Chinese schisandra - how to plant correctly

Schisandra is also known as shisandra. In Chinese, the name of this plant sounds like "wu-wei-tsi", which literally translates as "fruit with 5 tastes." In Chinese medicine, it ranks second after ginseng in terms of the spectrum of medicinal properties.

If you rub the stem of lemongrass, its leaves, or rub a piece of root in your hand, you immediately feel the tart scent of lemon. That is why this plant got its name.

Origin and appearance

The homeland of this culture is China. Botanical statistics indicate that about 2000 hectares of territory are covered with lemongrass bushes in this region. Shisandra is a species of the Magnoliaceae family.

Schisandra chinensis

This is a kind of liana that can be found in the western regions, in Siberia and the Amur region, in the Urals and the Kuril Islands, on the coast of the Primorsky region. It wraps around the trunks of trees and bushes in a spiral.

Vine shoots are flexible, do not break when bent and grow vertically upward. The stems have a dark brown bark. On young shoots, the bark is shiny and smooth, on old stems it is wrinkled and flaky. The plant is 10-18 meters long. The stem diameter is approximately 2.5 cm.

The buds of the chisandra are brownish-red, compared to the color of the liana bark, they are light. They are elongated in shape, like an egg with a pointed at the top. In relation to the shoot, they are located at an angle of 40-45 ° in nodes: 3 buds in each node. The middle kidney develops more actively than its neighbors.

The plant has oval leaves with a wedge-shaped base, the color of grass. At the same time, a characteristic external sign of chisandra is that the petioles of the leaves are coral-pink in color. The length of the leaf is about 10 cm, the width is 2 times less. Leaves are densely distributed throughout the stem. Due to this feature, it is often used in landscape design for decorative purposes.

How does lemongrass bloom? In spring, delicate waxy white flowers with a bright fragrant aroma appear on the stems of Chinese liana. In shape, the lemongrass flower resembles a smaller copy of a magnolia.

Lemongrass flowers

A fruit ovary is formed from the flowers, clusters of red berries ripen in autumn. The berries remain on the stems of the vine even after the foliage has fallen off. They have a sour taste with tart notes.

Description of fruits and their properties

The fruits of the plant have the shape of a brush with an elongated receptacle, in which there are 4 to 40 berries, with a diameter of 5-10 mm. By the time of full ripening, the length of the brush reaches 10 cm, the width is 4 cm. In this case, the brush has a mass of 1.5 to 15 g. The weight of one berry is half a gram.

Fresh fruits are bright red, dried berries are dark red, sometimes even black. The berries taste sour with a tart aftertaste. Under the thin skin of the berry, there is a juicy tender pulp, from which it is easy to squeeze juice.

Schizandra berries contain a huge amount of useful trace elements.At home, this plant is used by hunters - just one handful of berries allows a person to tirelessly drive the beast all day long, providing a tonic, invigorating effect on the body. In addition, these berries have been proven to improve visual acuity.

Schisandra berries enhance the processes of excitation in the cerebral cortex, have a positive effect on the nervous system and conditioned reflex activity, normalize the psycho-emotional state, and improve mood. At the same time, lemongrass-based preparations do not give side effects and do not lead to depletion of the nervous tissue.

Two varieties of Chinese (Far Eastern) lemongrass

In different regions of the Far East, there are about 20 varieties of Chinese liana, which grows in forests. In the gardens you can find 2 varieties: "Firstborn" and "Garden - 1".

Firstborn

This variety of lemongrass vine was bred by Moscow breeders. "Firstborn" has small elongated berries, the skin of which is purple-scarlet, the flesh is red. A mature brush of this variety is 10-12 cm long, its weight ranges from 10 to 12 g. If the "Firstborn" is planted in an open area, then its bush will be of medium size; the length will be about 5 m.

Firstborn

This species is monoecious. The main disadvantages of the variety are poor resistance to diseases and susceptibility to the negative effects of low air temperatures.

Sadovy-1

This variety of Chinese chisandra does not need pollinators, it is a self-fertile hybrid. The owners of this culture remove 4-6 kg of harvest from one bush, since the variety is distinguished by active growth of shoots and gives many stalks. The length of the brush of this variety is 9-10 cm.

Sadovy 1

Unlike "Firstborn", it is resistant to frost.

Transplanting lemongrass after purchase in open ground

Lemongrass shrub, despite the fact that it is exotic for Russian latitudes, is an unpretentious plant. In order for the garden u-wey-tsy to bring a crop, you need to know how to plant lemongrass.

What is needed for landing

Before planting a crop in the ground, the following preparatory measures are required:

1. Thoroughly loosen the soil, add fertilizers to it. Peat or humus, ash, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate are ideal additives.

2. It is also necessary to take care of drainage to prevent root decay: add crushed brick or river stones to the soil.

3. With the help of special additives, it is necessary to achieve a neutral level of soil acidity.

Optimal location

The question of choosing a place for planting Japanese lemongrass must be approached very responsibly, since a healthy type of crop and its yield depend on it. The landing site must meet the following criteria:

• Good sun exposure. The culture needs sunlight so that its leaves retain a beautiful bright green color, and the fruit clusters have long stalks. For full development, lemongrass must be illuminated by the sun for at least 8 hours a day. With a lack of sun, the leaves acquire a yellow tint, the size of the fruit cluster decreases. The optimal place for planting lemongrass will be the south side of the site.
• Draft proof. Strong gusts of wind, especially in autumn and winter, can cause the death of a vine. It is recommended to plant the plant along hedges or walls where it can find additional support for itself.

Step-by-step planting process

In the Moscow region, lemongrass can be planted in early June. Planting instructions:

1. Pits are made in the ground with a depth of 40 cm, the diameter of which is 50-60 cm.
   

   Planting lemongrass

2. The bottom of the pit is filled with a drainage mixture, on top of which a mixture of deciduous earth, turf and humus is poured in proportions of 1: 1: 1, with the addition of 500 g of ash and 200 g of superphosphate.

4. Vines are placed in the soil at a distance of 1 m from each other. If the culture grows along the building, then 1-1.5 m must be retreated from the building wall. This will protect the roots from rain streams from the roof.
5. During planting, it is not recommended to deeply deepen lemongrass.

How to propagate lemongrass

Chinese shisandra can multiply in different ways: by cuttings, layering, dividing a bush or seeds. Most often, cuttings or seeds are taken for propagation.

Cuttings

Propagation by cuttings is a laborious process. The peculiarity of the Japanese plant is that of all cuttings taken for propagation, only half can be grown.

For reproduction in the period from mid-July to mid-August, young shoots about 50 cm long are taken. The shoot should be curly and end with a blunt tip. Cut shoots are cut into cuttings 10-15 cm long.

The beveled ends of the cuttings are dipped in a growth stimulant solution for 6-12 hours before planting. For planting, you need to prepare a cold greenhouse: dig up clean soil, add washed and sifted sand to it. Removing the cuttings from the solution with a growth stimulator, they are washed with clean water and planted in a prepared cold greenhouse.

The cuttings are planted obliquely at a distance of 3-4 cm. The height of the free space between the cuttings and the greenhouse film is 15-20 cm. Then the cuttings are abundantly watered through a fine sieve and covered with film. Direct sunlight is a contraindication for them.

In the greenhouse, you need to maintain the temperature up to 25 ° C and humid air, periodically opening the film for ventilation. We must not forget about systematic watering.

Have planted lemongrass

By the end of August, the cuttings will acquire a formed root system, the greenhouse film is slightly opened during the day. After a few days, you can leave the greenhouse open overnight. After a week, the film is removed completely, at the beginning of autumn the cuttings are ready for planting in open ground.

Immediately after the adaptation of vines in the open field, it is necessary to apply nitrogenous mineral fertilizers in liquid form to the soil. A solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g of nitrate per 1 bucket of water) or slurry diluted with water in proportions of 1: 7 is suitable.

Over the next 2-3 years, you need to constantly loosen the soil, remove weeds and water the seedlings abundantly. In the spring, after 2-3 years, the vine can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Growing from seeds

The seeds of culture, too, do not germinate all. Only 25% of the seeds will be able to grow a liana.

Before planting, the seeds are stratified, which allows you to increase the percentage of germination. This procedure includes 3 stages: the first month they are kept at a temperature of 20 ° C, the second month - at a temperature of 3-5 ° C, the third month - at a temperature of 8-10 ° C.

It is better to plant lemongrass in home soil as soon as the snow melts, deepening by 1-2 cm. As soon as shoots appear, it is necessary to keep the seeds in partial shade and regularly moisten the soil. In indoor conditions, lemongrass grows for 2 years, after which the seedlings are ready for open ground.

The trellis is the ideal support. It is a strip of buried pegs, the height of which is 2.5 m. These pegs are wrapped with wire at a height of 0.5, 0.7 and 1 m. The liana is tied to a trellis, without removing the shoots from it for the winter.

Care and cultivation of Chinese lemongrass

Watering mode

Systematic watering is a condition for active growth and high yields. In the heat, it is necessary to additionally spray the vine.

An adult liana in the summer requires about 6 buckets of water per watering.

Top dressing

Breeding garden varieties is unthinkable without fertilizing the soil. In the spring, when the buds of the vines are blooming, 40 g of nitrogenous, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are mixed for feeding. During the flowering period, the best fertilizer is nitrophoska. When lemongrass completes the flowering process, a mixture of 20 g of nitrogen, 15 g of potassium and 15 g of phosphorus is added to it.

At the same time, the plant is fertilized with liquid organic fertilizers diluted in water in proportions of 1:15. After harvesting, the soil is fertilized with ash and superphosphate.

In addition, the correct way of keeping prescribes every 2-3 years to fertilize the soil with compost in the amount of 5 kg per 1 m².

Preparing for winter

Before the first frosts, the vines are watered abundantly, a layer of mulch is laid around the base of the lemongrass. In the conditions of the southern regions, adult lianas will be able to overwinter without shelter. Young plants should be covered with a layer of dry foliage and spruce branches.

Preparing lemongrass for winter

In areas with frosty winters, it is recommended to remove the vines from the support, tie them together and bend them to the ground, and then cover them with fallen leaves, spruce branches and a film.

Exotic chisandra grows well in southern regions with humid air. However, this does not mean that the lemongrass plant is not suitable for giving in other regions of Russia. If properly cared for, lemongrass will actively grow and bear fruit well.