Melissa: Cultivation of seeds

Melissa, like mint, has a light spicy fragrance. And if the mint was named after the ancient Greek beauty of the cop, then the spice of Melissa was named after beautiful nymphs from ancient Greece - Melissa.

This grass is an interesting find for culinary art lovers. In Melissa, at the same time there are honey and mint notes, which are echoing with each other. It is due to such a combination, Melissa can be used to prepare salads and other dishes. You can grow this spicy plant on your own on the summer site or straight in the pot from seeds or seedlings.

What is the benefit of Melissa

The grass of Melissa is a perennial plant with a tetrahedral stem. The height of the adult bush reaches from 40 to 80 cm. Leaves, depending on the variety of plants, have different color and shape. Each sheet is covered as soon as noticeable vile, which glue into the sun. Rhizome plants are strongly branched and has well-developed shoots that are underground. During flowering under the top of the leaf, purple, pinkish or white flowers appear, depending on the Melissa variety. And during the ripening period on an adult plant, you can see very small round brown fruits.

If you break the leaves of Melissa and stretch them in their hands, you can enjoy a pleasant light lemon flavor. The taste of Melissa is bitter.

The leaves contain a large amount of vitamin C and essential oils. Because of this feature, the cultivation of Melissa has always been popular, since this grass is used as an additive to dishes, drinks, and in medicine - Melissa will help in the treatment of neurosis, heart disease and stomach, will increase the appetite and remove the headache.

If you break melissa leaves and dry them in all the rules, it will not lose their fragrance and spice even a year later.

In the people, the grass Melissa is called differently: medical, bee grass, lemongrass. In a sense, these names even justify themselves, because during the flowering period around Melissa, you can see a large number of bees, and a separate plant variety has a resistant lemon smell.

Varieties of plants

In nature, there are many derived Melissa varieties. Each of them differs in the size of the bush, form and color of the leaves, the duration of flowering and the aroma. Common varieties of Melissa:

• lemon;
• pearl;
• tsaritsinskaya,
• lime;
• freshness;
• reprehensive.

There are also such varieties of spicy plants in which the color is very different from ordinary Melissa - such a variety is called "pure gold" due to the fact that the leaves have a light yellow shade. And when the sun rays fall on them, then thin pearlescent patches are shimmer into the sun.

Popular grade Melissa, which can be found in the fields and grow even at home in the usual flower pot - Peppercut Melissa. It has a bright aroma and has a dark green color of the leaves with golden streants.

You need to know that some varieties are decorative, and separate can be used to cook food as spice and use for medicinal purposes.

If we compare Russia with other countries, then in Europe it is customary to cultivate Melissa in the fields, gardens and even in balconies. Listers Melissa are added to salads, soups and drinks. It has a light lemon aroma. Imagine how it can enrich the taste of soup with spinach just a few leaf leaves!

If you feel about the category "Beginner Gardeners" and wish to grow Melissa from seeds, then you need to familiarize yourself with this process and learn how to grow Melissa.

Growing melissa their seeds

Since Melissa refers to frost-resistant plants, it is possible to grow it even in the fall - it will come well even in the open soil. Melissa seeds can be collected independently or acquire a bag in a specialized store.

Melissa is sighable at a convenient time - there are no clear restrictions. The plant will be equally well to feel in the ground (the exception is the cold season). For example, melissa can be sown in spring, throughout the summer months, in the fall and under the winter.

When landing seeds, it is important to comply with certain rules:

1. The distance between the rows should be at least 25-30 cm.
2. According to generally accepted standards, sowing density is 1.5-2 g. ² Earth.
3. Blowing seeds can be only 1-2 cm.
4. It is also necessary to take into account that the seeds are very tiny and they will close a long time. Therefore, that the first germs are not lost among weed herb, the seeds of Melissa must be dried with other cultures serving beacons. Melissa seeds mix with salad or radish seeds, in a 2: 1 ratio. A mixture in one pre-prepared groove. When the first shoots appear, radishes or salad will already go into the ripening stage. Just at this time, they can be deleted completely or transplant.
5. The germination of seeds is preserved for 2-3 years.
6. Seed seeds can be in spring in the open ground.

If you manage to grow Melissa from seeds, then in the first year of flowering, do not wait - the plant should take strength.

The most acceptable version of the cultivation of Melissa is landing seeds to seedlings at home.

How to plant Melissa:

1. In the middle or at the end of the first spring month, it is necessary to prepare boxes or small cups for seeds.
2. Seeds can sow seeds of Melissa right to the greenhouse, if you have it.
3. Note that the germination of melissa seeds is very low.
4. Locking small seeds, try not to plunge. Just 0.5 cm enough, in this case, shoots will be simultaneous.
5. After friendly germs can be discharged plants so that they do not interfere with each other during development. The optimal option is the distances between each sprout - 5 cm.
6. After the first germs, seedlings need a large amount of light, so take care of this in advance. For example, you can install a box with a seedl of a light window sill, and on the sunny days to endure them on the balcony. Also a good option is artificial lighting. Lamp for seedlings can be made independently and include on cloudy days.
7. So that the seedlings develop well, bring a little nitrogen fertilizer to the ground or immediately put Melissa to peat pots.
8. As soon as the leaves appear, the seedlings need to be broken. Melissa picking do not do.
9. After 40 days, Melissa is desirable to land into the ground or free pot on a permanent place.

When landing melissa in open ground, you must choose a suitable place in the shade of trees, but so that the sun falls on the plants. Melissa does not like a shadow, and from the abundance of moisture can die. It is best to plant seedlings in the place where there is a half.

The soil must be well drained. The ideal earth for growing melissa from seeds is a weakly acidic or neutral.

When landing perennial spicy grass, the soil is preferably prepared in advance - from autumn. It is pregnant to overcoal, remove all the weary grass and make mineral and organic fertilizers. Make sure that the earth does not catch the land. If this happens, then you should take care of drainage. It can be chopped brick and small crushed stone. Soil zaking is fraught with reinforcement of the root system.

If the soil on your plot is clay, then it is better to dilute with sand. It is also necessary when landing Melissa make a bed high.

As soon as the soil begins to warm up - it's time to start work. First prepare the plot and remove the weeds. Then mark the beds. The distance between the rows is 45 cm. You can land the grown seedlings in 1 or 2 rows, depending on the selected location and purpose. It is desirable that a free space remained between each plant, ideally - 40 cm, then the bushes will not interfere with a friend. If you have enough free space on the plot, put Melissa at a distance of 60 cm apart. It will look for a plant that will be aesthetically, and when it starts multiply, the new bushes will quickly fill empty space.

With the advent of the first shoots, Melissa needs to be divided (end of spring), but this part of the work can be made at the end of summer. In the first year, the plant is strengthened, and on the second - it will bloom and give good greens. The harvest must be assembled before the plant starts blooming, that is, for the second year.

Growing lemon lemon on the windowsill

Lemon Melissa is a popular plant, used as spice and as a folk remedy for the treatment of neurosis, diseases of vessels, heart, stomach and allergies. It is possible to grow medicinal Melissa at home on the windowsill.

Plant reproduction can be obtained in different ways:

• the division of the bush is if Melissa grows on your site, it can be divided and transplanted into a pot. The procedure in the spring is performed when young shoots begin to grow from an adult plant. The small bush of spicy grass is digging, shakeped the ground, cut it with a sharp knife into small bushes. The rhizomes are cut in such a way that several young shoots with the kidney get each sprout. Then they transplan the young Melissa in the pot of Earth;
• web - if you have an adult bush Melissa, then it can be reproduced much faster. It is not necessary to dig it, young shoots are perfectly rooted right on the bush. It is necessary to have time to do before the plant starts blooming, that is, in the middle of summer. Young shoots (10-15 cm long) are lowered down to the ground, fixed in any way and rush to the ground. The place is abundantly watered with water. After 2 weeks, the young escape will stop the roots and can be cut off by the secateur, and then transplant to the pot. After transplanting the pot put in the shaded place and wait for the shoots to come down in a new place;
• if the above methods are not suitable for you, you can multiply Melissa with cuttings. Make it easy: we will be sent to the store or on the market and buy a bundle of freshly cut melissa. The tops cut off with scissors and put in the container with water. We wait for the sprouts of the roots (after 10 days) and transplant to the pot;
• the reproduction of Melissa seeds is a matter of a long and troublesome, but if you gain patience, then such a bush Melissa will be much stronger and rustier than grown spice in the ways described above.

Consider in more detail how to grow Melissa from seeds:

1. Before planting the seeds, it is necessary to go well in a weak solution of manganese 1-2 hours.
2. Seed seeds in peat pots or lands with earth to a depth of 0.5 cm.
3. Capacities with seeds are covered with film and put in a warm place.
4. After 15 days, the first searches can be expected.
5. When the first 2 leaves appear, the seedlings can be recreated in a large pot of 6-7 sprouts into each container.
6. It is necessary to take care of a good drainage in advance.
7. The height of the pot must be no more than 15 cm.
8. After 7 weeks you can collect the first harvest. During this time, Melissa will grow 6 leaves.

How to care for Melissa

Melissa loves light, so you need to immediately choose a suitable place. It can be a well-lit windowsill. Although, if the light is not enough, the bush will not die, but only slow down its growth and the color of the leaves will be paler.

Melissa loves moisture, so watering the plant especially in the summer should be abundant. On cloudy days and the cold season, watering should be moderate.

Do not allow the mooring of the soil, because the plant will begin to root. It is also impossible to allow stagnation of water in a pot - a bush can get sick and contracted. That is why you need to take care of a good drainage in advance.

Melissa loves wet air very much, so in the summer time the bushes need to spray with cool water from the spray. If you do it every day in the heat, then the sheets will become larger and get bright juicy.

Do not regret the bests Melissa - they need to tear as often as possible - timely pruning of the plant will help to push the flowering period during which the sheets become rougher.

For normal growth and development of spicy grass, it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature, in the range of 18-20 ^oS. Plant tolerates temperature fluctuations well, but this may affect sheet juiciness. By the way, destructive for the leaves of the heat, and the cold of Melissa can transfer.

For the bush to serve you for a long time, you need to make a timely torturing, for example, Agrolife fertilizer - 1 tsp. In the upper layer of soil 1, a maximum of 2 times a month.