Kotovnik - small perennial herb with a pleasant smell. It belongs to the family of Lambskin.
Kotovnik is considered a good honey plant and has healing properties.
- Kotovnik: description of the plant
- Where is the best place to plant a catnip, choosing a place to grow
- How to plant a catnip: rules for growing plants in the garden
- Breeding catnip direct seeding
- Growing a catnip through seedlings
- Catplant breeding division bush
- Basic rules for the care of the catnip
- Watering
- Top dressing
- Thinning, weeding and soil care
- How to trim a catnip at the dacha
- Plant resistance to diseases and pests
- Kotovnik: how to get seeds
Kotovnik: description of the plant
There are more than 200 species of catnip. Catnip - one of the representatives of this kind. It also has other names - catnip lemon or catnip. It grows almost everywhere: on meadows, in forests, in weedy places, in mountains, in vegetable gardens.
The catnip plant has the following description.
Externally, the catnip looks like mint. This plant can reach a height of one meter.
Leaves lowered, oblong and velvety, gray-green frosted shade.
A catnip can have a white, pale pink, purple or blue flower.The flowers are collected in spike inflorescences.
The catnip blooms from June to September. In its composition this herb contains essential oils.
Where is the best place to plant a catnip, choosing a place to grow
To grow a catnip in your area, you need to choose a place for planting and further care. This herbaceous plant loves the light, so the area should be well lit. Soils should be light.
How to plant a catnip: rules for growing plants in the garden
Before planting a catnip, the area needs to be dug up and cleaned of rhizomes of weeds. You can make humus or compost. You can grow this plant where cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes and other crops used to grow. 
Kotovnik can be propagated in several ways:
- seeding catnip seeds;
- growing seedlings;
- division of the bush.
Breeding catnip direct seeding
To breed a catnip you need to know how to grow it from seeds.
If the catnip seeds are sown in open ground, then it will bloom only in the second year of life.
When growing a catnip from seeds, the embedment depth should be small. The soil should cover the seeds just one centimeter. The aisles must be at least 30 cm, the plant loves freedom.
Seeds of catnip can be mixed with sand, so that when sowing they do not go to bed thickly. Before planting a catnip with seeds, it is necessary to shed the bed well with water. After sowing, watering is not necessary, as water can wash away small seeds. If the shoots are thick, it is necessary to do thinning, leaving a distance of about 3 cm between them.
Growing a catnip through seedlings
Growing a catnip through seedlings is a more reliable way. Seeds will feel better in greenhouse conditions. Sow seeds in early April.The embedment should be shallow, no more than one centimeter deep.
The first shoots appear in a couple of weeks. Then you need to use the method of picking, in order to seedlings of catnip enough space for food and growth. Picks are carried out when two true leaves appear. Transplanted seedlings in special pots or boxes.
In the greenhouse it is necessary to control the humidity and temperature of the air. Seedlings are planted in open ground in May, when at least three pairs of true leaves appeared on it, and its height reached 12 cm.
Before planting seedlings, the soil is dug up to a depth of 25 cm. It is necessary to plant in rows, keeping the distance between the stems of 30 cm.
Catplant breeding division bush
Kotovnik multiply by dividing the bush much more often than in other ways.
The plant must be carefully dig and divide the bush into parts. Each part must have at least one healthy root. This will be enough for the plant to stick.
A big plus is the fact that when planting bushes, you can immediately select the optimal distance between them. When planting seeds the right distance is difficult to ensure.Thinning is not required for vegetative propagation. Features varieties and aroma are preserved.
Basic rules for the care of the catnip
Catnip grass is an unpretentious plant, but care is needed for it anyway.
Watering
Kotovnik easily tolerates temperature extremes and drought. During a drought, the catnip slows down in growth, but retains its decorative effect. With the constant flooding of the soil catnip roots can rot. Watering should be moderate. If there is no rain, the herb can be watered once every two weeks.
Top dressing
In the spring, the catnip needs to be fed with mineral fertilizers, which include nitrogen. And in the fall they are fed organic - mullein infusion or chicken droppings.
Thinning, weeding and soil care
We need to weed and loosen the soil for the lush greenery of the catnip. This should be done two or three times per season. Also, the plant must be mulched with peat or humus.
How to trim a catnip at the dacha
In the middle of summer, when the catnip is in bloom, pruning is recommended. This is the right time. It is necessary to remove the withered inflorescences in order for the plant to continue to bloom longer. Cut the catnip you need to cut the stems, leaving shoots 15 cm high. This contributes to re-flowering in September.
Cut greens dried for further use. Grass should be laid out on a horizontal surface in a well-ventilated place. When the catnip is dry, it is crushed and stored in thick paper bags. Dry grass can be used as a seasoning or as a medicinal plant. Within two years, dry catnip does not lose its properties.
Plant resistance to diseases and pests
Kotovnik is very resistant to diseases and pests. This plant can even scare away some insects, for example, aphids and some species of bugs.
A pleasant lemon scent attracts butterflies and moles. They, in turn, lay eggs on the catnip.From eggs, larvae-caterpillars hatch, which can harm the cattle. Fight them better folk remedies. When using chemicals can kill bees that pollinate the plant.
The catnip is not subject to any specific diseases.
Kotovnik: how to get seeds
Seeds of catnip ripen in July-August, uneven. Therefore, they need to collect as maturity, start with the lower inflorescences.
If the seeds are not collected on time, the plant will sow itself in the same place. To collect the seeds, it is necessary to cut the inflorescence and spread it evenly on paper.
Catniv cat - a universal plant. It is used in medicine, in perfumery, in cooking, as well as in landscape design.
