How to properly grow rosemary on a windowsill?

Rosemary is a small light-loving bush that migrated to our area from the Mediterranean. Due to their wonderful aroma, the twigs of the plant have been used in cooking for many dishes for several centuries. The substances contained in rosemary improve mood, relieve stress, and improve skin condition.

A spicy heat-loving plant is unable to withstand the winter of the middle lane. To preserve rosemary until spring, gardeners have to move it to an apartment and continue growing at home.

Features of growing at home

Despite the fact that rosemary came to us from warm countries, it must be kept in cool conditions in winter. It is best to place the plant pot on a well-insulated balcony or windowsill on the south side of the house.

In addition, the plant needs good air circulation for several hours a day. These are, perhaps, all the features of growing rosemary on a windowsill in an apartment. All other requirements are quite standard and easy to fulfill.

What varieties are suitable for growing in an apartment

Before planting a bush you like, you need to take into account the fact that in nature, rosemary can grow up to 2 m in height and 1.5 m in width. Naturally, such a large-sized plant cannot fit in any apartment. Therefore, in a confined space, it is recommended to grow undersized varieties rosemary such as Rosinka, Tenderness, Severn Sea, Taurentius. During the flowering period, the above varieties are covered with white, blue and purple small flowers with a delicate aroma.

Tall species can also be grown on a windowsill, only they need to be cut frequently. Among plants 1-1.5 m high, it is worth paying attention to the Veshnyakovsky Semko variety - with leathery leaves and purple flowers, Salem - with fragrant purple flowers, Roseus - with large pink flowers.

How to plant and grow on a windowsill - features, conditions and step-by-step instructions

When growing rosemary on a windowsill, it is important to comply with all agrotechnical requirements. Only a bush growing in a favorable environment will serve as an interior decoration, a storehouse of useful substances and unique taste.

What should be the place

Before you get a spicy plant, you need to familiarize yourself with its characteristics in advance. The following information will help you determine if your rosemary will be able to create the right conditions.

Temperature

The optimum temperature in the room where the rosemary pots are located is+ 12- + 16 C... Warmer environments are bad for spring blooms.

Important! Rosemary reacts to sharp fluctuations in temperature by dropping leaves.

Humidity

So that the plant is not attacked by fungi, the air humidity in the apartment should be below average. Rosemary will grow rapidly if the room is ventilated daily for 2-3 hours. In winter, air circulation can be arranged using a conventional fan.

The potting medium should be constantly moist, but never wet. It is better to underfill the rosemary and allow the soil to dry out for a short time than to turn the soil mixture into a swamp.

Illumination

In order for rosemary to more actively form leaves, in winter a light-loving plant must be placed on the south or east windowsill. In the summer, a container of rosemary is transferred to the balcony or planted on the site. The pot must be periodically turned towards the light by one or the other side. Thus, deformation can be avoided when the plant bends to one side of the light, which often happens when growing light-loving plants on a windowsill.

On short winter days, rosemary gratefully responds to morning and evening supplementary lighting with fluorescent lamps.

What container to plant

Due to the fact that the root system of rosemary is highly branched, the plant must be planted in spacious clay or terracotta pot. The optimal dimensions of the planting container: height 15-20 cm, width 25 cm.Deviations from the recommended values ​​downward by 3-5 cm are allowed.

What kind of soil (substrate)

To plant rosemary on a windowsill in an apartment in a flower shop they buy neutral or slightly alkaline soil for growing seedlings. Instead of purchased soil, you can use a mixture of garden soil and sand. The main condition is that the soil must be loose and breathable. Before planting, the bottom of the pot is laid with a layer of drainage through which excess water will flow into the pan.

Preparing seeds or cuttings for planting

Semyonand rosemary sprout very long and poorly: seedlings make their way to the surface only a month after sowing. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings, on the eve of planting, the seeds are soaked for 24 hours in water or a growth stimulator.

Cherenko preparationin rosemary for subsequent cultivation on the windowsill is carried out in the following sequence:

1. In late spring, on a healthy bush, the tops of young shoots 8-10 cm long are cut off.
2. Planting material is cleaned from foliage
3. The cut sites are dipped in a growth stimulator, thanks to which roots are formed faster.

Direct landing

All preparatory work will be useless if the landing is not correct. The procedure depends on the type of planting material.

Seeds rosemary is sown in this way:

1. The planting material is evenly spread over a container covered with a damp substrate. Please note that due to poor germination of seeds, you need twice as much as you plan to get seedlings.
2. Sprinkle them on top with a 0.5 cm layer of moist earth
3. The container with crops is covered with glass or foil and placed in a warm place where the temperature is + 25- + 30C. Lighting is irrelevant at this stage.
4. As soon as the seedlings hatch, the box is gradually opened and transferred to a bright place. Moisten the substrate as needed using a spray bottle.

Landing cuttings rosemary for growing on a windowsill is carried out as follows:

1. To prepare the substrate, sand is mixed with peat moss.
2. Prepared cuttings are buried in the soil at an angle of 30-45 degrees.
3. The container is covered with a film and holes are made in it so that fresh air can flow to the handle.
4. The box is placed in a warm, bright place. The mini greenhouse needs to be periodically opened and sprayed.
5. At 3-4 weeks of age, new plants can be transplanted into a permanent pot.

Video: features and difficulties of growing rosemary in a pot at home

How to care after planting and before harvest

All cultivated plants, without exception, need care, including the unpretentious rosemary. Of course, you can let everything take its course, however, in this case, the plant will be "liquid" and low-yielding. So what does rosemary need to grow normally at home?

Watering

Watering the plant, you need to adhere to the golden mean. For rosemary, prolonged dampness or drought is extremely undesirable: in the first case, the roots will begin to rot and the plant will die, in the second the leaves will turn yellow and fall off, after which the rosemary will dry out. During flowering and in winter, the amount of watering is minimized.

Important! It is necessary to water the plant at the root, since the ingress of moisture on the leaves causes the appearance of fungi.

Top dressing and fertilization

The first time the rosemary seedlings are fed at the age of 1 month. In the future, the bush is fed 2 times a month. In winter, when the plant grows very slowly, rosemary is fertilized once a month. As a top dressing, mineral fertilizers are used in accordance with the instructions or organic dressings (1: 5).

Transplant and pruning

You need to transplant rosemary once a year, preferably in the spring. The transplant is carried out by the transshipment method:

1. The plant, together with the earthen clod, is removed from the old pot.
2. In tall varieties, part of the roots and aerial parts are cut off in order to dull their growth. Low-growing ones are transplanted without pruning.
3. The prepared rosemary is placed in a new pot and the missing soil is poured, lightly tamped and watered.

Over time, the branches of mature bushes become very bare, and the plant becomes less decorative. To prevent this from happening, the rosemary is periodically pruned. With the help of pruning, the bush is given the desired shape, and the cut off branches are harvested for the winter or used for cooking in the near future.

Worth knowing! Harvesting and crown formation is best done during flowering, when the maximum amount of nutrients is collected in the branches.

Cutting stimulates the plant to grow actively, as a result of which rosemary grows many lateral shoots and becomes more luxuriant and beautiful.

Important! Rosemary will tolerate pruning well if at least a third of the entire length remains from young shoots. Pruning to old wood makes the plant weak and vulnerable.

Diseases and pests

Rosemary growing on the site is much less prone to colonization of microorganisms and insects than a spice plant grown in an apartment on a windowsill, but it is still susceptible to some diseases.

• If the indoor air is too dry, the plant attacks spider mite. You can get rid of the pest by spraying the plant with biologics safe for health or self-prepared solutions. If rosemary sprigs are not added to food, the plant is treated with an insecticide.
• Places of congestion scabbards treated with a weak solution of vinegar. Rubbing is done every 5 days.
• Yellowed lower leaves indicate a lack of moisture.
• To get rid of blotches, rosemary is sprayed with preparations containing copper.

Terms of germination and harvesting

The seeds of a spicy plant are simultaneously endowed with low and long germination. Provided that optimal conditions are created, seedlings appear only 3-5 weeks after sowing.

TO harvesting aromatic plant can be started immediately after the length of the branches will reach 15 cm... To make the rosemary bush faster, experienced gardeners recommend periodically pinching the top.

The main thing in growing rosemary on a windowsill in an apartment where there is a pot with a bush is to create the right microclimate. It is equally important to cut off the spice in time and treat it from diseases and pests. For the care rendered, rosemary will certainly thank the gardener with its appearance and fragrant twigs.

Video: growing rosemary at home

Today, many people grow medicinal rosemary on a windowsill or summer cottage.

This frost-resistant evergreen Mediterranean decorative flowering shrub has been known for its healing properties since the days of Ancient Rome.

rosemary on the windowsill

The homeland of the aromatic plant is the Mediterranean coast. In Latin, the word rosemary has two meanings: "sea dew" and "freshness of the sea."

What does a rosemary bush look like?

The small leathery leaves of the bush are like needles from a coniferous tree, on short petioles, wrapped around the edges, blunt at the end, thickish.

Inflorescences racemose with pink, white or blue flowers. The fruit is a nutlet, smooth, round-ovoid, brown light.

Its aroma is specific, it can be compared to a mixture of smells of lemon, eucalyptus, pine and camphor.

The shrub grows in height from 5 to 200 cm.

The plant is warm and light-loving, unpretentious in growing in its native conditions, therefore it does not like sharp fluctuations in temperature.

The healing properties of rosemary and its uses

In its composition, rosemary contains antioxidants, B vitamins, essential oils and other beneficial substances. The bitter taste of the herb is created by carnosol, rosemanol and rosmarinic acid.

The therapeutic effect is directly exerted on the human body by flavonoids - apigenin and luteolin.

In Medicine and Cosmetology

Try this organic rosemary oil

The content of essential oils makes an excellent basis for the manufacture of many medicinal preparations with a soothing and relaxing effect.

Rosemary essential oil is one of the most versatile and should always be in your medicine cabinet. It has many of the most beneficial properties for the healing of our body.

This plant contains phytoncides that act as antioxidants. Valuable oils and resins are used:

• with insomnia;
• as an expectorant and diuretic;
• with diseases of the gallbladder;
• with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• for the treatment of the liver;
• with diabetes.

The aroma of this herb has a beneficial effect on children, pregnant women, people with an unbalanced nervous system.

A pleasant aroma in the room, if you plant rosemary on the windowsill, will help to overcome stress, relieve fatigue and depression.

Rosemary in cooking

Rosemary has a very broad spectrum of activity in cooking.

Flowers and leaves of the plant make a fragrant spice, which is used to prepare various dishes.

Vinegar is infused with the seasoning, wine is added to meat and fish sauces.

The plant is also used fresh (the tops of the shoots with flowers and leaves).

Due to its pine-camphor aroma, as well as a spicy, slightly bitter taste, the herb is ideally combined with eggplants, cabbage, beans, mushrooms, fruit salads. Rosemary essential oils are often used for baking and in alcoholic beverages.

Growing spice rosemary indoors and outdoors

Although rosemary is accustomed to the Mediterranean mild climate, if we take into account all the features of growing a shrub, it will adapt well on our plots, the windowsills of houses and apartments.

Rosemary on a windowsill in a pot- video

We recommend that you pay attention to this video, from which you will learn how to care for rosemary on a windowsill correctly.

Instruction - How to grow seasoning at home on a windowsill

The best rosemary varieties - choosing the right rosemary variety is very important, because it is quite capricious and does not always lend itself to the basic rules of care.

In Russia, the varieties "Tenderness", "Veshnyakovsky Semko", "Rominka", "Severn Sea", "Roseus", "Albiflorus" have gained popularity for planting in the garden.

Planting stages:

1. The roots of the plant grow very strongly, so a spacious clay pot is required. The soil should be loose with good drainage. In the warm season, it is fertilized once every 2 weeks, in winter - once a month.
2. The best time to plant is early fall or spring. The seeds are pre-soaked for two days in gauze, then gently scattered on the ground, but not sprinkled, but covered with polyethylene. Holes are made on the film for air circulation. Rosemary germination is very low, so if the seeds have not sprouted after 2-4 weeks, you need to sow them again.
3. All this time, while the seeds are under the film, you need to spray the ground with a spray gun every day.
4. The sprouted seeds in the pot will begin to grow very quickly, so you need to watch out when the seedlings are more than 8 cm in height and have at least three leaves. Then they can be transplanted to a permanent place.
5. 5 The optimum temperature for seed germination is + 12-20 ° C.

The plant is thermophilic, so rosemary on the windowsill will grow only on a well-lit southern window.

In the winter, the room where the rosemary stands is regularly ventilated, and in the summer, the pot with the plant can be put on the balcony or taken to the dacha.

Growing rosemary outdoors

When planting seedlings in open ground, you need to choose places protected from the wind.

The best option is loose, light soils. The landing time is determined independently - it is important that the threat of frost passes.

There are several ways to plant rosemary, but the easiest and most convenient is to sow seeds with further planting in open ground.

Planting stages:

1. For seedlings from seeds, sowing begins in February-March, after a month the seedlings are sown in temporary pots.
2. With the onset of warmth, when the soil warms up and the threat of frost passes, the seedlings are sent to the open ground. As a rule, a pattern is used on a 50 × 50 cm garden bed, because rosemary is a shrub.
3. For further reproduction of the existing bush, cuttings are cut from young twigs at the end of June. The length of each cutting should be at least 8-10 cm. The lower ends of the prepared shoots are buried at an angle of 40 ° into the soil by 5 cm for rooting.

Requirements for caring for rosemary on a windowsill

When caring for a plant at home, there are no special requirements - this is regular weeding and watering.

After each moistening of the soil, it is carefully loosened.

The best food for rosemary is considered to be a mullein solution (1: 5), but this is rather acceptable for the street.

Do not overmoisten the soil - for this shrub, drought is better than abundant moisture.

How to store rosemary

Housewives in various ways try to preserve the beneficial properties of greenery, harvesting it for the winter.

Rosemary is enough to dry and chop to get a seasoning for meat and vegetables.

You can buy natural rosemary here

Also, the grass can be frozen, salted or filled with oil.

Before drying, you need to rinse the twigs well, dry them, cut them into small pieces, put them in a thin layer, cover with gauze and put them in a dry warm place.

Frozen grass retains its appearance, vitamins and aroma better.

Greens are washed, cut and sent to the freezer.

It is then important to thaw it in portions immediately before use, and not all at once.

sources

Since ancient times, rosemary has been used all over the world as a fragrant seasoning for soups, meat and vegetable dishes. The homeland of this spice is the Mediterranean. Therefore, rosemary is very fond of the sun, warmth and moisture, and is not able to withstand the cold Russian winter in suburban conditions.Although rosemary is considered an unpretentious plant, there are several important points to consider when growing it at home.

To grow rosemary, choose an earthenware or terracotta pot that is wide enough for the plant's strong root system to grow. Pick up the soil neutral or slightly alkaline, with good drainage. Fertilize the soil no more than 1 time in 2 weeks, and in winter - no more than 1 time per month.

Rosemary is a light-loving plant. It is best to place the pot on a south or east side windowsill. Rosemary cannot withstand sudden changes in temperature and needs fresh air to grow well. Ventilate the plant by arranging air baths for it, take rosemary out to the balcony for the summer, or drip it in the garden. Thanks to sunlight, the plant will produce more essential oils and have strong and healthy leaves.

Growing rosemary from seeds is a difficult process due to their very low germination rate. Choose early spring or fall for planting. Pre-soak the seeds for 1-2 days. Then spread the seeds on the prepared ground without sprinkling on top. Cover with plastic wrap with a few holes for ventilation. Seedlings appear, depending on the quality of the seeds, 2-4 weeks after planting. All this time, thoroughly spray the soil daily with a spray bottle, maintaining constant moisture. If the seedlings still do not appear, sow the seeds again. When the seedlings reach a height of 8-10 cm, and each of them has at least 3 leaves, thin them and plant them if necessary. If you have used temporary germination containers, carefully transplant the rosemary to a permanent location, being careful not to damage the young plants. Rosemary grows rather quickly, so it is very important to ensure that there is enough free space for the roots of the plant, and if necessary, transplant it into a larger pot.

An easier way to grow rosemary on a windowsill is to get a cuttings of the plant. Cut off a ligneous shoot of an adult plant. Do not choose the lowest shoots for this. After removing the lower leaves from the cut shoot, place it in a glass of water or in a damp mixture of sand and peat. After 2-3 weeks, when the plant has established roots, transplant the rosemary into a permanent pot.

Water the rosemary frequently, but in moderation. Drought is not as bad for rosemary as too much watering, which can lead to root rot. With a lack of moisture, the leaves may turn yellow, and from excessive moisture, the plant may completely lose its leaves and die.

Rosemary blooms in April-May. In order for your plant to bloom, it needs a winter period. Place the plant on a glazed loggia. Rosemary can withstand temperatures up to 5-10 ° C. Water the plant very sparingly during this time. Also, during this period, you should not trim the rosemary.

An adult plant whose trunk and stems are already stiff is recommended to be trimmed regularly. Cut the shoots to stimulate and guide the future growth of the plant and form a beautiful shrub.

Due to its composition, which includes antioxidants, vitamin B and many other useful substances, rosemary is widely used in cooking, cosmetology and traditional medicine. The pleasant aroma of rosemary growing on the windowsill will help overcome stress, relieve fatigue and depression, and improve the atmosphere of any room.

Growing a rosemary pot at home is not only fun, but also rewarding. The plant is used both as a spice and as a natural medicine. The decorativeness of the bush allows you to decorate the apartment.

Rosemary: the nuances of growing a house in a pot

If comfortable conditions are not created for the plant, it begins to gradually lose its attractiveness and useful properties.Ideally, grow a flower in a winter garden, but if it is absent, you can do it in an apartment. Rosemary in good conditions becomes a small tree, which should be considered when choosing a plant.

It is also worth remembering that if the wrong care is taken, it starts to hurt and may die. In the summer, it is necessary to take the flower out into fresh air. This will improve the development of the bush, increase the content of nutrients in it.

Planting a plant

Its further development depends on how correctly the flower is planted. Mistakes during the planting phase lead to the fact that the rosemary begins to wither and may die.

Requirements for soil and pot

The result of growing a plant depends on the correct choice of pot and soil. Rosemary root is very branched and needs a spacious container. The roots have a high oxygen demand, and therefore the material of the pot must be porous. Clay is the best choice. Coated pots should not be used. A pot with an average diameter of about 20 cm is suitable for a young plant.

The plant needs special soil. At a flower shop, you can buy a lime-based gravelly substrate, but it is better to prepare a soil for rosemary yourself.

For this, the following components are connected:

• leafy soil - 2 parts;
• sod soil, from which all roots have been removed - 2 parts;
• humus - 1 part;
• coarse river sand - 1 part;
• peat - 1 part.

Before the plant is planted, the soil must be very well shed with water.

Home care for rosemary

In addition to proper planting, the plant needs full care, in which the fragrant herb will receive everything it needs. By the attractive appearance of the plant, you can immediately understand that it is good for it and that there is sufficient care for it.

Temperature, humidity and lighting

During the growing season, the plant requires an air temperature of +23 to +25 degrees. In winter, rosemary goes into a dormant state, and therefore requires a decrease in temperature. It should be between +6 and +15 degrees. In an apartment, it is rare, it turns out, to create an optimal temperature. So that the rosemary growing in the apartment does not suffer from overheating, in winter it should be placed as close to the window as possible. Also, for cooling, you can put a bowl of snow or ice next to it, which, melting, will slightly reduce the temperature around the plant.

Air humidity is an important indicator, since when it is insufficient, the indoor flower begins to turn yellow and wither. In summer, in most cases, additional air humidification is not required for the plant. In winter, due to heating, the air in the room becomes drier, and therefore it is necessary to increase the humidity. To do this, expanded clay is poured into the pallet with the plant, which is abundantly moistened. Water should not reach the drainage holes of the pot, so there is no risk that the plant will rot due to excessive soil moisture. At the same time, due to the evaporation of water, the air around the rosemary becomes humid enough for it to function normally.

The plant is light-loving and requires intense lighting for at least 6 hours a day. In order for the crown of the bush to develop evenly, and not one-sidedly, once every 2 days it is necessary to turn the pot 180 degrees. In the summer heat, so that the grass does not get sunburn, it must be slightly shaded. In winter, the lighting should be as intense as possible. It is good to use phytolamps for supplementary lighting of a flower, the light spectrum of which has a beneficial effect on the growth of indoor plants.

Watering the plant

When growing rosemary at home, it should be remembered that it tolerates overdrying more easily than overmoistening. However, despite this, the flower should be watered regularly, using well-settled water at room temperature.

If the plant does not have enough water, its foliage begins to turn yellow.When there is too much of it, the rosemary begins to shed the leaves, which at the same time retain their green color.

The signal that it needs to be watered is the drying out of the top layer of the earth. It is unacceptable to wait until the soil is completely dry. In extreme heat in summer, it is useful to spray the grass early in the morning or late in the evening, but not more often than once a day. For this, the same water is used as for irrigation.

Top dressing and fertilization

Rosemary is fed during the growing season from spring to November 1 time per month using a complex fertilizer for indoor plants. It should be diluted in twice the volume of water compared to the instructions in the instructions. It is also useful to water 2 times a season with an aqueous solution of bird droppings, prepared at the rate of 1:30.

In winter, it is highly undesirable to feed rosemary. If it begins to weaken due to a lack of nutrients, then a one-time feeding with a complex composition is allowed. This phenomenon usually occurs when the plant has not been transplanted in a timely manner.

Transfer

Up to 5 years old, rosemary is very active in building up the root system. For this reason, in the early years, it must be transplanted every April into a pot that will be 5-7 cm wider than the previous one. After 5 years, the flower is transplanted once every 3 years, also in April. In this case, the pot should be 10-12 cm wider than the previous one.

Propagation of rosemary

Breeding a plant through seeds at home is quite problematic, and therefore the propagation method is mainly used. To obtain new plants, the apical shoots 7.5 cm long are cut off. They should be cut with sharp scissors at an angle of 45 degrees. The cuttings are moistened in clean water and the place of the cut is rolled in "root" powder. Then the excess powder is shaken off and the cuttings are planted in moist peat. The container with them is covered with a plastic bag, since greenhouse conditions are necessary for rooting. The roots appear in a month or a little earlier. Further care is carried out according to the standard scheme.

The main problems in growing

The main problem that a florist may face is powdery mildew. She, due to the peculiar leaves of rosemary, does not appear in the usual way. As a result of this, without being noticed, the disease progresses, and the plant dies from it. You can suspect the presence of a problem by browning the leaves. Growing rosemary in an apartment can also be complicated by higher than required temperatures in winter, when the plant should be dormant.

Pests and diseases

Rosemary is not prone to diseases, and only with excessive moisture does it develop powdery mildew. This problem is eliminated by normalizing the irrigation regime.

Pests can appear:

• shield;
• spider mite.

They fall on the flower in the summer months, when it is outside. To get rid of parasites, you need to wash the plant using laundry soap. Chemicals are required only when pests are abundant.

It is not easy to grow rosemary on your windowsill, but it is quite possible.