Schisandra chinensis is also known as schisandra. In Chinese, the name of this plant sounds like "u-wei-tsu", which literally translates as "fruit with 5 tastes." In Chinese medicine, it occupies the 2nd place after ginseng in the spectrum of healing properties.
If you rub the stem of lemongrass, its leaves or rub a piece of the root in your hand, then you can immediately feel the astringent aroma of lemon. That is why this plant got its name.
Origin and appearance
The birthplace of this culture is China. Botanical statistics indicate that in this region about 2000 hectares of land are covered with lemongrass bushes. Schisandra is a species of the Magnolia 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. She twists the trunks of trees and shrubs in a spiral.
Liana shoots are flexible, do not break when bent and grow vertically upwards. The stems have a dark brown bark. On young shoots, the bark is shiny and smooth, on old stems - wrinkled, peeling. The length of the plant is 10-18 meters. The diameter of the stem is approximately 2.5 cm.
The buds of schisandra are brownish red, in comparison with the color of the bark of the creeper, they are light. They are elongated, similar to an egg with a point in the upper part. Relative to the shoot are located at an angle of 40-45 ° nodes: 3 kidneys in each node. The middle kidney develops more actively than its neighbors.
Interesting! Schisandra plant is very photophilous, so in natural conditions it can be found in open areas. Schisandra can take a bush form, and also spread along the ground, braiding stumps and snags.
The plant has oval leaves with a wedge-shaped base, the color of grass. At the same time, a characteristic external sign of schisandra is that the petioles are of coral-pink color. The length of the sheet is about 10 cm, the width is 2 times less. Leaves are densely located throughout the stem. Due to this feature, it is often used in landscape design for decorative purposes.
How does lemongrass bloom? In the spring, delicate waxy white flowers with a bright fragrant aroma appear on the stems of Chinese liana. In form, the flower of lemongrass resembles a small copy of 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 creeper even after the leaves have fallen. They have a sour taste with tart notes.
Description of the fruit and their properties
The fruits of the plant have the shape of a brush with an elongated receptacle, in which from 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, width - 4 cm. Moreover, 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. It tastes sour berries with a tart flavor. Under the thin skin of the berry there is a juicy tender pulp, from which it is easy to squeeze the juice.
Lemongrass berries contain a huge amount of useful trace elements. At home, this plant has found application in hunters - only one handful of berries allows a person to tirelessly drive the beast all day, having a tonic, invigorating effect on the body. In addition, it is proved that these berries increase visual acuity.
Interesting! Today, the fruits of the plant are actively used in Siberian folk medicine. Preparations, which contain schisandra berries, help to cope with shortness of breath, have a strengthening effect on muscles, stimulate bone regeneration, and improve metabolic processes in the body.
Schisandra berries enhance excitation processes in the cerebral cortex, positively affect the nervous system and conditioned reflex activity, normalize the psychoemotional state, and improve mood. Moreover, preparations based on lemongrass do not give side effects and do not lead to depletion of nerve tissue.
Two varieties of Chinese (Far Eastern) Schisandra
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 Schisandra creeper 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, if the vine is adjacent to some trees or has vertical supports, then it length will be about 5 m.
Firstborn
This variety is monoecious. The main disadvantages of the variety are poor resistance to diseases and exposure to the negative effects of low air temperatures.
Garden-1
This variety of Chinese schisandra does not need pollinators, it is a self-fertile hybrid. The owners of this crop harvest 4-6 kg of crop from one bush, since the variety is characterized by active growth of shoots and gives a lot of stalks. The length of the brush of this grade is 9-10 cm.
Garden 1
Unlike the "Firstborn", it is resistant to frost.
Schizandra transplant after purchase in the open ground
Schizandra shrub, despite being exotic for Russian latitudes, is an unpretentious plant. In order for the gardening garden to bring crops, you need to know how to plant lemongrass.
What you need for landing
Before planting the culture in the ground, the following preparatory measures are required:
- Carefully loosen the soil, fertilize it. Ideal additives would be peat or humus, ash, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate.
- It is also necessary to take care of drainage in order to prevent root decay: crushed bricks or river pebbles should be added to the soil.
- With the help of special additives you need to achieve a neutral level of soil acidity.
Attention! The most suitable for planting in open ground are two-year-old seedlings.
Optimal place
The question of choosing a place for planting Japanese lemongrass must be approached very responsibly, since the healthy type of culture and its productivity depend on this. The landing site must meet the following criteria:
- Good sunshine. The culture needs sunlight to ensure that its leaves retain a beautiful bright green color, and fruit brushes have long stalks. For the full development of lemongrass, it should be lit by the sun for at least 8 hours a day. With a deficit of the sun, the leaves become yellow, the size of the fruit brush decreases. The optimal place for planting lemongrass is the south side of the site.
- Draft proof. Strong gusts of wind, especially in autumn and winter, can cause the death of the vine. It is recommended to plant the plant along the hedges or walls, where it can find additional support.
Step-by-step landing process
In the suburbs, lemongrass can be planted in early June. Instructions for landing:
- 40 cm deep pits are made in the soil, the diameter of which is 50-60 cm.
Planting lemongrass
- The bottom of the pit is filled with a drainage mixture, over which a mixture of deciduous earth, turf and humus is poured in the proportions of 1: 1: 1, with the addition of 500 g of ash and 200 g of superphosphate.
- Vines are located in the soil at a distance of 1 m from each other. If the culture grows along the building, then 1-1.5 m should be retreated from the wall of the building. This will protect the roots from rain flows from the roof.
- During planting, it is not recommended to deepen the lemongrass strongly.
How to propagate lemongrass
Chinese schisandra can propagate in different ways: by cuttings, layering, dividing the 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 only half of all cuttings taken for propagation will be able to grow.
For propagation in the period from mid-July to mid-August, young shoots about 50 cm long are taken. The shoot must be curly and end with a blunt tip. Cut shoots are cut into cuttings with a length of 10-15 cm.
Important! The bottom cut of the handle should be 5 mm below the kidney. They make it beveled. The upper section is made 3 mm above the kidney, it should be straight. The lower leaves are torn off.
The chamfered ends of the cuttings are lowered into the 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 a solution with a growth stimulant, they are washed with clean water and planted in a prepared cold greenhouse.
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 a film. Contraindication for them are direct sunlight.
In a greenhouse, you need to maintain a temperature of up to 25 ° C and humid air, periodically opening the film for ventilation. We must not forget about systematic watering.
Planted lemongrass
By the end of August, cuttings will acquire a mature root system, and the greenhouse film will be opened during the day. After a few days, you can leave the greenhouse open at night. After a week, the film is completely removed, in early autumn, cuttings are ready for planting in the open ground.
Immediately after the adaptation of the vines in the open ground, it is necessary to introduce nitrogenous mineral fertilizers into the soil in liquid form. A solution of ammonium nitrate (30 g of saltpeter per 1 bucket of water) or slurry diluted with water in the 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 liana can be transplanted to a permanent place.
Seed cultivation
Seeds of culture, too, do not sprout. Only 25% of the seeds will grow a vine.
Before planting, the seeds are stratified, which allows 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 the shoots appear, it is necessary to keep the seeds in partial shade and regularly moisten the soil. Indoor lemongrass grows for 2 years, after which the seedlings are ready for open ground.
It should be remembered! In open ground, a liana needs support to branch. Without support, lemongrass looks like a bush, its productivity is low.
The trellis is an ideal support. It is a strip of dug 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 the trellis without removing shoots from it for the winter.
Care and growing Chinese Schisandra
Watering mode
Systematic watering is a condition for active growth and high productivity. In the heat, you must additionally spray the vine.
Attention! Unlike home flowers, it is necessary to water and spray lemongrass with warm water. Watering is a must after fertilizing the soil. In order for nutrients and moisture to remain in the soil longer, the earth is mulched with sawdust.
An adult creeper in the summer requires about 6 buckets of water for one irrigation.
Top dressing
Breeding garden varieties is unthinkable without fertilizing the soil. In the spring, when the buds of the creepers open, for feeding 40 g of nitrogenous, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are mixed. During flowering, nitrofoska is the best fertilizer. When the flowering process is completed at lemongrass, 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 method of maintenance requires every 2-3 years to fertilize the soil with compost in the amount of 5 kg per 1 m².
Winter preparations
Before the first frosts, lianas are abundantly watered, a layer of mulch is laid around the base of the magnolia vine. In the southern regions, adult vines can winter without shelter. Young plants must 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 together and bend to the ground, and then cover with fallen foliage, spruce branches and film.
Exotic schisandra grows well in southern areas with humid air. However, this does not mean that the lemongrass plant for summer cottage is not suitable in other regions of Russia. If you properly care for it, Schisandra chinensis will actively grow and bear fruit well.
