In addition to potatoes, onions and tomatoes, beds in the country it is useful to plant herbs and herbs such as oregano (oregano). In addition to delicious tea and spicy dishes, it will help protect the garden from pests and will be its perfect decoration. If you have already thought about this, below you will learn all about oregano, its cultivation and care.
Oregano: description of the spice plant
Oregano (mother, ladanka, oregano) is a fragrant perennial plant, growing bushes in height from 30 to 70 cm. Thanks to its strong roots Oregano is able to grow independently around the garden. Her leaves are small, egg-shaped with a sharp tip. Blossoms are found in many different shades, as today, more than 20 ornamental varieties of this plant have been developed. Oregano is used not only for delicious tea, but also as a medicinal herb.
In particular, it can affect:
- nervous system, improving well-being, sleep, relieving headache;
- digestion, increasing appetite;
- the respiratory system, helping to cope even with bronchitis;
- female organs, helping to eliminate menstruation delays, alleviate the symptoms of PMS and menopause;
- the oral cavity, helping to cope with stomatitis;
- integuments, because it is an excellent tool for children's diathesis and various dermatitis in adults.
Also, oregano is used in everyday life: if you leave it in the closet, the mole will not be scary. Oregano is also a very popular spice, which is seasoned not only with pizza, but also used for canning. They appreciate oregano and beekeepers, as bees make very aromatic honey from its pollen.
Did you know? Oregano blooms every year starting from the second year of growth, and after flowering on the stems, fruits are formed - very small nuts of a rounded shape. The nuts are collected seeds, which are simply microscopic size. 1000 pieces of oregano seeds weigh only 0.1 g.
Favorable conditions for planting oregano
Planting oregano seeds involves a preliminary choice for the plant a favorable place where it will not only grow well, but also be able to accumulate useful substances in its leaves. The bed with oregano should be located on a well-lit area, as in the shade the plant will be excessively stretched and will not be able to retain its flavor. At the same time, oregano is not at all demanding on the type of soil, as it can take root almost everywhere.
But since this is a perennial plant, it is better to choose a plot with nutrient soil, which is regularly moistened. Too arid or constantly wet areas of the plant will not work, because it can not grow or be reborn and become a common weed. Also since autumn it is important to put manure or compost in the beds under the oregano, if there are none, then even saltpeter will do.
Many fans of oregano try to grow it on the windowsill. In general, this is quite possible, however, to obtain high-quality raw materials will have to wait more than a year, because this spice gives the first flowering only during the second growing season.
How to plant oregano in open ground: a way to grow through seedlings
Often, oregano involves growing from seed, but it is recommended to sow them on seedlings. The fact is that the first shoots of the Oregano are usually very weak, and weeds can easily drive them. Therefore, it is much more practical to grow seedlings in pots on the windowsill in spring, and plant them in open ground closer to summer.
When and how to sow oregano
If oregano is grown from seed, it is very important to guess over time when to plant. For seedlings it can be sown in ordinary plastic pots or boxes as early as March. The sooner you do this, the stronger the seedlings will be for planting in open ground. During sowing, it is necessary to fill the pots with nutrient soil mixture, which is better to buy in the store and mix a little with ordinary sand.
Be sure to sprinkle it with water from a spray bottle and compact it a little, then make rows and fill them with seeds. It is not worth to deepen the seeds by more than 1 cm. The first shoots have to wait quite a long time - from 10 to 15 days. All this time, pots or boxes of oregano must be kept at a temperature of 20-22 ° C and on a well-lit window sill.
Many gardeners in the cultivation of seedlings also tighten the pots with polyethylene, but in the case of oregano there is no urgent need for this. Oregano when sown on seedlings will surprise you with its thin seedlings, which at first it is even terrible to touch. But over time, they will become significantly stronger and become similar to an adult plant.
Important! If you are interested in the question, how to plant oregano seeds directly in open ground Location onthen it is recommended to do this at the end of May when the earth is warming well. To do this, clear the area of weeds and thickly sow the seeds in the row aisle of 45 cm.
How to care for oregano seedlings
Small seedlings are very sensitive to weeds that can drive them higher and drown them. Therefore, even in pots, it is important to carefully examine the seedlings and remove everything that is not oregano. If the shoots you have turned out very intense, then over time they need to thin out so that the seedlings can be well established.
Also, do not forget to regularly water the oregano in pots, for which it is better to use a spray bottle. After all, with plenty of water you can wash off weakly rooted plants, and the moisture introduced during the spraying process is quite enough for seedlings. Be sure to keep the seedlings in the sun and turn it if you notice a one-sided development.
Pickling seedlings
After 2-3 leaflets appear on the seedlings, it must be dived, that is, seated in separate pots, so that it can gain strength until the time when it is necessary to plant oregano in open ground. Dive seedlings can be in peat pots, which then can be planted on the beds. Already in mid-May, oregano will be ready to land it in open ground. There is nothing difficult in this, the main thing is to choose a not too hot day for this and regularly add seedlings.
Did you know? Dushitsu very often grown on an industrial scale, collecting its leaves to obtain the essential oil. The latter is used for aromatherapy as a sedative.
Caring for oregano
In the first year, the attention of the oregano will require quite a lot, because the question of how to grow oregano from seeds also implies the use of proper watering and feeding on the plant.
Rules for watering and feeding oregano
Oregano is not very demanding on moisture, but drought is contraindicated. Therefore, watering should be organized in accordance with the intensity of drying of the soil in the beds with oregano. You should also take care that in case of rainy weather there is no excess water accumulated with oregano in the ground, therefore it is better to dig around it in small depressions.
As for dressings, they will be needed by the plant from early spring and after harvest. But in the first year you shouldn’t feed the oregano, as it will still be enough for the nutrients that you contributed while preparing the beds in the fall. From the second year, as soon as the plant begins to move away from hibernation, it can be added with saltpeter or you can add a little mullein (always diluted with water).
Similar fertilizers can be used for summer fertilizer. But if you grow oregano as a decorative flower in a flowerbed, then it should not be fertilized, since subsequently it may overgrow and lose its decorative effect.
Soil care
The soil in which oregano grows should always be slightly loosened. In the first years, until the ornamental plant grows, it will often have to weed. After all, oregano does not grow very intensively, while weeds appear on good soil instantly. But as soon as oregano grows well, weeds can be forgotten.
Another way to cope with weeds and reduce the amount of watering is to mulch the soil in the garden with oregano with the help of straw. As a rule, such a small nuance is very well reflected in the growth of oregano.
Important! If flowering appears on the oregano in the first year of growth, it is better to remove it. So you give the plant the opportunity to strengthen, so that next year it will grow even more from spring.
It is noteworthy that the oregano endures cold enough, so it doesn’t even have to cover its bushes for the winter. If the ground is covered with snow early, in the spring green leaves may still remain on the plant.
Features transplant oregano
At the same place, oregano can grow for more than 20 years, but if you want it to be able to get healing medicine, then it is recommended to transplant it from place to place every five years. At the same time, after oregano, you can grow any garden crop without fear, which will not be 99% affected by pests and diseases - after the oregano it simply does not remain in the soil.
Reproduction of oregano
You already know how to plant oregano with seeds, but it can be propagated in vegetative ways:
- The division of the bush. To do this, an adult oregano must be dug up and neatly divided into two parts. It is very important not to damage the root system and not to break the stems, as they still have to grow.
- Layering. For this purpose, throughout the entire growing season, you can simply add some strong shoots to the soil, which are sure to take root. Next season, the new plant will only be separated from the mother with a shovel, and it can be transplanted to any other place.
It is recommended to multiply oregano with vegetative methods either in spring or in early autumn, so that the plant can take root in a new place.
Important! To make the oregano grow better, it is recommended to break off parts of the plant's shoots last spring. Then new ones will be formed thicker and stronger, with more leaves.
Oregano: Harvesting
To harvest from oregano is to start during flowering, which in ornamental plants most often occurs in July. No more than 3 shoots up to 20 cm in length can be picked from each plant. They can be bundled and hung for drying under a canopy (they can also be dried on paper, but you have to turn them over constantly).
After drying, fragrant leaves are broken from the stems and closed in a glass jar. The stems are thrown away, as they are not suitable for consumption. But the leaves can be used for tea or infusions for two years. As for the collection of oregano seeds, they ripen in September.
At the same time, in order to get the seeds, in July it is necessary not to pluck the stems from good large bushes, but to leave them for flowering. Picked stalks with boxes are also dried, and then manually ground, sifted through a sieve and, if necessary, dried again. Store the seeds in paper bags in a dry place.
Planting oregano in your own garden is a must, since it is quite simple to make it, and there will be a lot of benefit from its leaves. The main thing is to find a bright place for her and not to forget to harvest in time.
