How to care for Wisteria sinensis
The editor will answer how to care for Wisteria sinensis and provide detailed knowledge about the planting techniques of Wisteria sinensis. Keep reading!
Species introduction: Wisteria sinensis belongs to the genus Wisteria of the Fabaceae family, and it is a deciduous shrub. It grows 1-4 meters high, with dense branches and leaves, straight, dark gray bark, smooth, gray-brown young branches with prominent rust-colored lenticels, densely covered with pubescent when young; lateral buds are very small, often two overlapping. Leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate compound leaves, with 11-25 ovate or narrowly elliptical leaflets, rounded at the apex, entire, with transparent oil glands inside.
Terminal racemes are dense and axillary at the lower nodes, the floral axis is densely pubescent, the calyx is campanulate, often with oil glands, the standard petal is blue-purple, the wings and keel petals are degenerate. The pod is curved and short, 7-9 mm long, brown, densely covered with tuberculate glands, indehiscent, containing 1 seed, the seed is glossy, with a thousand-seed weight of 10g. Flowering and fruiting period is from May to October.
One: Introduction to Growth Habits
Wisteria sinensis is a shrub that loves light, is cold-resistant, drought-resistant, moisture-resistant, salt and alkali-resistant, wind and sand-resistant, and has strong resistance to adversity. It can grow on barren hillsides, roadsides, riverbanks, and saline-alkali soils. It can be propagated by seeds and also by root sprouting asexual propagation. It has strong sprouting ability, well-developed roots, with 20-50 sprouts per cluster, reaching 1-2 meters high in one year after cutting, flowering and fruiting in the second year, with a seed germination rate of 70%-80%.
Two: Seed Treatment
Wisteria sinensis seeds mature and are picked in October. After harvesting, they are spread in the sun to dry, removing impurities, mixed several times a day, and after about 5-6 days of drying, the clean seeds are bagged and stored. There are 80,000-90,000 seeds per kilogram, and the general germination rate is only 50%-70%. Before sowing, seed treatment must be carried out because the pod skin contains oil, which can affect seed expansion rate and germination rate.
Seed Treatment Methods:
Hot water treatment can be used by placing the seeds in a container, pouring boiling water while stirring, continuing to stir for 5 minutes, then adding cold water to soak overnight, removing and placing in a basket lined with straw, watering daily, and after a few days, when most seeds have white tips, they can be sown. Practice has proven that soaked seeds emerge 10-15 days earlier than unsoaked seeds. Another method is to soak in 6% urine or wood ash for 6-8 hours to remove seed oil. After treatment, the seeded seeds can emerge 10 days earlier in spring.
Three: Sowing
In the north, it is suitable to sow after the soil thaws; in the south, it is suitable to sow in mid-to-late January. The sowing method uses drilling, with a furrow depth of 3-4 cm, a播种幅 width of 8-10 cm, and a row spacing of 18-20 cm. The sowing rate is about 225 kg/hm2, with a seedling output of over 1.5 million seedlings/hm2, and in some areas, the sowing rate is increasing.
The sowing soil is 1.0-1.5 cm thick, and seedlings emerge 8-10 days after sowing. After 10-15 days, the seedlings begin to thin to achieve a reasonable density. To cultivate strong seedlings of Wisteria sinensis, weeding should be done 3-4 times during the seedling stage, combined with formula fertilization. During the peak growth period of seedlings, foliar spray with urea, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, etc., is applied evenly on the leaf surface. The best time to spray fertilizer is in the late afternoon on cloudy days. Pest and disease control should also be carried out, focusing on prevention.
How to care for Wisteria sinensis
Four: Daily Management
The nurturing management of Wisteria sinensis is not strict. Generally, after afforestation, young forests should be weeded and loosened 1-2 times a year, and cutting should be done every other year. For Wisteria sinensis forests aimed at cutting green fertilizer, after cutting flat in the first year of afforestation, it is appropriate to intercrop grain crops in the rows to promote the growth of young plants. In the second and third years, it is necessary to hill up the soil at the right time after cutting to expand the root system and promote more sprouting branches.
For poor mountainous soils, after the first cutting, stop cutting and plowing for 1-2 years. For Wisteria sinensis afforestation on wind-eroded sandy lands, retain more than 50% of the plants without cutting to serve as shelterbelts, and practice alternate row and strip cutting. For areas intended for retention, 100% can be left uncut. For Wisteria sinensis forests on hillsides, cutting should be done along the horizontal contour lines.
That's all for how to care for Wisteria sinensis and the detailed explanation of Wisteria sinensis planting techniques. I hope this article can provide you with help in green plant management!