Chinese Schisandra, cultivation and care.

Chinese lemongrass is a long- winding liana of the Magnolia family. The plant reaches a height of 10-15 meters and has a thick branching stem, covered with a smooth, reddish-brown skin. The leaves of the plant are dense, leathery and have an ovoid shape. But the real decoration of Schisandra is his flowers, fragrant white and pink color, collected in small inflorescences. No less beautiful is the plant and with already ripe berries, hanging in small red bunches.

Countries of East Asia gave us a lot of amazing exotic plants, such as: lemon meyer or lemongrass aquarium, but the most popular for cultivation in our country has become Chinese magnolia vine.

Chinese Schisandra - cultivation and care

The magnolia-tree multiplies in several ways: by dividing the bush, root shoots, layers and seeds.

Chinese Schisandra, Seed Cultivation

Seeds for subsequent planting are harvested from well-ripened lemongrass. Collected fruits squeeze, then thoroughly washed with water, separating the seeds of seeds from the skin and pulp, and then thoroughly dried.

Seeds can be germinated in two ways.

Method one, when sowing is carried out in the autumn. In this case, sprouts appear in late April, early May and give germination within 85%.

The second method requires a lot of gardener's efforts. If you want to sow seeds in the spring, then they must be pre-prepared. For this grain, for 30 days, subject to thermal stratification by aging in moist sand at a temperature of 18-20 degrees, and then lowering the temperature threshold to 0-5 degrees Celsius and maintaining the seeds for another month. After that, they become completely ready for planting in the open ground.

Chinese Schizandra, growing by layers

This method is no less good than the multiplication of plants by seeds. In early spring, when the buds are not yet blossomed, young shoots of magnolia vine are pressed to the soil, fixed with stakes and well sprinkled with earth. During the summer, the underground part of the shoots acquires its own root system, which by autumn is fully formed. It is possible to separate the branches without damage to their health from the mother plant and transplant them to a new place.

Chinese Schizandra, cultivation by bush division and root processes

This method is the simplest and least traumatic for an adult plant. The strongly overgrown bush is divided into several smaller ones, trying not to damage the roots, and plant them. Practically the same looks like the division of the root shoots, which are formed on adult magnolia vine. Scion with a root is excavated and transplanted into a pre-prepared place.

Care

The initial task of any horticulturist who planted lemongrass is to get the maximum possible growth of the stem. For this purpose, a special support is fixed near the seedling - a trellis, through which it can curl. The most active phase of growth of magnolia vine falls on the first 3 years of his life. As you grow, shoots of magnolia vine are carefully tied to trellis. The earth around the plant should be as loose as possible to ensure that the roots of the liana have good oxygen access. When loosening, do not forget that the roots of the plant are located close to the surface of the earth, and they can easily be damaged.

Tsveli Chinese magnolia begins not earlier than 5-6 years after planting. However, this plant has one unique feature. Depending on the conditions of growth on the vine, for example, only flowers of male or female can be formed, or, under acceptable conditions of maintenance, both species simultaneously. This factor can depend on humidity and air temperature, fertilizer parameters and weather conditions. Therefore, if you want to harvest the lemongrass every year, then it is necessary to have several plants at once.