The toon tree is a perennial deciduous tree, the tree can reach more than 10 meters high. Leaves alternate, for an even number of pinnately compound leaves, leaflets 6-10 pairs, leaf scars large, 40 cm long, 24 cm wide, leaflets long elliptic, leaf end acute, 10-12 cm long, 4 cm wide, juvenile leaves purplish-red, adult leaves green, the back of the leaf reddish-brown, lightly laced with waxy, slightly astringent flavor, petiole red. Panicles terminal, pendulous, bisexual, white, fragrant, flowers small, campanulate, ovary conical, 5-locular, 3 ovules per locule, style shorter than ovary, solanum, narrowly ellipsoid or subovate, about 2 cm long, reddish brown when mature, fruit leathery, dehiscent into a bell. blooms in June, fruit ripening in October-November. Seed in oval, on the wooden long wings, seed grain small, low germination rate, high oil content, the oil is edible.
The toon is temperature-loving, suitable for cultivation in areas with an average temperature of 8-10 ℃, cold resistance with the increase in the age of the seedling tree and improve. With seed direct seedling in a 10 ℃ or so may be frozen. Toon is light-loving, more tolerant of moisture, suitable for growing in the fertile and moist soil around the river and mansion, generally good for sandy loam. Suitable soil acidity and alkalinity for pH5.5-8.0.
China's toon varieties are many, according to the toon buds and cotyledons of different colors, basically can be divided into purple toon and green toon two categories. The purple toon has black oil toon, red oil toon, Jiaozuo red toon, Ximou purple toon and other varieties; green toon has green oil toon, yellow umbrella and other varieties. Toon varieties are different, their characteristics and features are also different. Purple toon is generally more open crown, gray-brown bark, buds purple-brown, the first young shoots purple-red, glossy, strong flavor, less fiber, containing more oil; green toon, crown upright, bark green or green-brown, slightly lighter flavor, containing less oil.
Cultivation points
(1)Cultivation mode:
①Common cultivation. Toon propagation is divided into sowing seedlings and planting propagation (also known as root tiller propagation) two kinds.
Sowing propagation of due to the low germination rate of toon seeds, therefore, before sowing, the seeds should be soaked in warm water at 30-35 ℃ for 24 hours, fished out and placed at 25 ℃ to germinate. Until the embryonic root reveals the size of rice grains when sowing (the ground temperature at the time of sowing is at a minimum of about 5 ℃) Shanghai area is generally in early to mid-March. After the emergence of seedlings, 2-3 pieces of true leaves time seedlings, 4-5 pieces of true leaves when the seedling fixed, row spacing for 25x15 cm.
Split-plant reproduction, can be dug in the early spring into the root of the plant seedlings, planted on the seedling ground, when the next year, the seedlings grow to about 2 meters, and then planting. Can also be used to break the root tiller method, in late winter and early spring, in the adult tree around the digging 60 cm deep circular ditch, cut off part of the lateral roots, and then fill the ditch, because the root of the toon is easy to give birth to the adventitious roots, so the apex of the broken root sprouting new seedlings, can be transplanted the following year.
Toon seedling breeding, are in the early spring before germination planting. A large area to create a toon forest, row spacing 7x 5 meters. Planted in the river canal, behind the house, are single row, spacing 5 meters or so. After planting, watering 2-3 times to improve the survival rate.
②Dwarfing dense cultivation. This is a cultivation method developed in recent years. Its seedling method is the same as the common cut cultivation, only in planting density and tree pruning is different. General per 666.7 square meters planted about 6000 plants. Tree type can be divided into two types of multi-layer type and clump type: multi-layer type is when the seedling height of 2 meters to remove the top, prompting the lateral buds sprouting, the formation of three layers of backbone branches, the first layer of 70 cm from the ground, the second layer from the first layer of 60 cm, the third layer from the second layer of 40 cm. This multi-layer type has a higher
trunk, full lignification and more stable yield. The clumping type is the seedling height of 1 meter or so, that is to go to the top of the top, Liu new branches only to pick the young leaves do not go to the top bud, to be branch length 20-30 cm and then wipe the head. Characterized by a shorter trunk, more main branches.
3 protected cultivation. Can also be divided into two kinds: one is planted in the greenhouse (or pipe shed) dwarf dense toon, to the middle of November (refers to the southern part of North China) to buckle film. The other is to plant two or three year old seedlings that have passed dormancy in the greenhouse (or pipe shed). Room (shed) temperature during the day to maintain 18-24 ℃, the night temperature is not less than 12 ℃, after 40-45 days, you can harvest young leaves.
(2) management: although the field management of toon is rough, but in order to make fast growth and high yield, but also pay attention to fertilizer and pest control work. If the weather is dry, should be timely watering; every year to plowing loosening, in the rows of the best set of green manure, May during the turning pressure into the soil or watering of human and animal manure and urine.
Pests such as toon caterpillar, cloud spotted aspen, grass-crawling shellfish, etc., can be used to kill borer and other pesticides; diseases such as leaf rust, powdery mildew, etc., can be used to prevent and control Bordeaux solution, stone sulfur and other agents.
(3) picking: common cultivation and dwarf dense cultivation of toon, generally in the Qingming before germination, before and after the rain can be picked top buds, this first - the first picking, called the first crop of toon buds, not only fat and tender, but also rich flavor, quality; later according to the growth situation, every 15-20 days, picking the second. Newly planted toon, up to 2 times, 3 years after the annual harvest 2-3 times, the yield also increased accordingly. As for the protected cultivation, through heating, winter can also be picked, such as not heating, can be supplied in early spring in advance of the tree buds.