Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Fruit and berry plants Published: August 18, 2017Last edits: November 02, 2020
- Growing conditions
- Growing from seeds
- Medicinal properties
Chinese lemongrass (lat. Schisandra chinensis) is a species of the genus Schisandra chinensis of the Schisandra family, found in the wild on the edges and clearings of coniferous-deciduous and deciduous forests, in narrow valleys of streams and mountain rivers, in old burnt-out areas and clearings in Korea, Japan, China and Russia. territories of the Far East. It grows in groups, forming thickets and rising into the mountains to a height of up to 600 m above sea level. Schisandra chinensis has been cultivated for a very long time: it began to be cultivated for medicinal purposes at least 250 years BC.
How to keep lemon at home?
You should not fill indoor lemons with water, as the plant reacts negatively to waterlogged soil, but at the same time, the soil should not dry out completely between waterings. In winter, watering homemade lemons is reduced. In addition to watering, lemon leaves should be regularly sprayed with boiled water at room temperature.
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Varieties of Schisandra chinensis
There are over two dozen species of lemongrass, but only one of them has been “tamed” by summer residents - Chinese schizandra (Schizandra chinensis). Few varieties have been developed so far; the first of them (Sadovyi 1) is practically no longer grown.
The most widespread is the medium-sized variety Pervenets (up to 2 m in height), the fruits of which in the form of a cylindrical brush with small bright red berries ripen by the end of summer. Their taste is sour with refreshing notes. This variety is easy to care for and grows well in different regions.
The fruit of Schisandra chinensis is unusual - it is a multi-berry, which at first glance resembles a bunch of small berries. In fact, it is a whole fruit, because... berries are formed on the elongated receptacle of a wilted flower.
A winter-hardy, late-ripening variety, Volgar, is resistant to diseases and pests and tolerates mild drought. The polyberry consists of 14-15 unfused red round fruits, weighing 0.4-0.6 g each. It has a resinous aroma and sour taste.
The winter-hardy, vigorous-growing, drought-, heat-, disease- and pest-resistant Myth variety also has sour fruits with a resinous aroma. The berries on them are slightly smaller and dark red in color. Young shoots of the plant are pinkish, and adult shoots are light brown. Medium-late ripening variety.
In 2013, the Debut variety was developed with larger cylindrical fruits, consisting of 25-30 bright red unfused berries with thick skin and weighing 0.7-0.9 g each. Their taste is sour with a resinous balsamic aroma. The variety has a medium ripening period, is winter-hardy and moderately resistant to drought and heat.
In the Urals
The Urals belong to the temperate climate zone, like most of Siberia. Here, planting should be taken as responsibly as possible, since an already planted plant should not be attacked by cold weather. The soil of the seedlings should not become colder than 10 degrees, otherwise they may die.
The time itself falls at the end of April - beginning of May. To avoid unpleasant consequences, you can cover the permanent place for the growth of vines with an organic cloth, after loosening the soil. This will help keep you warm.
For active growth of lemongrass, you need to plant it on the sunny side. In the conditions of the Urals and Siberia, the plant must receive nourishment from the sun constantly.
Here gardeners recommend using a variety of Chinese lemongrass called “firstborn” for planting. It is more frost-resistant, but in winter it is still better to cover young shoots with a layer of leaves.
Beneficial features
It has been proven that Chinese lemongrass was used as a healing agent in China 250 years ago. Now its cultivation has acquired an industrial scale, because schizander is actively used in pharmacology. But unlike many medications, it has no serious side effects. Here is a small list of what the seeds and fruits of this amazing plant will help you cope with:
- normalization of the central nervous system;
- relieving emotional and physical stress without harm to nerve cells;
- strengthening the cardiovascular system;
- tones the body;
- saves from sexual impotence;
- lowers blood sugar levels;
- prevention of influenza and ARVI.
This is only a small fraction of the positive effects of lemongrass on the body. Just 50g of berries contains a daily dose of essential substances for humans. But its consumption, like all medications, has a number of contraindications:
- high blood pressure;
- allergic reaction;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- period of pregnancy and lactation (consultation with a doctor).
Before use, you need to assess your health and make sure that consuming lemongrass fruits will not cause harm.
Planting Schisandra chinensis
Today, lemongrass is especially common in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories, in the Sakhalin and Amur regions. But gradually gardeners in other regions are also paying attention to it.
The success of growing a plant in central Russia depends on a number of factors, in which the planting site plays a major role. Although lemongrass is relatively shade-tolerant, it does not like to be in the shade for a long time. Because of this, it may not bloom or bear fruit.
Therefore, plant the vine in a warm place, protected from the wind, illuminated by the sun for at least 7-8 hours a day. In the middle zone, it is better to do this on the western side of the buildings, in the southern regions - on the eastern side: this way the lemongrass will be in the shade for part of the day.
Schisandra is planted in early spring (before buds open) or autumn (from the second ten days of September). For planting, choose two-year-old seedlings. Schisandra prefers moist, well-drained soils. Indeed, in the taiga, where it grows in natural conditions, moisture is retained for a long time under fallen leaves. However, prolonged waterlogging is also not good for the vine.
Schisandra grows best in light to medium loams. Prepare the soil for planting from turf soil, peat, humus and sand in a ratio of 1:2:1:1 with the addition of 200 g of superphosphate and 500 g of wood ash.
Under the seedling, dig a hole 40 cm deep and 50-60 cm in diameter, at the bottom of which lay a layer of drainage (broken brick or crushed stone), on top of it - part of the prepared soil mixture. Place the plant on the mound formed in the hole, straightening its roots well, and cover it with the remaining soil. Water the planting site generously and mulch (the layer should be at least 10 cm).
Schisandra chinensis comes in three types: male, female, or monoecious (with male and female flowers). Therefore, it is necessary to plant several plants to ensure normal fruiting.
Male and female specimens can be distinguished only by color: females have a large greenish pistil, males have three stamens. In monoecious lemongrass, female flowers bloom at the top of the vine, and male flowers at the bottom.
Plants should be planted at a distance of about a meter from each other.
Botanical description
The plant is a climbing deciduous vine up to 15 m long with a trunk up to 2.5 cm in diameter and shoots covered with brown-brown bark, flaky on old ones, and shiny and smooth on young ones. Both the shoots and leaves of lemongrass have a characteristic citrus aroma, from which the plant gets its name.
The leaves of Schisandra are dense, obovate or elliptical, with a wedge-shaped base and a few and indistinct teeth along the edges. The leaves are connected to the shoots by pink or red petioles up to 3 cm long. In spring and summer, the upper part of the leaf blade is light green, shiny, bare, and the lower part is bluish, with pubescence along the veins. In autumn, the leaves of Schisandra chinensis turn yellow-orange and ocher-yellow.
Growing lemongrass: planting and care in open ground
Fragrant, waxy white dioecious flowers up to 2 cm in diameter on drooping pedicels are located in groups of 3-5 in the leaf axils. The aggregate racemose fruit, up to 10 cm long, consists of edible spherical two-seeded berries of red color and sour taste. The berries of Chinese lemongrass also have a characteristic smell of the plant. The kidney-shaped seeds of Schisandra chinensis remain viable only until spring.
- Timely spring care of raspberries will bring a rich harvest
Harvest and storage
Harvesting lemongrass is similar to harvesting grapes. Cut the lemongrass with tassels and place in a wicker basket. Use sharp scissors to avoid damaging the vine. Metal containers are not suitable for intermediate storage of berries; the berries oxidize in them. The freshly harvested lemongrass crop is very delicate, which is why it begins to deteriorate just a day after cutting. You can make jam or jam, compote and even wine from lemongrass berries. But two methods of storing the lemongrass crop are recognized as the most popular. Housewives dry the lemongrass berries, first in the sun under a canopy, and then using the oven. Thus processed berries retain their beneficial properties for up to three months. And another way is to grind lemongrass berries with sugar. The finished mixture can be kept in the refrigerator or hidden in the freezer.
Schisandra is an interesting flower with many beneficial properties. Growing the plant will not bring any trouble, and a bountiful harvest will allow you to enjoy it all autumn long.
Sources:
https://myogorod.ru/plodovye-kustarniki/posadka-i-uhod-za-limonnikom-zimoj.html https://www.liveinternet.ru/users/4325490/post390707535/ https://dacha.yarfotograf.ru /uhod-za-limonnikom-osenju-podgotovka-k-zime/ https://olgushka1971.ru/plodovo-yagodny-e-kul-tury/kitajskij-limonnik-vyrashhivanie-i-uhod https://diy.obi. ru/articles/yhod-za-limonnikom-na-dache-sbor-i-hranenie-yrojaya-20123/
Monoecious or dioecious
Schisandra can be monoecious (staminate and pistillate flowers on the same plant). And it can also be dioecious, bearing only staminate or only pistillate flowers. Research has shown that male plants are the most common (35–40%), producing only staminate flowers each year. But still, plants with an unstable ratio of staminate and pistillate flowers predominate. In some years they produce only staminate flowers, while in others they produce both staminate and pistillate flowers.
In vines with an unstable type of fruiting, the appearance of certain flowers and, consequently, the yield depend on external conditions, primarily on temperature, nutrition and soil moisture. In the garden, it is better to plant monoecious vines that produce an annual harvest and do not require planting a pollinator plant.
Caring for Schisandra chinensis
Being a liana, lemongrass needs support. It is usually grown on trellises, which are installed in the year the vine is planted. Stairs placed at an angle can also be used as supports. Without support, the plant takes on the shape of a bush and begins to bear fruit late.
In normal years, an adult vine tolerates winter well without being removed from its supports, but young plants need shelter. For the first three years, it is recommended to cover them with a thick layer of leaves and spruce branches.
The roots of Schisandra are shallow, so you need to loosen the soil in the tree trunks carefully, no deeper than 5-6 cm.
The soil under the lemongrass should not be dug up - this can lead to the death of the plant. Schisandra does not like replanting: even slight drying of the root system can have a negative effect on it.
It is useful to mulch the root zone with humus or leaf compost. This prevents soil compaction, which lemongrass does not like, and increases its yield.
Due to the shallow root system, the plant has low drought tolerance. Young seedlings especially suffer from it; they need to be shaded during the first spring and summer, watered abundantly, and the soil not allowed to dry out. In the absence of rain, mature vines should be watered and sprayed weekly. Drought is most dangerous during the period of active growth of shoots and ovaries.
And, of course, lemongrass also needs regular feeding. After planting, the plant has enough nutrients for three years, then this supply needs to be replenished. In the spring, before the buds open, the vine is fertilized with 30 g of ammonium nitrate.
After flowering, the plant will benefit from fertilizing with a solution of mullein infusion (1 liter per bucket of water), and at the end of summer it needs phosphorus-potassium fertilizers: 60 g of superphosphate and 30-40 g of potassium sulfate per 1 sq.m. Every three years, add 1-2 buckets of rotted manure or compost per plant.
They begin to prune the vine in the third year after planting, because with good care it grows quickly, thickens and forms many root shoots. Of the young shoots, only 4-5 are left, the rest are cut off just above the ground. Pruning is carried out in the fall after the leaves fall.
Adult plants undergo periodic sanitary cleaning: old low-yielding vines are pruned, replacing them with young ones, all dried, weak and excess shoots are removed, and the side branches are shortened just above the 12th bud.
Schisandra chinensis practically does not suffer from diseases and pests, and even gray rot of fruits and powdery mildew do not cause much harm to it.
The plant can be propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and root shoots.
Reproduction by layering
Reproduction by layering should be carried out in the spring.
To do this you need:
- Dig a furrow up to 20 cm deep near the bush.
- Place a plant branch in the furrow in the form of a sinusoid.
- Secure at the lowest points with metal clamps or pegs.
- Cover the furrow with soil, leaving the top curves above the surface.
- Water the cuttings regularly until autumn.
- Next spring, separate with pruning shears and replant in a permanent location.
