Growing tarragon (tarragon) from seeds

At the word “tarragon” many people automatically imagine a refreshing drink of bright green color with a specific taste. However, not everyone knows about the properties of a perennial fragrant plant, to which the drink owes its name. This unusual herb, also known as tarragon, is successfully used in cooking and medicine. Therefore, the cultivation and care of tarragon in the open field today is of genuine interest, plant breeders are happy to breed it in home gardens.

How to choose the right variety

Tarragon includes many subspecies, each of which has its own unique characteristics. Among them, the following varieties are most popular:

1. Goodwin. This variety of tarragon is suitable for both growing in a pot and in the open field. Gives a harvest for the 2nd year. It is characterized by a rich spicy bitter taste.

   

2. Gribovsky. A very frost-resistant plant, practically not susceptible to disease, which is why it has gained wide popularity. Able to grow in one place without loss of taste for 15 years in a row. Harvest appears in the second year of cultivation.

   

3. French. This variety of tarragon is also resistant to cold. It has an aesthetic appearance, therefore it is often used in landscape design, but is not suitable for growing from seeds in the northern regions.

   

4. mexican aztec. In appearance, this plant resembles a bush up to 1,5 m in height. It tolerates high temperatures better than other varieties. It has been growing on one site for 7 years in a row. It has a bright anise aroma.

   

5. Dobrinya. In comparison with other varieties of tarragon, it contains a number of useful substances, including essential oil. It tolerates cold and drought well, hibernates without problems. The growing period in the same place is up to 10 years.

   

Regardless of the variety, all subspecies of tarragon can be used for food and have medicinal properties. In addition, any of the above varieties of tarragon can be grown at home.

How to grow tarragon at home

The unpretentiousness of tarragon and its compact rhizomes make it possible to grow it even in a small pot or container. At the same time, the process of growing tarragon is not laborious.

Any well-lit window sill is suitable for growing. Tarragon will feel especially comfortable on the south side of the house.

Since tarragon does not like too wet soil, high-quality drainage should be placed at the bottom of the container, for example, vermiculite or perlite. The pot itself should be chosen in medium size, since at home tarragon grows from 30 to 60 cm. The soil for growing a plant can be prepared from a mixture of sand, turf and humus in equal proportions.

Having prepared the soil for cultivation, you can begin to sow tarragon seeds. They are placed 1 cm deep into the ground and then sprinkled with earth. A good option for successfully growing tarragon from seeds is an impromptu greenhouse. To do this, plant seedlings are covered with glass or film and regularly moisten the soil from a spray bottle, while maintaining a temperature of 18 – 20 ^oC. The first shoots appear at 3-4 weeks.

Further care for tarragon, as with outdoor cultivation, comes down to periodic watering and weeding of plants. From the 2nd year, you can annually fertilize the plant with mineral fertilizers.

Planting and caring for tarragon in the open field

Tarragon is a rather unpretentious grass, and therefore the cultivation of tarragon, in particular, planting and caring for it, does not require much effort. However, in order for the plant to please with a bountiful harvest and less likely to hurt, it is worth studying the recommendations for growing it in open ground.

Where to plant tarragon

To grow tarragon in your own country house, you should take a responsible approach to choosing a landing site. The best choice for growing tarragon is an unshaded location with plenty of sunlight. Despite the fact that tarragon is undemanding to the quality of the soil and can grow almost anywhere, soils with a neutral or high acidity index – from 6 to 7 pH should be preferred. Tarragon does not take root too well in heavy clay soils. Particular attention should be paid to the level of nitrogen in the soil. Too high a content of nitrogenous compounds can provoke the appearance of rust or other diseases in the plant.

Having chosen a suitable plot for cultivation, it is necessary to clear it of weeds, in particular, of wheatgrass, since tarragon cannot grow with it in the same area. In autumn, it is required in advance to carry out a deep digging of the site, if necessary, introducing organic fertilizers into the soil. In the spring, just before planting the soil, it is enough to loosen the soil.

How to plant tarragon seeds

Sowing tarragon seeds in the ground begins, as a rule, in April-May. It is best to do this in a greenhouse and plant seedlings in a permanent place after they have grown stronger. Before this, in the fall, organic and mineral top dressing is introduced into the soil for plowing. Immediately before sowing, the place for growing is covered with a soil mixture of humus, peat and light loamy soil in a ratio of 1:1:1. Between the beds leave a distance of at least 20 cm.

The planting of tarragon itself is carried out according to a scheme similar to its cultivation at home:

1. Tarragon seeds are sown in the ground no deeper than 1 cm, sprinkled with earth.
2. Before the seedlings germinate, the soil should be kept slightly moist, and the temperature in the greenhouse slightly above room temperature – about 20 ^oC.
3. Seedlings need to provide a good ventilation regime.

With the right approach, tarragon seedlings will germinate by the 3rd week. After another 10 – 14 days, already developed young plants must be thinned out and moved to a permanent site.

How to grow tarragon outdoors

Being an undemanding plant, tarragon is ideal for growing in summer cottages for those who want to gain experience in crop production.

Tarragon does not need much moisture even in dry weather. It is enough to water the plant once every 1 to 2 weeks; during rainy periods, you can increase the intervals between watering.

From the spring of the 2nd year of cultivation, tarragon should be fertilized once with mineral fertilizers – after the first weeding or before the flowering time. For these purposes, a mineral mixture of 1 g of ammonium sulfate, 20 g of potassium salt and 20 g of superphosphates, diluted in 30 liters of water, has proven itself well.

Periodically, the soil should be loosened for better air supply to the tarragon roots, and weeding should also be carried out.

Tarragon Care in the Fall

The key to successful cultivation of tarragon is its timely preparation for winter. This usually includes pruning and providing cover for the plant. As a rule, tarragon pruning is carried out in the fall before the arrival of cold weather, in early or mid-November. If the plant is young, then it is not cut off completely, leaving at least 20 cm from the stem so that it can recover by spring. Older plants can be pruned more thoroughly, leaving only the lignified part of the stem.

In the middle lane and northern regions, tarragon is covered with rags, spruce branches or humus for the winter. In the southern regions, shelter for this plant is not required.

Pest and disease control

Although tarragon has a very high resistance to diseases and pests, the peculiarities of the climate, soil composition and insufficient compliance with the rules of cultivation can provoke the development of some ailments in tarragon:

1. Rust is the most common disease that tarragon is susceptible to. The main symptom is the appearance of unaesthetic brown spots on the leaves of the plant. If left untreated, the leaf plates quickly dry out and fall off. Rust is usually an indication that the plant is getting too much nitrogen or not enough room to thrive due to overly dense seedlings. To eliminate this problem during cultivation, it is worth thinning out the beds with tarragon in a timely manner and observing the regimen for applying mineral plant nutrition.
2. Often, tarragon is invaded by a wireworm. To prevent the attacks of this pest, special attention should be paid to loosening the beds, trying to affect the deeper layers of the soil during the procedure. The place of cultivation can also be treated with lime.
3. Such a well-known garden pest as aphids, occasionally, but still worries plant growers involved in the cultivation of tarragon. You can get rid of it by spraying tarragon with natural insecticides. Of these, tobacco infusion, onion peel and yarrow are considered especially effective.

How can tarragon be propagated

Breeding tarragon at home is quite within the power of not only professional growers, but also amateur gardeners. The main thing in this matter is to choose the appropriate method for propagating tarragon:

• seminal;
• division of the bush;
• cuttings.

Growing tarragon from seeds at home is considered a time-consuming method, which, moreover, is not suitable for all plant varieties. However, the seedlings in this case are more disease-resistant and tenacious.

A fairly simple and effective method of reproduction is the division of the bush. It is most often produced in the spring, in early April. For this:

1. The aerial part of the plant is shortened, and the roots are divided into 2 identical parts. In this case, each of them should have 1 – 2 kidneys.
2. Tarragon is planted in a permanent place to a depth of 8 cm, abundantly watering each well with water in an amount of 1 liter.

To propagate tarragon by cuttings, you should stock up on blanks from young shoots in advance. It is better to do this during the budding period of the plant, at the end of June:

1. Young tarragon stalks are cut diagonally with a sharp knife to make pieces 10-15 cm long with a few healthy buds.
2. Plant cuttings are placed in water or Kornevin’s solution for 3-4 hours, then planted in boxes with loose soil, mixed in half with sand, to a depth of 4 cm.
3. After that, the tarragon cuttings are covered with a film, allowing them to ventilate daily. It is important that the soil prepared for the plants be at room temperature and regularly moistened, and that the room has good ventilation.
4. At the end of September, when the tarragon seedlings take root, they can be moved to open ground.

When can you harvest tarragon?

The collection of tarragon, as a rule, does not have a clear time limit, since it depends on the age of the plant and the climatic conditions in which it is grown. So, in the first year, they begin to store the plant from August, in subsequent years, the tarragon collection time shifts to May-June and continues until October.

Collection is recommended in warm, dry weather. The stems of the plant are carefully cut with a sharp knife, leaving a length of 15-20 cm from the roots. From 1 m of tarragon seedlings, up to 2 kg of vegetable raw materials can be collected per season.

Before harvesting for the winter, you should carefully examine the parts of the plant for damage and insects. Affected by pests, dry or old tarragon leaves should be thrown away immediately, leaving only juicy and healthy ones.

How to save tarragon for the winter

You can enjoy the unique gastronomic properties of tarragon not only in summer, but also in winter, if you properly prepare the plant. Depending on the purpose of further use, tarragon can be frozen, boiled in the form of jam or prepared as a healthy natural syrup.

Freezing of tarragon is carried out fresh. For this:

1. The leaves and stems of the plant are inspected, damaged ones are disposed of and washed in cold water.
2. After that, the tarragon is allowed to dry, finely chopped and laid out in bags.
3. Packets are placed in the freezer.

In this way, not only tarragon is harvested, but also many other spices. The shelf life of frozen tarragon is 12 months.

A rather exotic option for harvesting tarragon for the winter is making syrup:

1. Vegetable raw materials are washed, the leaves are separated from the stems and finely chopped.
2. Pour tarragon with cold water in a ratio of 1:3.
3. 1 lemon cut into slices and added to the greens.
4. The pot with the workpiece is placed in a water bath and boiled over low heat for 1 hour.
5. Cake is squeezed out of the resulting mixture, the liquid is filtered.
6. Add 3 tbsp. l. sugar and 1 tsp. citric acid.
7. Continue to cook over low heat until thickened.
8. The finished syrup is poured into glass containers, tightly twisted and cleaned in a cool dark place.

Homemade tarragon syrup makes a wonderful topping for confectionery or ice cream, you can add it to coffee and mulled wine or make a refreshing vitamin drink with it by diluting a few tablespoons in sparkling water.

Sweet lovers will love tarragon jam:

1. The washed raw material is cut, then crushed by hand or with a mallet until the plant releases juice.
2. Then tarragon is poured into 1 liter of boiling water, covered with a lid and left in a warm place for 10-12 hours.
3. Next, 1 kg of sugar is poured into the mixture and boiled over low heat for 2-3 hours, waiting for the jam to thicken.
4. The finished product is poured into glass containers and sealed tightly.

How to dry tarragon for the winter

Drying is considered the easiest way to harvest tarragon, which can be carried out without any hassle even in urban conditions. In order for tarragon to retain its beneficial properties and aroma for a long time, they act as follows:

1. The stems of the plant are cut, damaged leaves are removed and thoroughly washed in running water.
2. Finely chop vegetable raw materials and lay out on a newspaper in a thin even layer.
3. Then the tarragon is left to dry in a bright room with good ventilation, not exposed to direct sunlight.
4. When the grass is completely dry, it is carefully poured into a glass container and hermetically sealed with a lid.

In this form, tarragon can be stored for 12 to 24 months without fear that it will lose its taste.

Conclusion

As you can see, growing and caring for tarragon in the open field, as well as at home, is not difficult. Subject to the recommendations, even not the most experienced gardeners will be able to acquire this plant at home, and it will delight the owners with its appearance and aroma for a long time.