Can lemon balm be grown at home?

The homeland of this spicy plant is the Mediterranean forests. Nevertheless, in our latitudes, summer residents have excellently learned how to grow lemon balm in their backyard plots. But not only in summer cottages you will see this fragrant plant. More and more often you can find melissa on the windowsills of city apartments.

After all, it is very convenient to have a fresh spice and medicinal plant always at hand. That's about how to grow lemon balm at home, we want to tell you in this article.

Description of lemon balm

This plant is famous for its lemon scent with honey notes, in Russian its name is translated from Latin as "bee leaves". The fact is that the aromatic lemon balm foliage has a special appeal for bees. Some beekeepers even rub the foliage of this herb in bee hives in order to attract bees to them.

We most often meet variegated medicinal (lemon) lemon balm... This plant in the form of a dense clump with straight, gently drooping, branched stems grows up to a meter in height. Simple, serrated leaves of lemon balm have a light green color, and not very expressive flowers, located in the axils of the leaves, are whitish-pink. The flowering period of the plant is the end of summer. Botanists classify lemon balm as a member of the labiate family.

Useful properties of lemon balm and its application

The ability of this plant to smooth out nervous disorders and spasms, relieve cramps, normalize the work of the heart and remove negative emotions has been known to people since the time of Pliny. Even then, lemon balm was used as an antibacterial agent in the treatment of wounds received on the battlefield.

The Arabs were the first to cultivate this plant; lemon balm came to northern Europe from Spain thanks to the Benedictine monks, who grew it in the monastery beds. Since that time, this herb is often referred to as lemon balm.

The era of the knights gave us recipe for healing lemon balm tincture... The famous medieval healer Paracelsus wrote about her as the elixir of life. He and not only he believed that lemon balm, boiled in wine, gives strength, vigor, prolongs youth and gives sharpness even to the most clouded mind.

The Englishmen of the Elizabethan era started a fashion all the time to wear "tuss-mussi" - small bouquets, which included, in addition to lemon balm, other fragrant herbs. In this way, they tried to smooth out and disinfect the stench of the cities of that time with the help of fragrant plants.

Modern research confirms the beliefs of our ancestors.Essential oils of lemon balm have phytoncidal properties, in addition, this plant contains a large amount of vitamin C, acids (coffee, ursolic, oleanolic), carotene, tannins, copper, fatty oils. This composition determines medicinal properties of lemon balm.

Herbalists and herbalists prescribe lemon balm for:

• rheumatism,
• dizziness
• decreased immunity,
• fainting
• insomnia
• skin rashes
• nervous exhaustion
• ulcers
• inflammation of the mucous membranes,
• hypertension and other diseases.

Possessing excellent healing properties, lemon balm has found wide application in cooking. This spice perfectly complements salads, drinks, soups and side dishes. Melissa goes well with fish, tomatoes, eggplants, mushrooms and cucumbers. When dry, this plant complements the scent of black pepper with lemon notes.

• The use of lemon balm in medicine and cooking - healthy recipes for dishes, teas and baths.

Growing lemon balm on a windowsill

In the open field, this plant can be found both in cultivated form and in the wild practically throughout the entire European part of the Russian Federation, in the Caucasus and in the Crimea. In nature, lemon balm prefers shady areas of forest edges, wet gorges; in summer cottages, it feels good in the company of parsley or dill in open sunny areas.

Requirements for the habitat of room lemon balm

Based on the above, it is best to place a pot of lemon balm on a sunny windowsill (east, south and west), otherwise the leaves of the plant will not be so fragrant. You will have to compensate for the lack of illumination in winter with additional illumination in the form of a fluorescent lamp with a power in the range of 40-80 W. Hang such a lamp 60 cm above the plant and turn it on in the morning for 6 hours. This mode will allow your lemon balm to form well-developed fragrant healing leaves.

Melissa does not like direct sunlight and drafts. This heat-loving plant can sprout and can exist at a temperature of +10 degrees, but the temperature of +25 degrees is considered optimal for its germination and maintenance.

Soil requirements for room lemon balm

Melissa is not picky about soil, but it will be better if you provide it with a fertile substrate of neutral acidity with good water and air permeability. The seeds of this herb do not have good germination, therefore, the lighter the substrate, the better the lemon balm will feel in it. It is best to use perlite or vermiculite as a baking powder.

Ordinary garden soil or a mixture of sod land, humus and sand in equal proportions can act as a nutritious soil mixture. The easiest way to get soil for lemon balm is to purchase a bag with ready-made soil mixture called "Substrate for indoor plants" in the store.

Requirements for watering lemon balm at home

Watering should be regular, but without diligence, because waterlogging can lead to diseases of lemon balm. Water not only the soil, but also spray the aerial parts of the plants with a spray bottle. Adult lemon balm is watered three times a week.

Fertilization

Top dressing is welcome, melissa is responsive to it... Fertilizing the substrate can be both organic (eggshell, tea leaves) and liquid mineral fertilizer (superphosphate, potassium salt, ammonium sulfate). The plants should be fed after each cutting of the leaves, which can be done before flowering.

Reproduction of lemon balm

Lemon balm can be propagated both by seeds and by young cuttings, dividing a bush or rhizomes.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

The easiest way to reproduce consists in the fact that in the first days of May or at the end of summer, during periods when lemon balm shoots, the bush is carefully divided into parts and the cuttings are planted in a permanent place. This method allows the plant to quickly grow and bloom in the first year.

Seed propagation and care

You can buy ready-made planting material or get hold of it in a familiar garden plot, picking up well-developed lemon balm bushes with large foliage for seeds.

Seed harvesting is carried out from late August to early September. Cut off the stems with seed from such plants, collect them in bunches, hang and dry in a dry, darkened and ventilated area. After the bunches of seeds are dry, put them in a linen bag and thresh with a beater.

If you buy lemon balm seeds in the store, then choose darker seeds, they will give more friendly shoots.

For planting seeds, prepare containers (boxes, pots, containers), it will not hurt to pre-treat them with a solution of potassium permanganate. At the bottom, you should first lay out a drainage layer (expanded clay, clay shards, fine gravel, broken brick), and only then - a layer of soil.

Considering that the seeds of this plant are small enough, sow them in a soil moistened with warm water either in spring or in autumn no more than 5 cm deep at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other. Water the soil again after planting.

Wait for seedlings of lemon balm no earlier than in a couple of weeks. Do not forget to moisturize planting every other day. It is not necessary to dive the lemon balm seedlings with the appearance of real leaves, but if the plants heap up and begin to suppress each other, pull out the weakest of them.

When the plant grows stronger, and this should happen in a couple of months, they can be transplanted to a permanent place of residence. To do this, you can immediately pick up a large pot or a long container. In order to enable lemon balm to form a full-fledged bush, place the seedlings in one row, and the distance between the bushes should be at least 15 cm.

Useful advice
From May until the first autumn frosts, containers and pots with spicy herbs can be sent for the holidays - to the loggia or balcony. Just provide in this case protection from heavy rain and wind gusts.

In the first year, do not expect flowers on young plants, as well as lush greenery. Indoor lemon balm does not grow more than half a meter. Since the value of lemon balm is in its foliage, pick off the buds as soon as they appear, but only if the height of the bush is at least 20 cm.

How to harvest lemon balm

It makes sense to harvest only in the second year until the lemon balm gives the first buds, it was during this period that the foliage contained the maximum amount of healing components. You can harvest as needed from already fully formed bushes (45 cm in height) 4 times per season. Moreover, cut the leaves at a height of 10 cm and above.

Healing raw materials can be dried in the form of small bunches in a dry place in a draft. You can lay out the leaves in one layer on parchment, metal grate or canvas and dry them on a loggia in dry weather out of the reach of the sun.

After drying, fold the prepared raw materials into glass jars and seal tightly with a lid. Raw materials must be stored for no more than a year, but it is better to use it in half a year, because after that lemon balm will lose most of its aromatic properties. For the same reason, do not dry the lemon balm leaves in the oven. When storing, do not mix lemon balm leaves with other aromatic herbs.

Reviews about growing lemon balm at home

Maroussia, review
I always keep mint and parsley on the windowsill. And I also have an asset - Pavlovsky lemon. But growing lemon balm did not occur to me. We need to get hold of seeds somewhere. And where are they sold, tell me.

Kitty, answer
A neighbor in the summer cottage presented me to me, and I also saw them on the layouts with seeds near the metro. I sowed a present in the fall, now I'm not overjoyed, the bush has grown half the windowsill and the leaves are always at hand, so fresh in a teapot with ordinary tea leaves and I put them. It seems to me that everything can be grown on the windowsill!

Vitek, review
My mother grows both mint and lemon balm at the dacha, then dries it. All winter keeps us on currants, lemon balm and other spices with tea.

Read related articles

This unique beneficial plant can exist both outdoors and at home. If you follow the basic rules when caring for lemon balm, it will certainly delight you with abundant, fresh herbs.

Melissa needs:

• fertile soil;
• a lot of light;
• sufficiently plentiful watering and spraying;
• systematic pruning;
• compliance with the temperature regime (18–20 degrees);
• regular feeding.

A plant can grow in one place three to four years... After that, it requires renewal and transplantation. In order for the bush to be healthy and strong for several years, it is recommended to plant it in the spring.

Growing lemon balm on a windowsill is not a troublesome business. It feels great in a pot, like any houseplant. True, the lemon balm bush will be low, but lush and thick, if it has enough light, moisture and nutrients, that is, competent care for the lemon balm is provided.

Melissa on the windowsill. Photo

In the winter season, growing lemon balm on the windowsill is not much different from the usual one. Lack of sunlight will reduce the amount of greenery, change its color, but not affect the quality.

Breeding new lemon balm bushes

Let's figure out how to grow lemon balm from seeds and how to increase the amount of a favorite plant in other ways. This can be done in different ways:

• dividing the bush;
• layering;
• stem cuttings;
• lemon balm from seeds.

Division an adult bush is produced in the spring. To do this, the root system is freed from the ground, cut into several parts with buds and planted in a permanent place.

Through layering the plant is bred before flowering. Strong young shoots are bent to the ground with a staple, sprinkled with soil and await rooting. Two weeks later, a new bush is cut off with a pruner and transplanted into a pot or open ground to a new location.

Cuttings used at the first stage of breeding lemon balm, in the absence of an adult bush in the garden. The tops of the purchased plants are cut off and placed in a container with water. When roots form on the branches, they are planted in the ground and placed in a dark place. After the appearance of green shoots, the plants are brought out into the light.

Growing lemon balm on a windowsill. Photo

How to grow lemon balm from seed? This process takes time and patience. But the quality of the green mass of lemon balm from seeds will be excellent.

To grow an adult bush, lemon balm seeds treated with potassium permanganate are sown in the ground to a depth of 1-2 centimeters, tightly covered and placed in a warm place.

How to grow lemon balm. Photo

The emerging seedlings are transplanted into well-moistened drained soil.

For this purpose, use a large container for a permanent place of plant life or small cups.

Dive shoots of lemon balm from seeds should be after the formation of two to four leaves. In about one and a half to two months, lemon balm from seeds will delight you with juicy fragrant greens.

Melissa twins. What can be confused with

Melissa is often confused with other plants. These twins include:

• mint
• catnip
• snakehead moldavian.

Let's try to understand their differences.

Melissa is called "lemon mint" by many. In fact, these plants have nothing in common, except for external similarities. mint and medicinal perennial lemon balm.

The herb called "catnip"Can also be mistaken for lemon balm. The similar smell of these plants is misleading. In order not to confuse lemon balm with "catnip", you should get acquainted with the fundamental differences between them.

• The scent of lemon balm is delicate, reminiscent of the scent of lemon. The cattleman, on the other hand, smells rather harsh.
• White lemon balm flowers are located in the axils of the plant, and blue catnip inflorescences are in the upper part of the shoot.
• Rounded lemon balm leaves are even at the edges, and oblong catnip leaves are serrated.
• Lemon balm seeds are elongated, and catnip seeds are rounded.

Catnip grows everywhere. This herb is used for cooking and beauty products. It has medicinal properties: it improves appetite, cures cough, relieves worms.

Moldavian snakehead or "Turkish lemon balm" - an annual plant found in Western Siberia and southern regions of Russia. The essential oils found in snakehead greens are reminiscent of the scent of lemon balm. But its smell is stronger and more pungent. Turkish lemon balm is a favorite of bees and an excellent sedative.

In order not to be mistaken and plant exactly what you need on your site, carefully study the inscription on the package with seeds when buying. For example, lemon balm in translation into Latin is called Melissa officinalis, catnip - Npeta catria, Moldavian snakehead - Dracocphalum moldavica.

Choosing the right sort of lemon balm

Several varieties of this extraordinary herb are known. Each variety of lemon balm has its own individual characteristics, differs in odor shades, leaf shape, bush size, flowering period. The most beloved varieties include several varieties:

• upright;
• Tsaritsinskaya;
• pearl;
• lime;
• lemon;
• freshness.

Melissa with the beautiful name "pure gold" is less common. This variety has an unusual light yellow color of leaves, covered with fine villi, shimmering in the light of sunlight.

Variegated lemon balm gets its name from the dark, golden-streaked color of the leaves. The herb of this variety has a strong smell and unpretentious character. It can be grown both outdoors and at home.

How to use lemon balm

The range of uses for lemon grass or lemon balm is quite wide. This is due to its composition. Lemon balm leaves contain essential oils, organic acids. They are rich in vitamin "C", various microelements: zinc, copper, potassium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium.

This unpretentious herb has found wide application in medicine. It provides relief from a number of serious medical conditions:

• Saves from irritability and nervousness, restores sleep.
• Recommended for heart disease and vascular spasms.
• Treats cancer.
• Relieves headaches by improving blood circulation to the brain.
• Helps to normalize blood pressure.
• Helps to cope with colds: relieves sore throat, relieves cough.
• It is prescribed to improve digestion for people suffering from gastritis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis.
• Eliminates increased gas production, constipation, malfunctioning of the pancreas.
• It removes toxins from the body, having a diuretic and diaphoretic effect.
• Reduces toothache, disinfects the oral cavity, relieving inflammation.
• It is part of the dietary food that helps to lose weight.

Melissa is an irreplaceable remedy for maintaining the health of the female body. It relieves pain during menstruation, helps to cope with toxicosis during pregnancy, and stimulates milk production during breastfeeding.

Prepare remedies from lemon balm is not difficult at all.

Can be done infusion from the green shoots of the plant. To do this, pour the chopped lemon balm leaves (20 grams) with boiling water (1 liter), seal tightly and infuse for twenty minutes.

To prepare decoction from this medicinal herb, boil two tablespoons in one liter of water for 15-20 minutes. Then remove from heat and let it brew for half an hour.Such a decoction is advised to drink four times a day, especially for patients with asthma and anemia.

Some people add lemon balm leaves to regular tea, mixing the drink with a little honey. It turns out to be an excellent prophylactic agent against viruses and colds.

If there are no lemon balm leaves at hand, you can successfully use the ready-made essential oil plants. A few drops in a bathtub or scented lamp will help you calm down and sleep soundly.

Growing lemon balm in your summer cottage or on your windowsill, preparing a dried product, you provide yourself with a healthy drink that can be consumed all year round, strengthening health, prolonging youth and preserving beauty.

Melissa found her place in cooking. It is added to drinks and salads. As a seasoning used in the preparation of first courses, stewing fish, meat, mushrooms. Cabbage and cucumbers are fermented with it, various sauces and marinades are made. Due to its delicate aroma and spicy taste, lemon balm is analogous to black or allspice.

Lemon balm essential oil is widely used in cosmetology. It allows you to solve the problem of oily hair, destroys dandruff. It is enough to mix shampoo with a few drops of oil when washing your hair, and your hair will look great again. Thanks to its disinfectant and antibacterial properties, lemon balm oil cleanses the skin of acne and blackheads.

Lemon balm contraindications

Melissa is a useful plant and has almost no contraindications. And yet, some points related to its use are worth paying attention to:

• Do not abuse the use of infusion, broth, lemon balm tea for men. This can lead to an undesirable decrease in sexual activity.
• It is not recommended to drink drinks containing this herb before a responsible event, meeting, exam. Excessive calmness and insufficient response can adversely affect the outcome of the event.
• Treatment with lemon balm should be abandoned in case of individual intolerance or persistent hypotension.

In all other cases, lemon balm will benefit your body, prolonging and improving the quality of life.

Melissa on the windowsill. Video

Melissa officinalis is the full botanical name of the plant. Popularly known by the names: lemon grass, lemon mint, bee mint, citronmelissa. It is not difficult to plant and propagate it if you know the structural features and preferences for growing conditions. We will tell in the article, growing lemon balm at home, how to plant, what care rules gardeners need to follow.

Growing lemon balm at home on a windowsill

Soil and fertilizer requirements for planting

Gardeners have long sown with seeds, propagated by dividing rhizomes and cuttings. The fragrant lemon balm was so fond of flower growers that they began to grow it as a houseplant in pots. Not surprising, because it is not only fragrant, but also useful. Its greatest advantage is essential oils.

Scientists claim that their number depends on the conditions in which it is grown. On poor soils - 0.02%, on rich soils - 0.8%, in some varieties - 0.14%. The difference is obvious. There is no doubt that to get the most out of a plant you need to take care of it. Vegetable soil for lemon balm is a soil mixture in which:

Mechanical composition	Sandy loam or light loam
Acidity	Weakly acidic, close to neutral pH 5.8 - 6.5
Humus content (presence of humus)	High (more than 4%)

On sandy loams it dries quickly from lack of moisture and nutrients, on heavy wet loams it is affected by fungal infections and dies. Soils with high acidity require neutralization. Substances containing calcium cope with this task - slaked lime, chalk, crushed limestone, wood ash, crushed eggshells.

Tip # 1.Before fertilizing, you need to determine the pH level. This can be done using a special device.

To increase the pH level by one scale unit, 200 g of hydrated lime is required per 1 m2 of soil. To improve the aeration of heavy soils, coarse-grained river sand is introduced to obtain light loam. For 1 m2 you need:

• medium loam - 21 kg;
• heavy loam - 43 kg;
• light clay - 75 kg;
• medium clay - 110 kg;
• heavy clay - 121 kg.

A proven popular method is the introduction of organic fertilizers at the rate of:

1. Dry bird droppings are diluted with 400 g per 10 liters of water, applied to 1 m2.
2. Rotted horse manure - 3 buckets per 1 m2.
3. Compost - 3 kg per 1 m2.

Before planting, the applied fertilizers and sand are thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous mass to a depth of 25 - 30 cm. This is how the basic preparation of the culture medium goes for several years to come. If you work in advance, then in subsequent years you will not have to fertilize, the supply of nutrients will be enough for a long time. Read also the article: → "Spicy herbs - we grow ourselves."

Preparing the soil for planting lemon balm seeds

Recently, methods of organic farming have become popular, using effective microorganisms. They can be purchased in the form of preparations "Emochki", "Shining", "Baikal", "Bokashi".

Lemon balm growing conditions, care rules

Live culture, when applied to the soil, increases fertility naturally, as in nature. The formation of humus takes 2 - 3 years on average. For example, "Bokashi" process plant residues into humus within 2 - 3 months, but only in the warm season. Microorganisms, like plants, "sleep" in the cold season and are activated in the spring, when the average daily temperature reaches + 120.

Place and conditions of lemon balm growing

Lemon grass is an unpretentious plant, it will survive in the shade and in the scorching sun. But with gentle lighting or in partial shade, it feels more comfortable. Will gratefully respond to generous watering, but not stagnant water. For one session of water procedures, one adult plant needs 10 - 20 liters of water, - 1 - 2 buckets.

Size, thickness and flavor vary with conditions. On poor soils, in the shade, the stems stretch out into "threads", 30 - 40 leaves are rare, the smell is weak. On rich soils, dense fragrant bushes reach 50 - 80 cm. Sometimes there are specimens of 100 - 120 cm. When the place for lemon balm is chosen, and the soil is prepared, you can start planting. Read also the article: → "Spicy herbs in the country."

Planting times are shown in the table:

№	Breeding method	Landing dates
1.	A plant with a lump	Mid April to October
2.	Greenhouse seedlings	After the last spring frost. Fragile fragile stems are afraid of the cold;

Features of planting in the soil

If the basic preparation of the soil has not been carried out, then it is necessary to provide fertile conditions for each plant individually. For this, the planting hole must be 2 times larger than the volume of the lump, this allows you to add rich soil. In the framework of traditional farming, mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil:

• superphosphate - 50 g per 1 m2;
• ammonium nitrate - 20 g per 1 m2;
• potassium salt - 20 g per 1 m2

Tip # 2. When planting, deepen the lump by 5 cm, this contributes to the regrowth of new roots.

A common mistake is the thickened planting of seedlings in a permanent place of growth. Gardeners are confused by the size of the young plant. Melissa grows, on average, from 30 to 50 cm in diameter.

This is the distance at which plants are planted from each other, regardless of whether they are seedlings or with a lump. If bee mint is intended for medicinal and culinary purposes, it should be placed less often so that it is convenient to collect fragrant leaves. For a decorative effect, the planting is slightly thickened.

Lemon mint propagation methods

Gardeners use several methods to propagate this spicy herb:

1. Seeds for seedlings.
2. Seed in open ground.
3. Green cuttings.
4. By dividing the bush.

Planting seeds for seedlings

• sown in greenhouses or indoor conditions in the second decade of March in containers 7-10 cm high;
• into a ready-made seedling substrate that you can buy at your garden store. If this is not the case, you can cook it yourself. Add coarse river sand 1: 1 to "Universal soil pH 6.5".
• before sowing, mix small seeds with dry sand for even distribution;
• in the prepared soil using the length of the side of a pencil, push through grooves 1 cm deep;
• moisten gently with a fine spray;
• place the seeds evenly along the grooves and lightly press down;
• sprinkle with substrate and moisten with a spray bottle;
• cover with foil;
• keep in a well-lit, warm place with a temperature of 200.

The first shoots will appear in three weeks. After another 10 - 15 days, the thickened crop can be dived.

Plant the seedlings in special cassettes for seedlings. They look like an egg holder. There are devices on sale in various shapes and sizes. One plant is placed in each cell. Before planting in the garden, a dense lump is formed, which can be easily removed. This method increases the survival rate of a young plant in comparison with traditional seedlings.

Seed in open ground

Sow when the threat of spring frost passes. Lemon balm grains are small, for even distribution they are mixed with sand (as for seedlings). The excavated soil is carefully loosened without leaving large lumps, it should be as sifted. The grooves are prepared shallow up to 1 cm, watered.

After waiting for the water to be absorbed, place the seeds, lightly press down and cover with loose soil. Water should be done carefully so as not to wash. Lemon balm germination - 60%. The first shoots appear in 15 days, after 3 - 4 weeks everything will hatch. After another month, they can be thinned out. The distance between the remaining ones should not exceed 30 cm.

Propagation of grass by green cuttings

So lemongrass is propagated from early spring to late autumn. If you keep lemon balm in a pot in winter, like a houseplant, then the cuttings can be removed in March. Fragrant leaves and young stems are harvested during flowering, in June. At this time, lemon balm contains the most useful substances. New shoots grow over the summer, so they are an excellent planting material.

Features of this method:

• an shoot with 3-4 internodes is chosen for the cuttings;
• the lower leaves are cut off;
• the cutting is placed in water or in a seedling substrate;
• for survival in the ground, use "Kornevin" or "Heteroauxin";
• before planting, the tip of the cutting is powdered with a rooting agent;
• in wet soil, using a pencil, make a small depression of 2 - 3 cm, place the handle and squeeze slightly;
• The "greenhouse" is covered with plastic wrap.

After 10 days, you can determine which specimens survived, they are planted in a separate pot, the size of a disposable plastic cup. As it grows, the dishes will have to be increased to handle the plant.

Lemon balm propagated in this way can be kept at home as a houseplant, and transplanted into the garden in the spring. There he will be more accustomed and will bring much more benefit.

In the open air, bee mint receives a lot of nutrients, grows well and delights its owners with a fragrant aroma for 10 years. During this time, it can be renewed vegetatively. Read also the article: → "Plants for an ornamental garden."

Dividing an adult bush into parts

In this way, lemon balm is best propagated in the spring. The rhizome is cut so that the cut remains 3 - 4 shoots or buds that have hatched... This "surgery" can be carried out in the fall. The resulting parts are planted in a permanent place with an interval of 30 - 50 cm. This method is more suitable for varietal plants that do not retain their decorative and healing properties during seed propagation.

Growing lemon balm at home in pots

Lemon balm lovers who do not have a summer cottage can enjoy the delicate aroma at home. Lemon mint is a garden plant, but feels great as an indoor plant. If he is on a light windowsill in a cozy, draft-free place, in fertile soil, he will respond to care with exuberant growth and fragrance.

Unpretentious in leaving:

• you need to water with settled water when the soil in the pot is dry and not petrified. You need to moisten generously until water appears in the pan, then this procedure will have to be repeated less often;
• it is better to feed it with Emochkas or other "effective microorganisms", they are absolutely harmless to plants and humans.

Unfortunately, the aroma of homemade lemon balm is inferior to its garden relative, but it is still pleasant to enjoy the fresh taste and smell on cold winter evenings.

5 varieties for home cultivation

Melissa officinalis has been known to mankind for 2000 years. All this time it has been successfully used in medicine and cooking. In favorable conditions, it grows up to 1 m in height. Breeders have worked hard on undersized varieties so that lemon mint delights year-round not only with its aroma, but also with an attractive appearance. Gardeners call such plants decorative deciduous. The following varieties are popular for indoor floriculture:

1. «Pure gold ", the variety got its name for its exceptional" complaisance "in care and unusual effect. The compact shrub changes shades from white at the beginning of flowering to blue at the end.
2. "Lemon tea" is appreciated for its original aroma, which successfully replaces real citrus.
3. "Mahito" is bred for culinary purposes, it is not used for drinks and meat dishes.
4. "Lemon aroma" is a relatively small plant, suitable for home and garden.
5. "Variegated" - the most decorative lemon balm, has a golden color along the edge of the leaf, looks like blooming.

It looks interesting when several varieties are placed on one windowsill. It is easy to take care of them, water them in time and feed them seasonally with fertilizers for indoor decorative deciduous plants.

Mistakes when growing lemon balm

Sometimes gardeners complain that they cannot breed bee mint in their area. Melissa is not a picky plant, but her patience has a limit. You should not expect a good result if she:

• in the sun or in thick shade;
• suffers from drought on poor soil;
• suffocates on wet soil;
• drowned out by weeds;
• blown through in a draft;
• freezes in winter.

Barring Spartan conditions and choosing a cozy spot with fertile soil and ample watering, she will respond with a generous harvest of useful leaves.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Question №1. Where to get lemon balm?

Purchase a finished plant from a garden center that sells perennials. Advantage:

• quality assurance and "health" of the sold copy;
• 100% survival rate, thanks to whom the soil with which it is sold.

Buy seedlings. Advantage:

• the price is less than that of an adult plant;
• can be planted in open ground immediately after purchase.

Sow with seeds. Advantage:

• minimum financial costs;
• the ability to sow, both in open ground and in indoor pots.

Question number 2. What about watering lemon balm if I don't visit the country often?

The best solution is automatic watering, but not everyone can afford the equipment due to the high cost. You can keep moisture for a long time after regular irrigation if you sprinkle mulch around the plants in a layer of 5-10 cm. Mowed grass, wood chips, bark, crushed dry cow dung are good. All this provides protection against evaporation and serves as a slow acting fertilizer (MLF).

Question number 3. When to harvest lemon balm?

Best of all during flowering, then it contains the most essential oils, but you can take it all year round if you take lemon balm from the garden for the winter.

Question number 4. What plants are lemon balm combined with?

Most often it is planted together with spicy herbs mint, lovage, hyssop, tarragon. In decorative floriculture, they are used in mixborders with flowering perennials lupine, catchment, rudbeckia, coreopsis, daisy and other large plants.

Question number 5. Do I need to cover lemon balm for the winter?

Melissa is winter-hardy, but in cold winters you need to protect it with agrofibre, sawdust, and cut grass. Leaves of oak, walnut, hornbeam, poplar are not suitable for this purpose, they contain tannins and inhibit plants.

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On the garden plot, you want to grow unpretentious, multifunctional plants. Planting lemon balm (popularly - lemon mint) will allow you not only to evaluate its benefits for the body, but to get a decorative element for the flower bed and for the home.

Sowing technology

The first priority before sowing is soil preparation. You need to take 1 glass of vermicompost and 2 glasses of coconut fiber. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and add to this volume the recommended dose of the mineral fertilizer complex.

Sowing in containers or boxes is carried out in the second half of March.

• Several grooves need to be made in the soil, the distance between which is 4 - 6 cm.
• The seeds are small and should be mixed with a little sand to facilitate the sowing process.
• Distribute the mass along the grooves to a depth of 0.5 - 0.7 cm.
• Moisten the soil surface.
• Cover the container with glass or plastic.
• Put in a sunny, warm place.

After the emergence of seedlings, the box must be placed so that they receive a sufficient amount of light, but do not fall under the scorching rays. Watering should be carried out as the soil dries.

Seedlings appear 2–25 days after planting. After the appearance of several leaves, it is necessary to make a pick. This is done so that the seedlings do not stifle the growth and development of each other. The distance between the stems should be at least 5 cm. If the sowing was carried out in a special container, then in one cell, where several seeds need to be planted at once, the weakest sprouts are removed.

Transplanting into open ground is carried out in the second half of May. To do this, you need to prepare a seat.

Melissa can grow both in a well-lit garden bed and in partial shade. When given enough light, the bush will exude an intense scent.

Advice

It should be borne in mind that this culture is perennial and grows from 4 to 9 years.

The soil should be loose, light and nutritious. Mellisa does not like acidic and moist soil. Excess water contributes to decay of the roots, so the place for the bush should be chosen dry, where moisture does not accumulate during precipitation. If the ground is heavy in the chosen place, then you need to add several buckets of fine sand.

After choosing a place, the soil must be fertilized. To do this, 1 sq. m. of soil is introduced:

1. 200 g of wood ash (1 cup);
2. 10 liter bucket of humus;
3. Complex mineral fertilizer, the dosage is indicated on the package.

It should be planted in small trenches located at a distance of half a meter from each other. Each plant needs to be planted in a hole with an interval of 30–35 cm.

If you decide not to grow seedlings, but to plant seeds immediately in open ground, then you need to be prepared for poor germination, even careful care may not help. This can be influenced by several factors:

1. low quality of planting material;
2. heavy rainfall;
3. "Clogging" of sprouts with weeds.

Landing is carried out in the 3rd week of May according to the following algorithm.

1. Make holes at a distance of 50 - 60 cm from each other.
2. Mix the grains with the sand.
3. Deepen the mixture by half a centimeter.
4. Sprinkle with peat or humus.
5. Moisten the soil surface.
6. Cover with foil.

Advice

To harden the seedlings and make them more hardy, you need to remove the film.First, for several hours, then for a whole daylight hours, and after the pick, the covering material is finally removed.

Lemon balm is propagated both by seeds and by layering and cuttings. If you already have an adult lemon bush, then planting it will be much easier: bend a few shoots to the ground, fix them and sprinkle them with earth. After a few weeks, the branches will take root and can be transplanted to a new location.

And in order to propagate by cuttings, it is enough to cut off in the garden from friends or buy a bunch of fresh herbs in the store, shorten the stems by 2 - 3 cm and put them in water. They do not require additional care, a root system appears in a week - and the cuttings are ready for planting in a flower bed.

Growing at home

Melissa can be cultivated as a houseplant. Due to the small volume of the flower pot, it will not grow much, and pruning and constant maintenance will create a lush green bush.

Planting seedlings in pots at home is done in the spring, but you can sow seedlings and plant seedlings in the cold season, but growth will be slow, and the leaves will be light. During the spring and summer period, the bush is gaining strength and adapts to external conditions.

Seeds for growing a plant at home are sown in the same way as for a flower bed. Planting seedlings in pots is carried out after the appearance of 3 leaves. You need to act according to the following algorithm.

1. Pick up a pot with a volume of 1.5 - 2 liters so that its walls are at least 15 cm.
2. Provide good drainage. To do this, you can take pebbles or expanded clay.
3. Pour the prepared soil and plant 2 or 3 sprouts in one container.
4. Moisten the soil with a spray bottle.
5. Put on the windowsill.

The peculiarity of caring for a plant at home is watering. Heating and dry air in the room negatively affect the appearance of lemon balm and its smell, therefore, it must additionally be humidified:

• water as the soil dries;
• spray every day.

Care features

If you properly care for the bush in the first year of planting, then later the hassle with growing will be less.

Care is carried out in 4 main areas:

1. watering;
2. loosening;
3. weeding;
4. top dressing.

When the weather is hot, it is necessary to provide the lemon balm with sufficient watering. It is carried out 4 times a week, and on cloudy days, if there is no precipitation, you need to water it 2 times every 7 days.

Loosening is carried out after each watering and after rain to ensure good air permeability of the soil and prevent root rot due to excess moisture.

A flowerbed or a bed with seedlings should be weeded out as needed: the planted seedlings are not yet strong enough, and the grass can stifle its growth. In the 2nd and subsequent years of the life of this culture in your garden, small vegetation is allowed around mature bushes with a strong root system.

Top dressing is carried out at the beginning of the season, when the seedlings move to their permanent place of residence or the shoots that have sprouted on the street have reached 5–6 cm in height. Nitrogen fertilizer is applied to increase growth and strengthen the stem.

If you store the leaves for future use and cut them off as they grow, then after each pruning it is necessary to add a mineral complex, the dosage of which is indicated on the package by the manufacturer. Several times per season, you can add mulch or humus to the flower bed with the plant.

Melissa is a thermophilic culture. Although it can withstand negative temperatures, it is recommended to cover it for the winter:

• cut off the top, leaving 1–2 cm above the ground;
• loosen the ground and moisten a little;
• sprinkle fallen leaves on top.

So that the leaves are not crushed, and the mint continues to delight with the fresh scent of lemon, you need to divide the plant into several bushes every 3 years and plant them.

Despite all the usefulness of lemon balm, which is widespread in folk recipes, it does not require special care when growing; it can grow both in the country and at home on the windowsill.

By following these simple guidelines, you can grow a green bush with a delicious scent. Providing moderate watering and fertilizing the soil during the season, you can harvest the leaves several times.