How to grow oregano at home?

Oregano on the windowsill will give you not only beauty, but also will be of great benefit. How to grow this fragrant and medicinal plant, read on ...

In another way, this fragrant spicy herb is called oregano or motherboard, and many people know these names.

The beneficial properties of this fragrant spice, both flavoring and magical, are so extraordinary that you might want to try growing it at home.

Oregano on the windowsill - how to grow and care

Benefits of oregano

Regular consumption of this spice perfectly helps to cope with anxiety, depression, it is an excellent antiseptic and expectorant.

The healing properties of oregano:

• Oregano is the absolute record holder for the content of vitamin B6, which is necessary to normalize high blood pressure and improve cerebral circulation ...

  Check out this healing oregano essential oil here

• Improves brain function.
• Tea from the leaves of the motherboard perfectly improves the work of the entire digestive system, especially the work of the intestines.
• Oregano essential oil helps with sore throats, colds, flu, pneumonia, acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, as it has amazing anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
• Relieves insomnia

One teaspoon of this herb contains several times more antioxidants than one small cup of fresh blueberries!

The use of oregano in cooking

Oregano is a very popular aromatic spice that is very widely used in cooking, giving dishes a special taste and extraordinary aroma.

Its taste can be appreciated by both gourmets and culinary experts. Oregano is universal !!!

Culinary properties:

• Adding this spice to pickles gives them a wonderful taste and aroma.
• The property of oregano is known to extend the shelf life of dishes, pickles, and preparations.
• It is used both fresh and dried.
• Salads with the addition of fresh leaves of this spicy herb acquire a very interesting taste.
• And tea from leaves has an amazing aroma and unsurpassed useful characteristics.

oregano on the windowsill at home

Growing oregano at home on an ordinary windowsill is not at all difficult.
We recommend you watch this video first.

For indoor growing of a plant, you can take any flower pots and any soil mixture purchased at a flower shop, which is made on the basis of peat and has an almost neutral acidity - about 6-6.5.

Reproduction of oregano

This plant is perennial, it can be grown in the garden and at your summer cottage.

It can be propagated by seeds and dividing the rhizome of an adult bush into parts.

Reproduction by seeds:

• Soak the seeds for two days in warm water, which must be renewed 3-4 times a day. This will facilitate and speed up the swelling and germination of the seed.
• After pecking seeds, they are planted in 2-3 pieces in pots, standard cassettes or other containers for planting, to a depth of 0.5 centimeters.
• First, it is necessary to lay drainage in the container, pour the earth, moisten it.
• Lay out the swollen seeds, sprinkle with a layer of earth on top, moisten the soil a little again.
• It will be good to cover the top with a film.
• The plant sprouts in about two to three weeks.

Growing oregano vegetatively:

• This is done in the fall.
• An adult bush is carefully dug out and its rhizome is divided into small parts so that in each part there are at least four healthy buds that can give full-fledged sprouts.
• In prepared pots, where the drainage was previously laid with a layer of 2-3 cm, soil is poured and moistened, plant cuttings are carefully placed and sprinkled with earth.
• Next, you need to moisten the soil.
• Watering no more than once every 3-4 days, try not to do it very abundantly.

Features of plant care

Let's analyze the basic rules for caring for a fragrant oregano.

You need to know that oregano grows rather quickly, so it needs planting containers of at least 2-3 liters.

Care basics:

• You can first drive out the plant in small cups and pots, and then transplant - as it is more convenient for you, do so.
• Do not water the plant too often and abundantly, this will provoke its rot and subsequent death.

The secret to successfully growing oregano is regular, once every two to three weeks, feeding with organic fertilizers for indoor flowers.

• Allocate the sunniest spot on your windowsill for the oregano bush. This is a very light-loving plant.
• It is known that the most useful leaves are during the flowering period of the bush, but at home it is a little difficult. Therefore, feel free to collect fresh leaves a month after planting.
• If you cut the stems of oregano by 1/3 of the height, this will contribute to the intensive growth of additional shoots.
• Cut off regularly appearing inflorescences. If this is not done, then the stems of the plant will become lush.
• If, after planting the seeds, you covered the soil with a film, then remove it once a day for a couple of hours to allow the plant to breathe. It is better to do this in the evening.
• Many people recommend adding a little sand when planting oregano in the ground. Still, one must take into account the fact that in the wild, oregano feels great on sandy soils.
• If your spice does not receive enough sunlight during growth, then its aroma and taste will be rather poor, since the essential oils contained in the plant are actively produced only in the presence of a sufficient amount of sunlight.
• Be sure to loosen the soil regularly.

The garden on the windowsill is useful and beautiful

What is the best oregano to grow - choose a variety

It is very important to choose the right type of plant and then oregano grows very well on the windowsill!

The following cultivars are recommended for culinary and medicinal use:

• Arbatskaya Semko is a bush with a large number of leaves, up to 80 cm high.
• White oregano is a very productive bush of this spice.
• The fragrant bunch is a low bush, only up to thirty centimeters in height, with a rather strong aroma and pubescent leaves.
• Caramel - it has excellent taste, very high-yielding.
• The sorceress is a bush up to 50-60 centimeters in height, medium aromatic, with a fairly large number of leaves.
• Honey scent - a plant no more than thirty centimeters in height, very aromatic and high-yielding.
• Mila is a bush, reaching a height of 50-55 centimeters, with quite strong aromatic and taste characteristics. Has a very high yield of leaves.
• Nadezhda is a low-growing fruitful variety of oregano with an average degree of aroma.
• Elegant - oregano, which has an average yield, with a pleasant, unobtrusive taste and aroma of leaves.
• Rainbow - Recommended for medicinal use due to its increased beneficial characteristics. A bush up to 70 centimeters in height, with a high yield and a high content of essential oil in the leaves.
• Slavnitsa is another variety with enhanced medicinal properties of leaves, with very good yields.
• Northern Lights, Fairy, Khutoryanka and Sibirskaya Melodiya - these varieties are not very widespread, but they have a fairly good yield and an average degree of aromaticity of the leaves. Very well suited for culinary purposes.

Be sure to try growing oregano at home on your windowsill!

And you can always enjoy its extraordinary taste and stunning aroma, brew healing tea for yourself and get a good mood.

This interesting article will tell you what other aromatic herbs can be grown at home.

It does not take much time and effort, but it will bring undeniable benefits to your health and enrich the taste of your culinary delights!

Be healthy!!!

sources

I want to share my experience on how to grow oregano from seeds. In our latitudes, you can often hear the name Oregano or mother, but this is the same wonderful smelling plant as the Italian oregano.

I am a big fan of pizza and I respect Italian spices that give baked goods a unique flavor. My favorite Italian herbs spices include oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, savory and onion. Since I recently became obsessed with home cultivation of herbs, I decided to sow the seeds of Oregano (aka Oregano). It is this spice that smells like my favorite pizza and spaghetti. In addition to its extraordinary aroma, oregano has a number of useful properties.

How to grow oregano from seeds

• To get a harvest of oregano from the windowsill, you first need to allocate the sunniest place for it.
• TO undemanding soil, however, it rises for a long time (you will have to wait three weeks), so you will still have to slightly moisten the soil after sowing every 3-4 days.
• It is advisable to cover the planting site (in our case, a pot or box) with a film so that the earth does not dry out. In the evening, I give the soil a chance to breathe a little, removing the film for an hour.
• The root of the oregano is creeping and branched, if you let it grow, it will sprout along the walls of the pot. Try planting in a narrow, elongated cactus plant.
• At the bottom of the drainage, you can add a little perlite and vermiculite to the soil (loosen the soil, do not allow it to dry out quickly) and sow it to a depth of 0.5 cm. The seeds are microscopic, so I sow with a pinch. If everyone came up - you're in luck))), leave the strongest sprouts, the rest can be thinned out.
• Water the sprouts very carefully and in moderation. For all my little ones, I practice watering from a spray (without hard pressure, so as not to break the delicate stems with a stream).
• Watering an adult plant once every 2 days, daily irrigation. On particularly hot days, water the oregano daily, but avoid pouring or allowing the water to stagnate.

My young bush

When to harvest oregano:

You need to collect oregano before flowering, and the flowering ovaries can be cut off so that the stems do not grow rustic. Most likely, after flowering, the oregano will begin to dry out gradually and may even fall asleep, preparing for wintering... In this case, put the pot in a dark place until the first sunny days. Moisten the soil slightly every 2 weeks. If you notice that oregano has sprouted young in the middle of winter, put it on the lightest windowsill.

The first attempt to grow oregano failed miserably - a couple of days after sowing, I had to leave for two weeks, and of course my husband tried, but he could not follow some of the care instructions. I will try again.

Oregano bush, top view

Photo report about the first flowering of oregano and tarragon on the windowsill in the article Vegetable garden on the windowsill Part 4

Oregano is successfully used in medicine and cosmetology, as well as its aromatic and useful essential oil.

Oregano

Published by 13.01.2015 |

Various plants are grown in the spice bed, among which you can often find common oregano. To culinary experts, oregano is better known as oregano, the spicy spicy taste of which ideally complements fish, meat, this spice is included in salad dressings.

In order to always have fresh oregano in the kitchen, the cultivation of this crop can also be at home. In this case, there will be no lush rosettes of leaves, but subject to the growing conditions, you can always have fresh spicy greens on the windowsill.

Wild oregano can be found in many forests and meadows, but it is easier to grow it in the garden. Breeders have bred several varieties of this spice, among which the following are distinguished by high yields: Rainbow, Belaya, Nadyadnaya, Khutoryanka. Caramel and a number of others.

Common oregano: growing

Since this plant is quite demanding and delicate, certain agricultural rules should be followed during cultivation. Growing oregano is possible through sowing seeds directly into the ground, by seedling, dividing an adult bush or cuttings.

Oregano: growing from seed

There are no difficulties in growing oregano in this way, but the site for sowing should be prepared in the fall. Dig up the soil, carefully selecting all the roots of weeds. In the spring, humus is introduced into the soil (about a third of a bucket per "square"), complex mineral fertilizer (2 spoons). The bed is carefully leveled so that it becomes loose, without lumps.

To have such a plant as oregano, cultivation from seeds should be carried out taking into account the peculiarities of sowing. It is only necessary to sow oregano in wet soil, for which the cut grooves are spilled with water. The seeds of this culture are very small, so they should be embedded in the ground to a depth of no more than 1 cm. A distance of 25 cm is left between the rows so that the plants have enough light and nutritional area. The sown seeds are sprinkled with soil, compact the planting site and mulch the surface to retain moisture.

The first shoots of oregano appear 15-20 days after sowing. At this time, it is important to ensure that the weed does not drown the plantings. To obtain a good harvest of oregano, growing from seeds is further reduced to periodic watering, and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers in case of poor plant growth.

At the age of two weeks, the shoots of common oregano are thinned out, leaving about 15-20 cm between the plants. However, do not rush to throw out the oregano removed from the rows - it can be used as seedlings. Planting oregano requires attention for the first two months, after which the mature plants grow on their own.

Growing oregano seedlings

So that oregano grows in the garden for sure, growing from seeds is not always suitable. Small seeds germinate slowly and are often washed out by rain in the open field. The easiest and most economical way to grow this plant is through seedlings.
At the beginning of March, seedling boxes or individual cups are filled with loose nutrient soil, moistened with water and the seeds of oregano are sown, embedding them to a depth of 1 cm. Until the emergence of seedlings, containers with seeds are kept at a temperature of 18-20 degrees Celsius.

In order for oregano seeds to germinate faster, they are pre-soaked and sown with sprouts already sprouted. With dry sowing, seedlings will appear in 2 weeks. Seedlings need watering when drying the soil and diffused sunlight. Oregano grows slowly, so it is important to create optimal conditions for its normal development. As in the case of oregano, cultivation from the seeds of which is carried out in open ground, with the seedling method, they are also used
pick. With the formation of 1-2 pairs of true leaves, oregano is seated in separate containers. This must be done carefully, trying to minimize damage to the plant's root system. As the transplanted plants continue to grow, the room temperature should be gradually lowered to prepare the oregano seedlings for outdoor transplanting.
From the second half of May, oregano seedlings can be planted in open ground. Choose a sunny place for planting, the soil must be fertile.Since this plant does not tolerate stagnant water, with a close occurrence of groundwater and in low-lying places, the soil is drained before planting. Oregano also belongs to perennial plants, the cultivation of which in one place has been carried out for several years, so you need to take care of applying enough fertilizer before planting spice seedlings.

It is advisable to plant oregano seedlings with a clod of earth in a well-spilled hole. About 20 cm of distance is left between the plants, which is enough for normal development and nutrition. The soil around the seedlings is slightly compacted, gently watered and immediately mulched to retain moisture.

In the first year of planting oregano, they do not bloom and grow rather slowly. In the second year, its growth increases, and bushes up to 60 cm high are formed. Before flowering planting, it is advisable to feed it with mineral fertilizer, using a solution of nitroammofoska (for 10 liters of water, take a spoonful of the substance).

Growing oregano by dividing a bush

An adult oregano bush can be divided into parts, each of which should have several shoots. Using a portion of the oregano bush, growing at home can be continued by planting it in a pot of suitable size.

When transplanting, the separated oregano bush is buried 5 cm into the soil. Rejuvenation of oregano bushes is carried out every 3-5 years. Such delenki of oregano take root well if planted in fertile soil. After a few weeks, the plants start to grow and by autumn they have built up a large number of young shoots.
The strong aroma of spicy oregano repels pests, so it is practically not damaged by insects. Also, the plant is resistant to fungal diseases.

Oregano is harvested from August to mid-September, when the plant accumulates the maximum amount of essential oils.

Buy oregano seeds

Oregano (Oregano) cultivation and care

Oregano Is a plant that is easy to grow and does not require too much care. You can successfully grow it in a garden or in a pot, on a windowsill. Oregano is inextricably linked with Italian cuisine, used to flavor many dishes and drinks. It also has medicinal properties and is also used in cosmetology. In addition, it can be an interesting ornamental plant in the garden, in the country style.

Origin and distribution

Oregano or Oregano (Latin Oríganum vulgáre), sometimes called wild marjoram, is a perennial plant from the Lamiaceae family. In nature, it grows in temperate zones, it is found in North Africa, Asia and Europe, as an alien species also in North America. In our area, this plant is very common, grows in light thickets and deciduous forests, meadows and glades, sunny slopes and hills, and areas along rivers and streams.

Oregano is one of the most popular herbs and is also found in many spice mixtures, for example. Provencal herbs... Oregano is used to flavor Italian dishes (pasta, pizza), as well as meat, salads, sauces. Used in cosmetology and perfumery. In addition, it has healing properties. Oregano can be grown both in the garden and in a pot on the windowsill. This plant is not difficult to grow.

Appearance

Oregano is a perennial plant that gives off a fairly strong, characteristic odor. It has a straight, rigid and raised stem, which is quadrangular in cross section. The stem is branched, it can reach up to 100 cm in height, however, mostly lower - it grows up to 40-70 cm in height, green or reddish (sometimes even purple) in color and is all fluffy. The stem grows from an underground, highly branched rhizome with many tendrils.

Oregano leaves are juicy, bright green, egg-shaped, with blunt ends, sometimes slightly serrated, small dots can be seen on the surface - these are glands that secrete essential oils, with a characteristic odor.

Oregano blooms from July to September. Flowers are collected in small bunches at the tops of the shoots. They can be white, pink, red. Oregano flowers are melliferous and attract many insects, with the help of which they are pollinated. The fruit is formed by 4 dry rounded nuts, brown or brown in color, appear in late autumn.

Growing conditions

Oregano should grow in a warm, sunny location, protected from gusty winds. Prefers light, permeable, sandy-loamy and moderately moist soils. We water the plant only when the top layer of the earth does not noticeably dry out. Light overdrying is less dangerous for oregano than overflowing, which can lead to root rot.

The soil should be enriched with recycled compost, which will improve the structure of the soil and provide the plant with the necessary nutrients. Oregano (like other herbs) is not fertilized with mineral fertilizers. As a rule, we also do not use manure for feeding herbs.

Oregano is a perennial plant that can grow in one place for approximately 5 years. After that, you need to plant new plants.

Oregano can also be grown in a container on a balcony or terrace, or in an apartment - on a windowsill, in a flower pot. The plant needs to be in a bright spot, but not in direct sunlight. It is worth remembering that we water the oregano only when the top layer of soil in the pot does not dry out. There should be a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot, which will ensure the free drainage of excess moisture.

Breeding oregano

Propagate oregano by seeds, less often by dividing. Vegetative division of the bush is well suited for overgrown, adult (three-year) plants, should be done in the spring. The newly obtained plants are immediately planted in the allocated place. We plant seeds for seedlings in March, after about a month the seedlings should be dived into separate pots. Hardened young plants can be planted in the ground at the designated place in late April - early May. They are planted at a distance of 50 cm x 60 cm. Oregano seeds can also be sown directly in open ground, we do this in late April or early May. Seeds are sown in rows every 30 cm. Plants should not grow too close to each other. Oregano seeds can be purchased at gardening stores or obtained from your own property. They are collected in September, from copies that are at least two years old.

Care procedures

Oregano - a plant that is not difficult to grow and does not require much maintenance. However, you need to take care of regular weeding and loosening of the soil. We water the oregano only when the soil is clearly dry; the soil should not be flooded. This plant is quite frost-hardy, which hibernates without problems in our climate, so there is no need to cover it for the winter.

We can pluck fragrant oregano leaves as needed. If we are going to dry, we cut the plant at a distance of several centimeters from the ground with whole stems. It is best to do this at the time of flowering - then oregano is the most fragrant, and fully justifies its name Oregano. In the first year of cultivation, we cut the grass only once, in subsequent years, when the plant is stronger and easier to recover, we can cut it even 2-3 times during the growing season. Freshly cut plants are best tied in small bunches. Then they should be dried in a dry, ventilated, shady and warm place. Never dry herbs in the sun! It is worth knowing that the stems of oregano are not suitable for use, they must be removed. Store the dried leaves in tightly closed containers or glass jars.Dried oregano is more flavorful than fresh leaves.

Usage

Oregano is used to flavor dishes. It is inseparably associated with Italian cuisine. Also included in many seasoning mixes. Oregano is used in the preparation of classic Italian dishes (pasta, pizza), as well as meat, fish, soups, salads, sauces. It is also used in the production of vodkas, liqueurs and vermouth.

Oregano contains thymol essential oil and has medicinal properties. According to the mechanism of action, the following properties can be distinguished: detoxification, disinfectant, expectorant, antispasmodic, antidiarrheal, diuretic. Stimulates the digestive system and improves appetite.

This herb also has cosmetic properties: it is part of a bathing liquid, as well as a mouthwash (it disinfects the oral cavity). Thymol oil is used for skin diseases.

Oregano can also be seen as an ornamental plant - ideal for country, rustic, naturalistic gardening. Can be planted in flower beds, alpine slides. Oregano has several interesting varieties:

• Aureum - from 20 to 50 cm high, with yellow-green leaves and pink flowers.
• Compactum - low grade, up to 20 cm in height, with small leaves and purple-pink flowers, covered with villi;
• Variegata - decorative variety, up to 50 cm high, green-cream leaves.

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