Planting and Management of Dipsacus asper

Dipsacus asper is a perennial herb of the Dipsacus family, Dipsacus genus, mainly distributed in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Tibet provinces in China. It grows by the ditches, grasses, forest edges and roadsides in fields. Its roots are often used as medicine. Below, I will introduce the planting and management of Dipsacus asper, let’s take a look.

1. Site selection and land preparation

It is best to plant Dipsacus asper in sandy loam with deep, loose, fertile and good drainage. After the land is selected, apply 3000-4000kg of rotted manure or compost as base fertilizer, then cultivate it carefully and level it into ridges with a width of 1.5-2m. High ridges are made in places with heavy rain, and flat ridges are made in places with drought.

2. Seed propagation

Sowing is done from late September to early October. Before sowing, soak the seeds in 40℃ warm water for about 10 hours. After taking them out, put them in a pot or cloth bag and place them in a warm place to germinate. Rinse them with warm water 1-2 times a day. When the buds sprout, you can sow them. Both hole sowing and row sowing are possible.

Dig holes on the prepared ridges with a row-plant spacing of 35-40cm. The hole depth is about 7-10cm and the hole size is 17-20cm. Sow 7-8 seeds in each hole, with a seed rate of about 0.5kg per mu. After sowing, apply human and animal manure, about 1000kg per mu, and then cover with fine soil, about 1-1.5cm thick, or do not apply human and animal manure after sowing, only cover with 1-1.5cm thick soil and fertilizer or fire ash.

3. Seedling transplanting

When the seedlings are 10 cm tall in the direct-seeding field, they should be thinned out according to the plant spacing of 15 cm × 20 cm. The thinned seedlings can be used to fill gaps or can be transplanted.

4. Intertillage and weeding

Weeding is mainly done during the seedling stage, depending on the actual situation. Generally, weeding is done twice in the year of planting, and once a year thereafter. Compared with other medicinal plants, there are not many weeds in the fields of Dipsacus asper, and no weeding is required after the plants are closed in rows every year.

5. Fertilizer and water management

90 days after the emergence of direct-seeded Dipsacus asper seedlings, apply 225 kg/hectare of urea in combination with weed control, or spray the leaves with 0.5% Yunda 120. If it rains within 6 hours after spraying, spray again. The seedlings of Dipsacus asper will turn green 20 days after transplanting. Apply about 300 kg/hectare of urea, about 5 cm away from the seedlings. Topdressing should be done in rainy weather. When the seeds begin to sprout and grow in the second year, water them once in areas with irrigation conditions and apply some phosphorus fertilizer. Fields without irrigation conditions can only be topdressed in the rainy season, generally about 750 kg/hectare.

6. Remove the scape

In addition to keeping the plants for planting, when the plants sprout stems and bloom, they should be removed as soon as possible so that nutrients can be supplied to the roots, promoting root expansion and increasing yield.

The above is the planting and management of Dipsacus asper. Dipsacus asper is usually harvested in the third year after sowing. The time for digging should be after the seedlings are transplanted in autumn. It should not be too early or too late. If it is too early, the roots have not grown enough, affecting the quality. If it is too late, new leaves will sprout, consuming nutrients. After drying, the roots will shrink and become thin, and the quality will be poor.