Schisandra chinensis is a perennial climbing plant, which is not only an original decoration of the garden, but also a culture that greatly benefits human health. The vitamins, mineral salts, organic acids and useful microelements contained in fruits, roots, leaves, seeds, have a positive effect on the nervous system, stimulate cardiovascular activity, relieve fatigue, reduce blood sugar and help in the treatment of a large number of diseases.
Hypertensive patients are recommended to eat 25-50 grams of fruit daily together with a peel to increase their working capacity. Do not eat lemongrass at night, as this threatens to problems with sleep disturbance. Tea, infusion, jam from such a product should be drunk only in the morning.
The territory of lemongrass
Manchurian lemongrass (another name for the representative of the magnolia vine family) in the wild is common in Japan, China, Korea, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, as well as on Sakhalin. The homeland of the plant is the Far East. Healing frost-resistant vine is found in broad-leaved, mixed forests, near river valleys, near shrubs, at the edges. Prefers to grow on well-drained, rich in organic soils. For medicinal purposes, special territories are allocated for the cultivation of lemongrass.
In home gardening, it is an original decoration of verandas, arbors and walls of houses and needs strong support: arches, gratings, trellis. In the absence of such a plant will develop poorly, and fruiting can simply not wait.
Description and external specifications
Schisandra chinensis, the cultivation and care of which is possible even for gardeners with little experience, is characterized by a wrinkled, branching stem 1.5-2 cm thick. It can reach a height of 15 meters, prefers to grow under trees, tightly encircling their trunks. In young plants, the color of the bark is yellowish, in adults - dark brown. Leaves of elliptical shape, alternate, slightly fleshy. The leaf plate on top is dark green, on the bottom side it is pale in color. The flowers of the plant are inherent in white or pink color and a delicate pleasant aroma with notes of lemon. The flowering period falls on the beginning of May - mid-June, after which the wilted flower turns into a spike brush with two dozen red juicy spherical berries.
The fruits are characterized by a specific taste: somewhat salty, slightly coniferous, slightly sour and a little burning bitterness. Ripen in August-September.
Schisandra chinensis: cultivation and care in Siberia
Grow Chinese Schisandra in a summer cottage or in your own garden is not at all difficult. It is important to determine the location of the plant. It should be partial shade, well protected from piercing winds. To the excess of sunlight, lemongrass, the care and cultivation of which give a lot of aesthetic pleasure, is negative and stops in growth and development. It is recommended to place from two or more trees on one site for better fruiting. The distance between them should be 1.0-1.5 meters; when planting in rows, the row spacing of 2.5-3.0 meters should be observed.
First, you need to prepare a landing pit with a diameter of about 70 cm, a depth of 40 cm, laying on the bottom a good drainage layer of broken brick, crushed stone or expanded clay. Then you should combine in equal parts turfy soil, humus, leaf compost, add 0.5 kg of wood ash and 200 grams of superphosphate. Such a mixture of earth need to fill the landing pit and plant a young schisandra. The most optimal for this event is a cloudy April day.
The most viable are 2-3-year-old schisandra seedlings, characterized by small size and well-developed root system. When planting, the root neck should be placed at the same level with the soil surface. Young Schisandra, care and cultivation of which are not particularly difficult due to the undemanding plants, requires plenty of water. In order to preserve moisture in the kidney and prevent the growth of weeds, it is recommended to mulch the root well with humus or peat.
Schisandra seedlings are very easy to take root. It is important only to promptly shade them from sunlight, periodically loosen the soil in order to ensure oxygen access to the roots, remove weeds and spray in dry weather with water.
How to grow lemongrass from seeds?
A more laborious and lengthy process is the cultivation of lemongrass from seeds, which should first be soaked in water for 7-10 days. This is required for the rejection of unusable specimens, which in a couple of days will float to the surface of the water. Also, the method of soaking is necessary for the early sizing of the seed material.
At the next stage of preparation for sowing, seeds should be hardened by placing them in disinfected sand at the rate of 1: 3. The mixture must be poured into special wooden containers and placed in a room with a temperature regime of +18 ... + 20 ° . Moisten every other day for a month.
Sowing of seeds is carried out in prepared grooves, the approximate depth of which is about 1.5 cm. Sowing material from above must be sprinkled with earth from the greenhouse and slightly moistened, and mulch the beds with peat. In these beds, before transplanting to a constant place of growth, Chinese magnolia vine will be grown from 1.5 to 2 years.
Plant nutritional measures
Far Eastern schisandra, the cultivation and care of which is aimed at obtaining high-quality wholesome fruits, like any plant, needs top dressing. It is possible to carry out activities that stimulate the growth and development of gardening, starting from the 3rd year of planting.
In April, the near-stem circle should be sprinkled with nitrate in the amount of 20-30 grams and mulched with humus or compost from the leaves. In the summer, every 2-3 weeks, it is recommended to feed with liquid organic matter. This can be fermented cow manure, diluted with water in a proportion of 1:10, or chicken droppings - 1:20. At the end of autumn, it is recommended to add 100 grams of wood ash and 20 grams of superphosphate to each plant with further embedding to a 10-centimeter depth.
Schisandra, cultivation and care in Siberia, which is mostly carried out for medicinal purposes, enters the fruiting phase 3 years after planting at a constant place of growth. The most productive period is usually recorded after 2-4 years from the beginning of fruiting. To increase and improve the quality of the crop, fruiting trees also need additional nutrition. In spring, it is recommended to feed them with a nitrophos at the rate of 40-50 grams / sq. meter. After flowering, you need to make a cow or bird droppings, diluted with water at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 plant. In autumn, another feeding with potassium sulfate (30-40 g / sq. Meter) and superphosphate (60 g / sq. Meter) should be carried out.
Features of watering
In hot weather, lemongrass, the care and cultivation of which does not require the use of special knowledge, is recommended to spray with warm water, especially this applies to young specimens. For adult trees, moisture must be supplied in dry weather, consuming 6 buckets of water per plant. Watering is also necessary after each feeding, thus ensuring optimal access of mineral and organic preparations to the roots of the plant. With the beginning of fruiting, all dressings must be stopped. In autumn, it is recommended to mulch the soil around the plant with fallen leaves or compost.
Schisandra chinensis: cultivation and care
The photo colorfully conveys the external attractiveness of a resident of Siberian lands, the optimal cultivation of which is recommended to be done with the help of good support.
It can be built from 3-meter poles and trellis. The columns should be buried in the ground to a depth of 50-60 cm, and the trellis should be pulled between them in three rows, the lower of which should be located at a height of half a meter from the soil level, the next two rows - after 0.7-1.0 m.
At first, young shoots should be tied to the lower wire, and subsequent (as they grow) to the middle and upper rows.
The preparations for the winter period consist of sheltering the plant in the first two years with a thick layer of leaves, on top of which a spruce branch is laid, designed to scare away rodents. Adult plants are characterized by high frost resistance and do not need insulation.
Cropping Features
To form a beautiful crown and remove old and diseased shoots in the care of lemongrass, it is necessary to apply such an important factor as pruning. After 2-3 years from the time of planting, when the active growth of the roots gives way to the increased development of the aerial parts, young shoots must be removed at the soil level, leaving 3-6 of the strongest. In adult plants, it is necessary to cut unproductive branches and leave young ones instead. It is advisable to prune after the autumn leaf fall. With severe thickening of the plant, this operation can be performed in the summer.
Schisandra, care and cultivation of which does not cause gardeners much trouble, can not be cut in winter and early spring. During this period, abundant juice production occurs, therefore thinning will necessarily cause drying of the branches and possible subsequent death of the plant. In spring, root growth can be removed.
Harvesting
When does lemongrass ripen? Growing and caring (photos of plant flowers can be seen in the article) are aimed at obtaining ripe and healthy fruits, which can be collected as they acquire a bright carmine-red color.
Transparency and softness indicate full ripeness of berries. The collection of lemongrass fruits is carried out together with the stalks, which, like the rest of the plant, have medicinal properties. They can be crushed, dried and used in hot tea as an aromatic additive.
Harvested fruits should be immediately or the next day after harvesting put into processing, as they are poorly stored and begin to ferment.
Berries can be dried if they are placed in an oven heated to 60 ° C for 3-4 days. Medicinal properties of the plant persist for about 2 years.
How to grow lemongrass in room conditions?
Schisandra chinensis can be grown indoors. For this, the green stalk of the plant should be planted in a container, 2/3 filled with fertile soil and 1/3 sterile coarse sand. The aboveground part of the seedling should be covered with a glass jar or film. Water at room temperature in small doses, but often, without removing the shelter. After 2-3 weeks, when the schisandra stalk gives roots, the shelter can be removed at night with a gradual increase in the time the plant is in natural conditions. After 4-5 weeks, the film can be removed completely. Watering during this period is reduced, since excess water can be detrimental to the root system of the plant.
Indoor lemongrass, the cultivation and care of which are not particularly difficult, is recommended for planting in the open ground for the summer, giving the plant the opportunity to actively develop in natural conditions.