How to save seeds of Adenophora

How to get Adenophora seeds

Adenophora, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the root of Adenophora serrata, Adenophora apricot leaf, Adenophora verticillata, Adenophora yunnanensis, Adenophora swampica and several other plants of the same genus in the Campanulaceae family. The seeds of Adenophora serrata are mainly hidden inside the fruit, and the seeds can be collected after the fruit is ripe.

Adenophora scabra seeds

Adenophora has seeds, which must be harvested in time when the fruit turns yellow-brown in July every year, otherwise the seeds will easily fall off.

Adenophora can keep its own seeds. Cut off the fruit clusters and fruits, dry them in time and set the seeds. Dry seeds can be used for sowing in autumn and winter. If the seed field can be well managed and fertilized, it can be harvested continuously for 6 to 10 years.

How long can Adenophora seeds be kept?

The seeds of Adenophora can be kept for more than 4 months. If you want to sow them in spring, you should treat the seeds with low temperature. If you want to sow them in autumn and winter, you need to store them in sand. Before winter, you can mix the seeds with wet sand and bury them in an outdoor pit, and take them out and sow them the following spring.

Adenophora seed storage

Adenophora seeds cannot germinate without winter freezing, so they need to be treated with low temperatures. There are three ways to break the dormancy period:

1. Sand burial method: Before freezing in November, choose a sunny place in the yard, dig a deep pit depending on the amount of seeds, and then mix the selected seeds with clean wet sand evenly. The moisture of the sand should be such that it can be formed into a ball by hand and will naturally scatter when it falls to the ground. The ratio of seeds to wet sand is 1:3. Then bury the mixed seeds in the deep pit. After filling it to 2/3 of the depth, cover it with 10-15 cm of new soil.

Maintain low temperature and low humidity conditions, check every 10-15 days to prevent mildew and dryness, and do not generate heat in the pit. It is not advisable to bury the seeds in sand too early, and pay attention to prevent rodent damage. Take out the seeds and sow them after thawing in the spring of the following year.

2. Sand pile method: Choose a sheltered and sunny site in the outdoor courtyard, mix seeds and wet sand in a ratio of 1:3, and pile them directly. Keep it moist, add covering material on the sand pile, and let it overwinter naturally. Prevent it from drying out and rodent damage during the stacking period.

3. Freezing method: This method is suitable for a small amount of seeds or an emergency treatment method used in urgent need of experiments. Spray the selected seeds with clean water and place them in a refrigerator or freezer for freezing. Adjust the temperature of the refrigerator (cabinet) to about -5T and freeze them for 15 days to break the dormancy of the seeds.