Cassia seed is a dry and mature seed of Cassia panicum miliaceum in Leguminosae, also known as Cassia and Cassia equisetifolia. Most of them are cultivated, which are produced all over the country. Most of them are produced in Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi and Sichuan in the south, and the main producing areas in the north are Hebei, Shandong and Henan. Small cassia seed, which belongs to the same plant, is also produced all over the country. It is short cylindrical, small, 3 ~ 5 mm long and 2 ~ 3～5mm in diameter, with a yellow-green surface and a broad brown band on both sides of the ridge line. It is slightly fragrant and slightly bitter, and can also be used as medicine.

First, growth habits

Cassia seed is warm, drought-tolerant, not cold-resistant, and afraid of freezing injury. Seedlings and adult plants are vulnerable to frost and defoliation, and seeds cannot mature. Cassia seed is not strict with land requirements, and can also be planted in idle land, but it is better to use sandy loam with good drainage, deep soil layer and loose fertility.

Second, planting techniques

Seed germination rate should be tested before seed selection and sowing. Specific methods: Divide the seeds with full grains into several parts, number them in turn, take out125 ~ 250g from each part and put them into corresponding numbered vessels, soak them in warm water at about 50℃ for one day and night, then pour out the water, rinse them with clean water again, then cover them with wet cloth to keep the humidity, and after three days, they can sprout one after another, and select those with germination rate above 85% as seeds.

Soil preparation In the selected plot, 2000～2500kg of ring fertilizer and 25kg of calcium superphosphate are applied per mu, which are evenly spread on the ground, ploughed and raked, and generally no border is made. If border is made, it can be made into a flat border with a width of1.2 ~1.5m.

Sowing: Soak the superior species selected through testing in warm water at 50℃ for one day and night, and then take them out to dry the surface after the absorbed water swells, so as to sow. The sowing date is from Qingming to Grain Rain (mid-April), and the temperature is15 ~ 20℃, which is too early and the ground temperature is low, so the seeds are easy to rot in the soil. Too late, the seeds can't mature, which affects the yield and quality. It is suitable to sow with row spacing of 50 ~ 70 cm, and ditch with depth of 5 ~ 6 cm. The seeds are evenly spread in the ditch, covered with soil for 3cm, slightly suppressed, and the seedlings emerge about 10 days after sowing. In the drought in the north, it is necessary to water before sowing, not to water after sowing, so as to avoid the hardening of topsoil affecting the emergence of seedlings.

Third, field management

When the height of scarifying and weeding seedlings is 3 ~ 6 cm, thinning seedlings and pulling out weak seedlings or over-dense seedlings; Seedling height10 ~13 cm, and plant spacing is about 30cm. Loosening and weeding should be carried out at the same time of thinning and fixing seedlings to keep the soil loose. Cassia seed is drought-tolerant, and the soil can grow normally when it is kept in general humidity. When it is dry, it should be watered properly, but it should be watered less when it is planted. When the fruit is ripe in Bailu (early September), watering can be stopped.

Top dressing seedlings are about 35cm high. Before the plants are closed, 20kg of calcium superphosphate and ammonium sulfate10 ~15k8 are applied to the rows, and then intertillage and cultivate the soil to bury the fertilizer in the soil, which can prevent the plants from lodging.

Fourth, pest control

Gray leaf spot is the most common disease of cassia seed, and its pathogen is a kind of semi-unknown fungus in fungi, which mainly harms leaves. At the beginning, a slightly faded lesion appeared in the center of the leaf, and then gray mildew was produced on the lesion. Spray 500 times of 65% zineb solution or 800 ~1000 times of 50% bacteria-returning special solution before or at the beginning of the disease.

Insect pests mostly occur in late spring and early summer, mainly budding insects, which are sprayed with 200 times solution of dimethoate emulsion.

V. Harvest, processing and storage

Cassia seed matures gradually at the autumnal equinox (late September). When the pod turns yellow-brown, it will be harvested. The whole plant will be cut and dried in the sun, seeds will be produced, and impurities will be removed, thus obtaining the medicinal material. Cassia seed should be stored in a ventilated, dry and cool place, so as to prevent moisture and rats.