Melissa: planting and care at their summer cottage

Exact origin of the name Melissa not clarified due to disagreements of his interpreters. But it is known that the herbaceous plant of the family Yasnotkovye, named melissa, is widely spread as a medicinal raw material, also called censer, lemon grass, lemon and bee mint. This inconspicuous grass is cultivated by gardeners, gardeners and even planters for industrial purposes, focusing primarily on the richness of biologically active substances contained in the lemon balm.

Melissa: plant description

The height of the perennial can reach one and a half meters. Its basis is a highly branched rhizome. The petiole leaves of a complex shape, reminiscent of both a heart and an egg and having large teeth, are located on a branchy stem, as if cut from four sides.

Short pedicels are topped with axillary tufts of small white flowers, which may also have pale pink or purple hues. The flowers have four stamens, the upper four ovary pistil on a long column. The bloom of lemon balm marked July and August of the second year of growth.

In a large, black shine, four-fruit fetus, reaching maturity in August-September, egg-shaped. Before flowering the grass smells of lemon. When flowering ends, the fading smell becomes unpleasant.

How to choose a place and prepare the soil for growing lemon balm

In order for Melissa to grow well, you need to create certain conditions for her.

Lighting for active growth

It is recommended to plant lemon balm on the spot with good solar lighting, which is especially important for the germination of small seeds from nature. Frosts can destroy the new bushes of lemon mint, so their cultivation must begin with the landing in warm time. In the future, the plant demonstrates a fair resistance to cold, although the place where Melissa grows is still better to choose on the south side, protected from air currents coming from the north.

Preparing the soil for planting lemon balm

The soil for planting should be fertile and free from weeds. Melissa prefers loamy soils, as having a high water and breathability, which makes it possible to grow a full-fledged plant. There are also loose sandstone. They need a good drainage of small crushed stone or broken brick, which will protect the root system from rotting.

If the site is all located on clay soil, then in the place of planting lemon balm it should be mixed with river sand. The reaction of the soil to acidity should be slightly acidic or neutral.The first digging with weeding and weeding can be done in the fall, and in the spring, loosen and clean the warmed earth again.

Methods of propagation of lemon balm, how to plant a medicinal plant

To understand how the lemon balm reproduces most successfully, you must first carefully study and only then choose seeds for planting, seedlings of lemon balm, cuttings or separated parts of the bush.

Sowing seeds

A thousand seeds weigh approximately 0.62 g. Their germination persists for 2-3 years. Based on practical experience, it was concluded that the seeds of a plant grow stronger and more durable. When it is better to sow lemon balm, it depends on the planting material chosen for the open soil.

Landing in open ground

Rapid seed germination will occur when sowing lemon balm in open ground begins in late May. And as close as possible to the surface, that is, you should plant seeds of lemon balm to a depth of no more than 1-1.5 cm. For the aisle it’s enough up to half a meter. Between the bushes, as they grow decently, it is advisable to leave at least 40 cm.

Gardeners who care not only about the yield, but also about the aesthetics of the beds, recommend increasing both distances to about 0.6 m.The first shoots appear only after 3-4 weeks, so the question: “Why does not the lemon balm rise?”, The answer is simple - the time has not come.

Planting lemon balm seedlings

The rich harvest of fragrant lemon balm lemongrass can be achieved not only by growing it from seeds, but after receiving seedlings from them. Planting on seedlings should be done at the turn of March and April, and in May, the resulting approximately 40-day material with four leaves on each seedling is planted in the soil.

Boxes with seeds sown, covered with glass, kept in a warm room, the illumination of which is increased to a maximum after the emergence of shoots. Seedlings grown to 3-5 cm need thinning up to five-centimeter intervals and then transplanting into separate small containers.

Growing lemon balm by dividing the bush

Beginning at the end of May to grow shoots signal that you can begin to divide the bushes. Another, also a favorable time - the end of August. An excavated bush is cut into parts of equal size. At least 4-5 shoots and roots should remain on each of them. Separated parts take root well and bloom beautifully. The limitation for this method of breeding lemon balm is its age - it must be at least 3-4 years old.

How to cutting a lemon balm

Cuttings for planting lemon balm are made from the apical part of its young shoots, which, after cutting, are placed in water. After the appearance of the roots (this happens after about two weeks), the cuttings grow in fertilized loose soil.

Rules for the care of melissa in the garden

There is no difficulty, how to plant melissa, it is in any case unpretentious, and therefore care for it does not provide for specific specifics. But in the first year, while the branched roots of overgrown bushes did not independently provide them with food and moisture, the plant needs close attention. First of all, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil and remove weeds.

In one place melissa can exist up to 10 years. But in the sixth year, winter-hardiness deteriorates, therefore, in a frosty climate after this period, it is better to do division and seating.

Watering and feeding plants

Several waterings are needed in the initial stage of growth. Be sure to water with a significant drought. Watering must be complemented by loosening the soil.A protective mulch layer laid on top will help the soil to stay wet longer, and also serve as a weed protection. Feed lemon balm after each cut of greens.

Complex liquid fertilizers are used (for 10 liters of water - 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 50 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride) and mulching with organic matter - a significant layer of humus or compost. Before flowering, fertilizing is not done, since it impedes the timely ripening of seeds.

Pinching lemon balm

Pinching seedlings of lemon balm grown for seedlings, produced at a height of 10-15 cm. The result of this procedure are compact bushes with more branching.

Trimming lemon balm

Two or three times a season, shoots of melissa are radically cut at 10 centimeters from the ground. Such an operation, in addition to a very speedy recovery, leads to a rather active formation of a large number of new twigs and thick pretty bushes, so attractive that they are used as elements of landscape design.

Collection and preparation of lemon balm

3-4 harvests per year are common practice for lemon balm.In the question of growing lemon balm as an annual or perennial plant, gardeners are guided by this property. Since its value is largely concentrated in the essential oil, it is preferable to clean up on an overcast afternoon when oilseeds are minimal.

The beginning of flowering serves as a signal for collecting medicinal leaves and tops of the shoots, which in no less than a dozen countries are officially recognized as medicinal raw materials. Harvesting of raw materials begins with drying in air, heated not higher than 40 degrees. To do this, use shaded places in open space or cold dryers. Subsequent storage requires good ventilation of the warehouse. Harvested raw materials are best kept in banks.

Dreams of exquisite gourmets came to fruition in Melissa, finally combining citrus aroma with a substantial mint flavor and subtle notes of honey into a single whole.Not taking into account the healing properties of bee mint, they tend to give with the help of spicy herbs an elegant piquancy to the taste qualities of the usual dishes from their menu.