Sylpha przednolistnaya is a promising fodder and honey plant with high productivity and nutritional value, imported from North America as an ornamental plant. As a result of more than 60 years of cultivation, sylphia has established itself as a plant adapted to the conditions of most regions of Russia. Sylphia is not demanding on soils, frost-resistant, light- and moisture-loving. The article contains photos of pierced-leaved sylphia in the flowering phase and not only.
Description
Sylpha przednolistnaya (Silphium perfoliatum L.) belongs to the family of aster, has a developed root system of the mixed type with a powerful rod root and numerous branched accessory processes.
The bulk of the roots lies in the arable layer, and the main root grows to a greater depth, which allows you to extract moisture from the lower layers of the soil and tolerate drought. The aerial part of the plant is represented by a thick, hollow tetrahedral erect stem, reaching 4 meters in height. The leaves are medium-hard, elongated elliptical in shape with pointed serrated edges grow up to 35 centimeters in length and 25 in width. The flowers are bright yellow in the form of medium-sized baskets collected in large complex inflorescences, which include up to 15-20 peduncles. In each inflorescence there are flowers of two types: female and bisexual. On one plant, there are up to 60 baskets. Fruits - achenes of a flattened heart-shaped shape 10-12 millimeters long. 1,000 sylpha sylpha seeds weigh 20 grams. The plant belongs to herbaceous perennials.
Growing conditions
For the development of green mass, the optimum temperature is 10-15 degrees and moist soil. Shoots tolerate frosts of up to -5 degrees in autumn and spring, and in winter frosts up to -30 ° C. Since the growing season ranges from 150 to 170 days, seeds are sown before winter. Rosettes of the leaves and the main root on which the renewal buds form are formed by the end of the first year of life. Flowering begins in the second year. Since the flowers do not bloom at the same time, the ripening of the seeds stretches for 30-40 days and continues until constant frost. Cultivate the plant in one place up to 12 years.
The use of crops begins in the second year, and the highest productivity is achieved from the third year. Sylpha przednolistnaya - plant light and moisture-loving, tolerates flooding and surface occurrence of groundwater, undemanding to soils. Shoots begin to grow back in early spring. Under favorable conditions, stems form in 25-30 days. Then begins the intensive growth of 4-5 cm per day and continues until mass flowering. When mowing for the first time before bud formation, an aftergrowth and the formation of a second crop of green mass are observed. With a lack of moisture and lighting, plant growth slows down noticeably and lower leaves die off.
Cultivation technology
The cultivation of prickly leaf sylphia in crop rotation is carried out after winter and perennial crops in the fields near livestock fodder storage. Since the culture is demanding on moisture, river floodplains, drained peatlands and irrigated areas are the most suitable places for sylvia sowing. The plant tolerates a wide variety of soil types, including meadow-marsh, peat, chernozem and podzolic with a neutral or slightly acidic pH reaction.
Soil preparation before sowing
The soil after harvesting the previous culture is peeled, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied per several years, plowed, cultivated, leveled. In the first year of growth, the plant is demanding on weed-free soil, since a long period passes before the stem and the period of intensive growth, and the shoots can be drowned out by the weed.
Fertilizers affect not only the amount of green mass, but also its quality. An increase in the content of ash, fat, minerals (potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, carotene) and a decrease in fiber contribute to an increase in nutritional value. The amount of fertilizer is calculated depending on the type of soil.
Sowing
Most of the seeds after ripening do not have sufficient germination, therefore, to increase the percentage of germination, the seed needs special treatment. Cold stratification for a month and a half doubles germination. Storage of seed reduces germination. Slow germination, long growth of seedlings compels sowing either in winter or in early spring. Autumn sowing is most favorable for the plant, since the time of seed germination is reduced, the shoots grow faster and are more hardy.
Crop Care
The first life cycle of prickly leaf sylphy is characterized by slow growth, so weed control is necessary. To do this, carry out harrowing, chemical treatments, application of herbicides. In subsequent years, plant care is reduced to inter-row treatments and top dressing with mineral fertilizers.
Harvest
Depending on the purpose of use, mowing the green mass from the second year is carried out before the formation of buds or during flowering. If silage is harvested, then flowering plants are removed, if grass meal or green food, then mowing begins earlier. It is possible to double mow the sylphs, but this technique will reduce the yield next year. The most optimal use of crops is the alternation of mowing with ripening seeds.
Fields of application
Sylpha przednolistnaya has several applications. In agriculture, the green mass of a plant is used for siloing, harvesting green fodder or producing grass meal. Rhizomes are used in medicine to treat rheumatism, runny nose, neuralgia. Sylphia przednolistnaya - honey plant. Fragrant baskets attract bees. Large, beautiful, long-blooming flowers, a good shape of the bush allow the use of sylphium for decorative purposes.
Productivity and Nutrition
The value of pierzenifolia sylphium as a food base for animals is due to its high productivity (up to 1,200 centners per hectare), good eatability (up to 95%), and optimal nutrient content. Green mass before budding contains up to 25% of a well-digestible protein, including 17 amino acids. Among them are indispensable, such as lysine. By the amount of protein, food from sylphium is not inferior to clover and alfalfa. The maximum protein content, as well as trace elements, is achieved during the budding period.
The dry mass contains up to 2% calcium and up to 0.8% phosphorus, a large amount of carotene and ascorbic acid. A ton of green mass contains up to 150 feed units and up to 23 kg of protein. Due to the high sugar content, the green mass is well silted. When feeding cows with silage, milk yield and fat content of milk increase. Butter made from this milk has high taste. Use different types of feed for fattening cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry.
Sylvia pierced in beekeeping
Crops are actively used for honey collection, since only one plant can have up to 2 thousand flowers. Bright, large fragrant, they attract bees. The arrangement of the flower allows the bee to easily obtain nectar located at the bottom of the pestle column, so even in extreme heat the bees visit them. The maximum allocation of nectar is observed from 10 to 16 hours.
Flowering begins in the second half of July, when most of the other honey plants have already bloomed, and continues until late autumn. First the lower baskets bloom, then the middle ones, and then the upper ones. The staged mowing of crops from spring prolongs flowering, making it virtually continuous. Sylph nectar honey has a light yellow tint, has a delicate aroma and light bitterness. Slow crystallization allows you to use it as a top dressing of bees in the winter. From one hectare collect up to 150 kg of honey.
Breeding
Prone-leafed sylphia can be propagated vegetatively (cuttings, seedlings, rhizome division) or by seeds. When sown with seeds, flowering occurs only in the second year. To get flowers and seeds in the first year of a plant's life, it must be propagated vegetatively. For this, cuttings are planted in the soil in early spring, or they are germinated at home and then seedlings are already planted. Sowing seeds is carried out in the fall, 15 days before persistent frosts. In this case, the seeds will undergo a natural stratification, which will increase germination, since due to unripe maturation, seed germination is initially low.
With the right cultivation technology, pierced-leaved sylphia is a high-yielding forage crop, a valuable honey plant, unpretentious and long-flowering perennial that pleases the eye in landscape gardens.