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An original spice, a cure for many ailments, an air purifier and just a beautiful ornamental bush with delicate flowers – this is rosemary, the cultivation of which at home has always been very popular. The main feature of this Mediterranean plant is that its greenery, like needles, releases phytoncides that destroy pathogenic bacteria and purify the air. Cooks use it as a seasoning for meat, sauces, desserts. Despite the fact that the plant is quite whimsical, if you create the right conditions, you can grow rosemary on the windowsill at any time of the year.
How to provide comfortable conditions
If the conditions of maintenance and care of the plant do not meet the requirements, it degenerates, or stretches too much. Of the several types of rosemary, only the medicinal variety (fragrant) is suitable for growing in an apartment. The ideal place for the culture to grow is a winter garden, but at home it can be grown in a container or flower pot.
If you decide to plant a spice in an apartment, choose a bright room for this – light plays a big role in crown formation. Rosemary in a pot can grow excessively and eventually turn into a real tree. To grow a compact and healthy plant, it needs to be repotted every 1-2 years, while removing single roots and shoots. Before transplanting the bush, it is necessary to completely replace the soil in the pot and apply a little potash fertilizer.
Rosemary is very sensitive to moisture. Sometimes it happens that at room conditions the plant begins to hurt: a spider mite or a white coating appears on it. The appearance of a tick indicates that the air in the room is too dry. To prevent the appearance of pests, rosemary should be periodically taken out to fresh air, and regularly sprayed greens. In case of significant damage, insecticide treatment is carried out.
If white spots appear on the leaves and stems, this means that the humidity of the soil or air is excessively high. In this case, care consists in placing the plant in a warm sunny place and temporarily reducing watering.
Despite the capriciousness and difficulty in care, rosemary gets along well with other plants. It can even be planted in one container with parsley, dill, thyme, basil, laurel. Such a composition will become a real fragrant decoration in the house.
Video “What you need to know”
Informative video with helpful tips.
Temperature conditions
Rosemary loves warmth and light. For the normal growth of an adult plant at home, it is necessary to maintain a temperature in the range of 15-25 ° C, and avoid sudden changes in temperature. If the plant is placed on the windowsill, the window should be opened as little as possible, or the pot should be removed for the time of airing, as a sharp change in temperature can lead to leaf fall.
Although rosemary is a thermophilic plant, it easily tolerates low temperatures. In autumn, the spice can be grown on the balcony, but the temperature should not be lower than 12 ° C. However, a lower degree will also not harm the plant, but on the contrary, it will activate flowering and shoot growth. Paradoxical as it sounds, but in order to make the shrub bloom at home, it must be placed in a cool room for a while.
soil and pot
To grow a spicy bush in an apartment, it is necessary, first of all, to choose the right pot. Given the significant branching of the roots of the plant, the container must be chosen spacious (wide), medium in size (15-20 cm in diameter), made of porous natural material, since the roots must “breathe”. An ideal option in this case would be a clay flower pot. Rosemary is planted in specially prepared soil. Land for plants should be loose, permeable, with neutral or slightly alkaline acidity. The most suitable is already processed gravel mixture based on lime, which can be purchased at a flower shop.
If a “universal” soil mixture is used to grow spices, then peat and sand must be added to it. The soil for planting rosemary can also be prepared at home on your own. To do this, mix the following components: sheet soil (2 parts), soddy land cleared of roots (2 hours), river sand (1 hour), peat (1 hour), humus (1 hour). Before planting the plants, the prepared soil must be well moistened.
Lighting and care
Light for rosemary is extremely important. It belongs to those plants that feel more comfortable in direct sunlight than in partial shade. In winter, it is better to put a pot of spice on the windowsill of a south-facing window. In summer, the bush should be taken out to the balcony or veranda, as he loves fresh air no less than light and warmth.
To grow rosemary at home in winter, you need additional lighting at least once a day. Experienced gardeners say that the intensity of the aroma of rosemary directly depends on the light: the more light hits the plant, the more fragrant its aroma. The main care for rosemary is timely and regular watering. Moreover, it is very important to determine the measure, or the line between waterlogging and drying out of the soil. Thanks to a well-developed root system, the plant tolerates a short drought well. In turn, excessive soil moisture can lead to leaf fall, root rot, and, as a result, the death of the plant.
In the cold season, watering rosemary is carried out 1 time / 3 days. In summer, the soil dries faster, and watering should be increased to 5 times / week. At temperatures above 25 ° C, watering and spraying foliage is carried out daily. In addition to watering, caring for rosemary involves fertilizing. During the period of intensive growth, the plant needs to be fed with organic matter or mineral mixtures 1 time / 2 weeks, in winter fertilizers are applied 1 time / 1-1,5 months.
How to propagate rosemary
Rosemary is propagated in two ways: cuttings and planting seeds. The first method is preferable, since rosemary seeds do not have good germination – out of 10 planted seeds, only 1-2 germinate, and growing a bush from a cutting is easier, faster, and it is easier to take care of the sprouts. Young annual shoots are used as cuttings. The cut branch must be placed in a special solution that disinfects and stimulates the growth of roots. After 2-3 weeks, the roots will germinate, and after that they are planted in the prepared soil. Further care is carried out as for an adult plant.
Planting from seeds is a more troublesome task, since in this case a preparatory stage, patience and more serious care are required. Seed preparation consists in soaking the seed for several days, then they need to be spread out on the surface and moistened with a spray bottle for a few more days. Next, punctures are made in the seed film for air flow. Then the prepared seeds are planted in the soil to a depth of 1-2 cm. If the preparation is carried out correctly, shoots will appear in about 2 weeks.
Video “Plant care”
Demonstrative video about rosemary.
