Melissa - planting and care outdoors

Under natural conditions, lemon balm grows in forests located in central Russia. This medicinal plant, widely used in medicine in the treatment of many diseases, has several names among the people:

• mead;
• bee grass;
• lemon mint;
• apiary;
• censer;
• crustacean;
• bee mint.

From an agronomic point of view, lemon balm is a herb belonging to the perennial segment. The color of the leafy part of plants depends on the specific varieties - it can be either green or have a silvery tint.

Melissa

Melissa is found in a wide variety of medicines. However, in addition to medicinal uses, the leaves and shoots of this herb, which have a lemon scent, are used in the manufacture of some varieties of culinary products:

• seasoning for dishes;
• additive to canned vegetables;
• improving the taste of liqueurs;
• tea brewing.

Agrotechnics

Undemanding care allows you to grow lemon balm in open field conditions.

Agrotechnics

Within the garden, lemon balm must be planted in loose, well-drained, sandy loam soil or in loamy soil enriched with humus and providing the plant with sufficient water and air permeability. The main condition for how lemon balm can be grown so that it gives a rich harvest is to provide an average pH index, which should be, on average, 5.5.

The following materials can be used to make the correct drainage:

• broken brick;
• crushed stone.

The soil moisture level should be above average. Lemon balm should be grown in a well-lit open area.

Methods of vegetative reproduction of lemon balm

By bunch division

Sufficient growth of the bushes, making them suitable for division, is completed 4 years after planting. It is best to divide bush plantings in one of the suitable periods:

• at the end of May;
• in late August.

Methods of vegetative reproduction of lemon balm

Stages of the division process in a bunch way:

1. Dig up a lemon balm bush;
2. Divide the planting into equal parts, consisting of 4 shoots and fragments of the root system;
3. Plant the separated parts in open ground;
4. Shade the area;
5. Provide moderate watering.

By cuttings

Instructions on how to breed cuttings:

1. In the spring, cut the apical cuttings from the young growth;
2. Put in water;

3. After 2 weeks, when the first roots appear, place the planting material in a container with loosened nutrient soil;
4. Plant in open ground in the garden.

Lemon balm propagation by layering

To breed lemon balm bush using the layering method, you must:

1. Bend several green shoots to the surface of the soil, the average length of which is 14 centimeters;
2. Fix in any of the existing ways;
3. Sprinkle the area of ​​contact with a thin layer of soil;
4. Carry out abundant watering;
5. 2 weeks after the layers have taken root, they must be cut off from the main bush with a pruner or a sharpened knife;
6. Land on a permanent place.

Lemon balm propagation by layering

Sowing lemon balm by seed method

This medicinal plant can be sown throughout the spring and summer seasons, until the very end of October.

Breeding lemon balm using the seed method is considered the most time consuming among other existing breeding technologies. However, this method of planting lemon balm in your country house from seeds is recognized as the most effective. This statement is due to the fact that the bush plantings of lemon balm, obtained as a result of seed germination, are more vigorous and also more viable. An important advantage of plants grown from seeds is their resistance to adverse weather conditions. Planting seed material can be sown both in open ground conditions and in a container for germinating seedlings, which is subsequently also planted on an open ridge.

Seed planting process

The seeds are very small in size and retain the ability to germinate, after they have been sown for 2 years.

Features of how to plant lemon balm as seed:

• home seeds should be planted in open ground by the end of May, in conditions of fully warmed up soil, when warm weather is established;
• planting depth is 1.5 centimeters;
• form small furrows;
• water the planting soil;
• sow seed in moderation;
• sprinkle with earth;
• 4 weeks after planting lemon balm seeds, and when seedlings appear, thin them out, observing a 20-centimeter distance.

Seed planting process

Such an unpretentious herb to care for, like lemon balm, growing from seeds of which is also not difficult, is able to easily take root, subject to the required agricultural technology, in any garden plot.

How to care for seedlings

Care for young plants when growing lemon balm is as follows: 

1. It is necessary to open access to solar lighting to the plantings;
2. Water abundantly in hot weather;
3. Remove excess greenery;
4. Apply the necessary fertilizers.

Features of the seedling planting process

Seedlings of the medicinal herb lemon balm are planted, and the care of which requires compliance with agrotechnical recommendations, under the tree.

Lemon seedlings

However, the landing area should not be darkened, but direct sunlight is also unacceptable. The ideal condition is partial shade. The soil for planting this culture is prepared in advance:

1. In the fall, the ridge must be dug up;
2. Remove all plant residues from the soil;
3. Extract fragments of the root system;
4. Apply mineral fertilizers;
5. Fertilize the soil with a rotted mullein;
6. Drainage works for acidic soil;

7. For clay soil, dilute the soil with sand;
8. Remove weeds in the spring;
9. Loosen the soil;
10. Mark the row spacings at 32 cm spacing.

The planting of seedlings is carried out in a checkerboard pattern, subject to a 35-centimeter distance between plantings.

How to care for lemon balm

The statement that lemon balm has the ability to grow like a weed plant, and that this plant does not need to be looked after, is erroneous.

Care

However, the healthy development of lemon balm planting is possible if a number of conditions are met:

• Watering should be carried out every two days in hot weather and twice a week in cloudy weather. With the formation of stagnant fluid in the area of ​​the root system, decay processes begin;
• At the beginning of each spring season, upon transition to the growing stage, a bucket of solution must be added under each planting, which includes mullein and nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Mulching with humus or old peat will help maintain the required moisture level and the mineral composition of the soil;
• High hilling at the end of the autumn season will prevent the melissa bush from freezing in winter. Before this, the aerial part should be cut off and covered with a layer of fallen leaves.

How to harvest and store crops

Melissa bush, including home, blooms by mid-June. Flowers blooming in the axils of the leafy part can be painted in one of the colors typical for this plant:

• white;
• purple;
• pink.

The cut of the leaves is carried out before the flowering of the shrub or during the transition to this stage. One bush planting of lemon balm is capable of producing a harvest of fresh fragrant herbs for 3 harvests in one season. For drying, lemon balm leaves are laid out in the shade in a thin layer. The storage of this medicinal herb is recommended in a well-closed container made of glass or tin material. This amount of harvested grass will last until the end of winter.

This fragrant medicinal plant is able to grow on any home garden. If you know how to plant lemon balm correctly (for example, you can plant lemon balm in a pot at home on a windowsill, in a country house from seeds or in the form of ready-made seedlings), observe each condition of agricultural technology, how to grow lemon balm, an important feature of which is maintaining acidity at the required level, you can regularly harvest this wonderful crop, which at the same time can decorate the garden.