Plant Growth Response of Black Cohosh to Shade Levels in a High Tunnel

Abstract

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.), a medicinal herb commonly used in herbal supplements for the treatment of various ailments, is a perennial herb that grows naturally under shade conditions in temperate forest regions. This project studied the growth and rhizome yield of Black cohosh under shade conditions of 0%, 40%, 60%, and 80% in a high tunnel (9.1 m wide × 29.3 m long) on the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University Farm. Seed rhizomes were planted in raised beds incorporated with 9070 kg/acre compost and preplant fertilizer on 29 May 2016. There was one row per bed, with in-row spacing at 45.7 cm, and one drip line per bed for irrigation. Fertigation was done weekly through the drip tapes with Multi-K 13–0–46 (27.2 kg N/acre) during the growing season. Beds were mulched after sprouting. Growth data of fully mature plants were collected on canopy width and length, total number of stems per plant, stem diameter, and length/height; and rhizome fresh and dry weight. Data were analyzed at the 0.05 level of significance. Plant canopy, stem diameter, and length/height were significantly greater in 40% shade (average, 504.7 × 472.6 mm, 3.7 mm, and 135.9 mm, respectively) than in other shade conditions, with the smallest sizes in 0% shade (average, 255.8 × 255.7 mm, 2.1 mm, and 95.4 mm, respectively). There were no significant differences between the 60% and 80% shade conditions in plant canopy, stem diameter, and length/height. However, the total number of stems per plant (4.9) in 0% shade was significantly more than those in other shade conditions, with the least of stems per plant (2.9) in 80% shade. Rhizome fresh and dry weight per plant were the greatest (164.6 and 48.1 g, respectively) in 40% shade, and the least (77.8 and 22.5 g, respectively) in 0% shade. The results indicate that optimum growing conditions for Black cohosh was in 40% shade with a Daily light integral (DLI) between 15 and 0 mol/m2/day, and a day- and nighttime temperature difference between 8.3 and 2.7 °C.