The exact origin of the name Melissa not clarified due to disagreements of his interpreters. But it is known that the herbaceous plant of the family Yasnotkovye, named melissa, is widely spread as a medicinal raw material, also called censer, lemon grass, lemon and bee mint. This inconspicuous grass is cultivated by gardeners, gardeners and even planters for industrial purposes, focusing primarily on the wealth of biologically active substances contained in the lemon balm.
Did you know? According to one version, the name Melissa was formed from the addition of Greek words meaning honey and leaves. In the second, on behalf of the nymph Melissa, who allegedly treated Zeus with honey and milk. According to the third - Melissa was called a beauty, turned into a bee by the will of the Olympic gods.
Melissa: Plant Description
The height of the perennial can reach one and a half meters. Its basis is a highly branched rhizome. The petiole leaves of a complex shape, resembling both a heart and an egg and having large teeth, are located on a branchy stem, as if cut from four sides.
Short pedicels are topped with axillary tufts of small white flowers, which may also have pale pink or purple hues. The flowers have four stamens, the upper four ovary pistil on a long column. The blooming of lemon balm marked July and August of the second year of growth.
In a large, with a black gloss, four-fruit fetus, reaching maturity in August-September, has an egg-shaped form. Before flowering the grass smells of lemon. When flowering ends, the fading smell becomes unpleasant.
How to choose a place and prepare the soil for growing lemon balm
In order for Melissa to grow well, you need to create certain conditions for her.
Lighting for active growth
It is recommended to plant lemon balm on the spot with good solar illumination, which is especially important for the germination of small seeds from nature. Frosts are capable of destroying new bushes of lemon mint, so their cultivation must begin with planting in warm time. In the future, the plant demonstrates a fair resistance to cold, although the place where melissa grows is still better to choose on the south side, protected from air currents coming from the north.
Important! In the open sunny place of melissa the aroma is richer.
Preparing the soil for planting lemon balm
The soil for planting should be fertile and free from weeds. Melissa prefers loamy soils, as having a high water and air permeability, which makes it possible to grow a full-fledged plant. Loose sandstone is also possible. They need a good drainage of small crushed stone or broken brick, which will protect the root system from rotting.
If the site is all located on clay soil, then in the place of planting lemon balm it should be mixed with river sand. The reaction of the soil to acidity should be slightly acidic or neutral. The first digging with weeding and weeding can be done in the fall, and in the spring, loosen and clean the warmed earth again.
Methods of propagation of lemon balm, how to plant a medicinal plant
To understand how the lemon balm reproduces most successfully, you must first carefully study and only then choose seeds for planting, seedlings of lemon balm, cuttings or separated parts of the bush.
Sowing seeds
A thousand seeds weigh about 0.62 g. Their germination persists for 2-3 years. Based on practical experience, it was concluded that the seeds of a plant grow stronger and more durable. When it is better to sow lemon balm, it depends on the planting material chosen for the open soil.
Landing in open ground
Rapid seed germination will occur when sowing lemon balm in open ground begins in late May. And as close as possible to the surface, that is, plant lemon balm seeds to a depth of no more than 1-1.5 cm. For the aisle, an interval of up to half a meter is sufficient. Between the bushes, because they grow decently, it is advisable to leave at least 40 cm.
Gardeners who care not only about the yield, but also about the aesthetics of the beds, recommend increasing both distances to about 0.6 m. The first shoots appear only after 3-4 weeks, so the question: "Why does not the lemon balm grow?" - the time has not come.
Planting lemon balm seedlings
The rich harvest of fragrant lemon balm can be achieved not only by growing it from seeds, but after receiving seedlings from them. Planting on seedlings should be done at the turn of March and April, and in May, the resulting approximately 40-day material with four leaves on each seedling is planted in the soil.
Boxes with seeds sown, covered with glass, kept in a warm room, the illumination of which is increased to a maximum after the emergence of shoots. Seedlings grown to 3-5 cm need thinning up to five-centimeter gaps and subsequent planting in separate small containers.
Growing lemon balm by dividing the bush
Beginning at the end of May to grow shoots signal that you can begin to divide the bushes. Another, also a favorable time - the end of August. An excavated bush is cut into parts of the same size. At least 4-5 shoots and roots should remain on each of them. The separated parts take root well and bloom beautifully. The limitation for this method of breeding lemon balm is its age - it must be at least 3-4 years old.
How to cutting a lemon balm
Cuttings for planting lemon balm are made from the apical part of its young shoots, which, after cutting, are placed in water. After the appearance of the roots (this happens about two weeks later), the cuttings are grown in fertilized loose soil.
Rules for the care of melissa in the garden
There is no difficulty, how to plant lemon balm, it is unpretentious in any case, and therefore care for it does not provide for specific specifics. But in the first year, while the branched roots of overgrown bushes did not independently provide them with food and moisture, the plant needs close attention. First of all, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil and remove weeds.
At one place melissa can exist up to 10 years. But in the sixth year, winter-hardy qualities are deteriorating, therefore in a frosty climate after this period it is better to do division and seating.
Important! After five years, reduced winter hardiness of the plant.
Watering and feeding plants
Several waterings are needed in the initial stage of growth. Be sure to water with a significant drought. Watering must be complemented by loosening the soil. The protective layer of mulch laid on top will help the soil to stay wet longer, and also serve as a weed protection. Feed the lemon balm after each cut greens.
Complex liquid fertilizers are used (for 10 liters of water - 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 50 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride) and mulching with organic matter - a significant layer of humus or compost. Before flowering, fertilizing is not done, since it impedes the timely ripening of seeds.
Pinching lemon balm
Pinching seedlings of melissa grown on seedlings, produced at a height of 10-15 cm. The result of this procedure are compact bushes with more branching.
Trimming lemon balm
Two or three times a season, shoots of melissa are radically cut at 10 centimeters from the ground. Such an operation, in addition to a very speedy recovery, leads to a rather active formation of a large number of new twigs and thick cute bushes, so attractive that they are used as elements of landscape design.
Collection and preparation of lemon balm
3-4 harvests per year are common practice for lemon balm. In the question of growing lemon balm as an annual or perennial plant, gardeners are guided by this property. Since its value is largely concentrated in the essential oil, it is preferable to clean up on an overcast afternoon when oilseeds are minimal.
The beginning of flowering serves as a signal for collecting medicinal leaves and tops of the shoots, which in no less than a dozen countries are officially recognized as medicinal raw materials. Harvesting of raw materials begins with drying in air, heated not higher than 40 degrees. To do this, use shaded areas in open space or cold dryers. Subsequent storage implies good ventilation of the warehouse. Harvested raw materials are best kept in banks.
Did you know? Melissa is universal as a remedy for neuralgia, headache, hysteria, hypochondria, insomnia, anemia, atherosclerosis, cholecystitis, and many other diseases.
Dreams of exquisite gourmets came to fruition in Melissa, finally combining citrus aroma with a substantial mint flavor and subtle notes of honey. Not taking into account the healing properties of bee mint, they tend to give with the help of spicy herbs an elegant piquancy to the taste qualities of the usual dishes from their menu.
