advantage of growing seedlings by sowing is that they can germinate over a large area, so you can choose a larger area of ​​sandy land.

2. After selecting the land, preparations should be made one month in advance. The land should be turned over to a depth of 25 centimeters, impurities should be removed and the land should be leveled. An appropriate amount of base fertilizer should be added to supplement the fertility. Just mix it directly into the soil when deep plowing.

Build high-rise buildings for seedling cultivation. Make a raised bed 1 meter wide and 25 centimeters high, with 30 centimeters between each row, and adjust the bed surface to be level.

3. Soak the seeds in warm water at about 50 degrees, heat the water after it cools down, and heat it again after it cools down, and repeat three times. Pinch the seeds until they soften.

4. Sow seeds on a raised bed with a distance of 20 cm or more between each seed. About 20 seeds can be planted in one sowing hole, and the soil should be covered with two cm. If conditions permit, you can use fire soil ash as the surface covering soil.

5. After planting the seeds, cover them with straw mats. Soak the raised bed all over with water until the soil is soaked. The time for watering will be determined according to the moisture content of the soil. It will take about twenty days to a month for the seeds to sprout. After that, you just need to strengthen the management of water and fertility.