Botanical name: Melissa.

Melissa plant - family . Lamiaceae.

Origin. Mediterranean.

Description – perennial, in which the entire above-ground part dies off when frost occurs, and in the spring the plant begins to grow again from the underground root. The stems are erect, branched, and covered with pubescence. The leaves are arranged oppositely, oblong-oval or lanceolate, up to 7 cm long, with pronounced veins, green, also covered with delicate pubescence, and when damaged they emit a very pleasant mint or lemon aroma. The edges sheet plates have small nicks. IN summer months small inconspicuous flowers appear in the axils of the leaves - white or lilac, male and female. There are attractive variegated forms of the plant.

Height. 70 - 150 cm, grows quickly.

Melissa growing

Temperature conditions . During the growing season it carries wide range temperature conditions, and in the winter months it needs a cool rest period at a temperature of 5 - 7 ° C, but not higher than 10 ° C.

Melissa at home - lighting . Indoor lemon balm does not like direct sunlight and is preferable to growing in partial shade.

Caring for lemon balm at home . Unpretentious and very useful plant. Melissa needs to be pruned 2 - 3 times during growing season to give a beautiful compact shape, it tolerates pruning easily. Flowers from indoor plants are usually removed to prevent the formation of seeds that germinate when they fall into the soil.

Soil for lemon balm in a pot . The plant feels great in any soil, tolerates even poor nutrients substrates with good drainage.

Melissa on the windowsill - feeding . Feed monthly during the growing season with water-soluble fertilizer.

Purpose. Melissa leaves have a very pleasant aroma and they are used for preparing all kinds of dishes and for refreshing drinks; it is better to collect them before flowering.

Flowering time. From June to August, but flowering is not of particular interest.

Air humidity . In spring and summer, if the indoor air becomes too dry, you can increase the humidity using a room humidifier or by placing the plant on a tray with damp pebbles. It is not advisable to spray.

Soil moisture . Watering should be plentiful during the growing season; it is better to use bottom watering, immersing the pot with the plant in a large container of water for several minutes and allowing excess moisture drain. IN winter period dormancy, the soil is simply protected from complete drying out.

Transfer. Replant annually, in a larger pot, in the spring.

Melissa is very convenient to grow as a potted crop. At home, the bushes will not grow as tall as in the summer in the garden, but at the same time they will be very bushy and lush. Melissa is usually added to meat dishes, soups, salads and various drinks. For this, leaves and young shoots with a rich lemon-mint taste are used.

Success in growing lemon balm directly depends on the quality of the soil ( a good option: 2 parts coconut fiber mixed with 1 part vermicompost), timely watering (ample in summer and moderate in winter; avoid waterlogging the soil, as diseases may develop) and sufficient sunlight (best grown on a windowsill).

This perennial plant can be planted in pots at any time of the year (preferably in spring). In winter, lemon balm bushes are best illuminated with fluorescent lamps. In this case, the greens will be more juicy and fragrant. If this is not done, the bush will also produce growth, but its leaves will be faded, and it will be less bushy.

The quality of lemon balm leaves is directly affected by regular, abundant watering and sufficient air humidity. Water young plants, preferably by spraying them with a spray bottle. Melissa is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and dividing the bush. Optimal temperature for the growth and development of this crop is from +18 to +20 C.

To ensure that the lemon balm bush grows on your windowsill for as long as possible, do not neglect applying fertilizing 1-2 times a month (1 tsp of Agrolife is applied to the top layer of soil; 1 cap of Rosta is diluted in 2 liters of water and the lemon balm bushes are watered with this solution; bedding vermicompost in pots with lemon balm).

Most long haul- growing lemon balm from seeds. However, this method also has its advantages - it is easier to find seed and the resulting bushes are more durable.

Melissa seeds are pickled in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours. After this, they are planted in prepared moist soil with drainage (2-3 cm layer of expanded clay at the bottom of the planting container) to a depth of 5-10 mm. You can plant both in general large containers (in the future you will definitely need picking), or directly into a separate container (if small size later replanting into a larger container will be required). The plantings are covered with cellophane film.

When the sprouts have 3-4 true leaves, they are transplanted into individual permanent pots with a volume of 1-2 liters. The minimum height of such a pot should be 15 cm.

Already 7 weeks after sowing it will be possible to harvest the first harvest. To do this, the upper young shoots are cut off.

It is very convenient to grow lemon balm by layering, but for this you (or your friends) must have an adult bush of this plant. You can root shoots directly on the bush. This must be done before the flowering period begins. To do this, shoots 10-15 cm long are bent to the ground and secured there with wire, staples, etc. They are sprinkled with earth on top. After some time (several weeks), roots will begin to form on the buried nodes. Using pruners, we cut off the rooted part from the mother bush and transplant it into separate pot. The container with the young plant is placed in the shade for several days, after which it is transferred to the windowsill.

If lemon balm grows at your dacha, in the spring, when new shoots begin to grow, dig up one plant, shake off the soil from its roots and carefully divide (by cutting) the large bush into several small ones. Each of the newly formed bushes should have several shoots with buds. Plant each of them in a suitable sized pot with drainage and soil. Melissa transplanted in this way will gain strength within 3-4 weeks and you can begin to collect the growing fragrant leaves.

This crop is often grown from cuttings. To do this, you should buy a bunch of lemon balm in a supermarket or bazaar, cut off the upper parts of the shoots from it and put them in a container with water for rooting. This process will take about a week and a half, then the rooted cuttings can be planted in pots. After planting, the pots are transferred to the shade for several days. Already 2-4 weeks after planting, you can begin to collect the first fragrant leaves of fragrant greenery.

Mint is propagated vegetatively. In the first half of autumn, cuttings are cut or a mint bush with roots and a lump of earth is dug up. This lump must be cut with a knife so that 2-3 shoots with roots or buds remain in each lobe. The divided parts or cuttings should be planted in pots with a diameter of about 10 cm.

Drainage is placed at the bottom of the container, and then a moistened mixture of part of the garden soil or two parts of humus is poured. The roots of the plants should be in the ground, and the above-ground part should be cut at a height of 5 cm above the surface.

To speed up the process of leaf regrowth, planted mint is placed as close to the light as possible.

Plants must be watered regularly with settled water. room temperature. It is advisable that it is constantly in the tray, since mint prefers air with a humidity of about 80%. It is also useful to periodically spray the leaves.

When the mint takes root and the leaves begin to grow, you can fertilize once with a urea solution (1-2 g of urea per 1 liter of water). As a rule, the plant is fed at the end of September. In winter, fertilizing is not carried out; it is resumed in February, when the sun appears.

How to grow lemon balm

Melissa seeds are needed for seedlings in early March. To do this, place dry seeds in a container with a ready-made soil mixture (one part each of peat, turf soil and humus) in grooves 0.5 cm deep and water warm water. Before emergence, the soil needs to be sprayed every other day. Shoots appear in 8-10 days.

Seedlings should be planted between April 25 and May 5. Plant the plants at a distance of 12 cm from one another. Water lemon balm 3 times a week. When the plants reach 20-25 cm in height and buds appear, they should be pinched to prevent flowering. This will increase lateral branching, and summer period greens can be cut 2-3 times.

When the plant reaches a height of 40-50 cm, it is cut off along with the stem, leaving 10 cm. Thus, the splendor of the lemon balm bush will be increased several times.

Melissa is not afraid of cold weather, so it can be left on the loggia or balcony until late autumn cold. The rest continues. At the same time, in every flower pot together with clods of earth, 1-2 plants are placed from the box. The plant does not need fertilizing. For this purpose, you can use sleeping tea and an infusion of eggshells for watering.

Melissa is well suited for growing in pots as a houseplant. Bushes in room conditions They do not grow tall (unlike street bushes), and with systematic pruning of young shoots, lemon balm bushes well and pleases the eye with its splendor. Fresh leaves and young shoots with a mint-lemon flavor are used for food in the preparation of salads, soups, meat dishes, and drinks.

For successful cultivation lemon balm on the windowsill requires a sunny place on the windowsill, abundant watering and a high-quality substrate.

Melissa can be planted in pots for growing on a windowsill at any time of the year. Although it is preferable to plant it in the spring, since caring for the plant in this case is simple and requires minimal costs, and to please your lush greenery the bush will last for 3-4 years in a row (melissa is a perennial plant). Next, the bush is renewed and transplanted into a pot with new (fresh) soil.

adult lemon balm bush in a pot on the windowsill

In winter, lemon balm will not go to waste without additional lighting. The bushes will produce green growth, although they will not be as lush and lighter in color.

The quality of lemon balm leaves (their delicate and juicy taste) depends on the quality of watering (should be plentiful) and sufficient air humidity (systematic spraying with water from a spray bottle).

Melissa propagation.

Melissa is propagated by dividing the bush, layering, cuttings, and seeds.

Dividing the bush You can propagate lemon balm to grow it in a pot on a windowsill if you have lemon balm growing in your garden at your dacha.

This procedure is best done in the spring, when the regrowth of green shoots is just beginning. Dig up an overwintered lemon balm bush, shake off the roots from the soil and carefully cut the bush into several smaller bushes.

Thick rhizomes are cut into pieces so that each part has several (at least one) shoots with buds. In a couple of weeks, the bush will gain strength and the new young shoots that have grown will be ready for consumption.

Propagate lemon balm by layering It’s convenient for growing in a pot if you have an adult lemon balm bush, but you don’t want to dig it up for some reason. In this case, the shoots are rooted directly on the bush. This procedure is best carried out in the first half of summer, before lemon balm begins to bloom.

Shoots that have reached a length of 10-15 cm are bent to the ground, fixed with a bracket or a small fork and covered with earth. After a few weeks, roots will form on the buried nodes pressed to the ground. We cut off a new young bush from an adult bush with pruning shears and transplant it into a pot. Place the pot in the shade for a couple of days. In a couple of weeks, new young shoots will begin to grow.

Melissa can be propagated from cuttings for growing it in pots if the first two methods are not suitable. We go to the market or supermarket, buy a bunch (of course fresh!) of lemon balm, cut off the top parts of the shoots and put them in water.

lemon balm cuttings

After 7-10 days, the rooted shoots can be planted in a pot. Place the pot in the shade for a couple of days. In 2-3 weeks, new young shoots will begin to appear.

Melissa propagates by seeds longer and more troublesome. But if you have patience, a bush grown from seeds will be more durable than bushes grown using the above methods.

propagation of lemon balm by seeds

Pickled seeds in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for several hours, planted to a depth of 0.5-1.0 cm. Cover the pot with cellophane until the first shoots appear in a warm room in 10-15 days.

preparing seeds for planting, soaking in a solution of potassium permanganate

Plant in well-moist soil, not forgetting about drainage.

Drainage when planting seeds is required (place a layer of expanded clay, 2-3 cm high, at the very bottom of the pot).

expanded clay-as-drainage

You can plant lemon balm immediately in large containers, or you can plant it in small containers (peat cups, disposable 100-gram cups) and then plant it in a permanent container.

container for planting seeds with subsequent picking

After a while, after 2-4 true leaves appear, lemon balm, planted in a small container, is planted in large (permanent) pots.

lemon balm shoots

4 weeks from sowing lemon balm seeds

Dive into pots (containers) with a volume of 1-2 liters.

The height of the pot should be at least 15 cm.

lemon balm pick

pickled lemon balm

6-7 weeks after sowing the seeds, it will be possible to pluck off the top young shoots of the lemon balm.

10 days after picking lemon balm

lemon balm 7 weeks from planting seeds

Caring for lemon balm on the windowsill.

To grow lemon balm in pots on the windowsill, it is better to choose a high-quality (fertile) earthen substrate. It’s good if it is a mixture of vermicompost and coconut fiber (1 part vermicompost and 2 parts coco fiber).

prepare the substrate - 1 part vermicompost and 2 parts coco fiber

Melissa is a light-loving plant. It is advisable to choose a sunny window sill for it. Although the bush does not die if there is a lack of light, it slows down a little in development and the dark green color of the leaves turns into light green.

Melissa is a moisture-loving plant. Water it systematically and abundantly, especially in the summer. In winter (on cloudy days), watering is switched to moderate. Overmoistening the soil without sunlight can lead to lemon balm diseases such as powdery mildew. Stagnation of water in the soil will also be detrimental to it. The bush gets sick and dies. Therefore, drainage when planting a bush is required.

Melissa is sensitive to air humidity, especially in summer. Spray with a spray bottle every day, then the lemon balm leaf becomes juicier and more tender.

pruning lemon balm bush

increase in the number of shoots in lemon balm after pruning

Frequent pruning is good for lemon balm.

the more scraps, the more luxuriant bush lemon balm

Do not spare the bush; the more you pluck off the young shoots, the more the lemon balm will bush. Systematic pruning of young shoots delays the flowering time of the bush as much as possible (when flowering, the lemon balm leaf becomes coarser).

The optimal temperature for the growth and development of lemon balm is 18-20˚C. Melissa tolerates both low temperatures and heat. Although for the quality of the leaf (juiciness and tenderness) heat is more destructive than coolness. It grows well on glazed balconies and verandas. Tolerates temperature drops to +5 - +10 ˚С painlessly.

fertilizer ROST concentrate

agrolife in growing seedlings

To make the bush last as long as possible, do not forget about fertilizing. Try to feed it once or twice a month (a teaspoon of Agrolife in the top layer of soil, or watering with Rostom - 1 capful per 2 liters of water, or adding vermicompost to the pot once a month).

Modest forest dweller middle zone Melissa, popularly known as lemon balm, honey honey, bee grass - a fairly well-known crop. The greenery of its leaves and shoots with a refreshing lemon aroma is widely used as a savory seasoning for preparing a variety of dishes, preserving vegetables and adding a special aroma to liqueurs and drinks, and a cup of tea brewed with lemon balm is an incomparable pleasure. Beneficial features plants have been used for many years folk medicine for the treatment of many diseases, and lemon balm is also included in many well-known medicines.

Due to its ease of care, lemon balm is perfectly suited for cultivation in open ground, so you can grow healthy and aromatic herbs yourself at personal plot. Some useful recommendations will help you avoid common mistakes and get an excellent harvest.

Processing the area for planting

IN natural conditions lemon balm settles along forest edges and slopes of shady ravines, therefore, on a personal plot for its cultivation, a place should be allocated in partial shade near outbuildings or under the crowns fruit trees. The best soils for it are loose, humus-rich loams or sandy loams with a pH value from 4.5 to 7.8.

At the end of autumn, the plot is carefully dug up, combining mechanical processing with weeding and moderately filling the soil mineral fertilizers and organics. If the soil on the site is too heavy, it is recommended to add several buckets of river sand during digging.

In the spring, when the snow has completely melted and the soil has warmed up well, low ridges are formed, carefully loosening the soil with a rake and breaking up large clods of earth.

Growing lemon balm from seeds

The seed method of growing lemon balm is the most labor-intensive and at the same time the most effective of all existing ones. Bushes from seeds grow more powerful and viable, and are resistant to adverse climatic influences. Seeds can be sown directly into the ground or seedlings can be grown from them for subsequent transplanting into a garden bed.

The sowing of lemon balm seeds for seedlings begins in the second half of March. A low plastic container is suitable as a planting container, and the soil for planting can be taken from the bed where you subsequently plan to transfer the grown bushes. Important! Garden soil must be disinfected before planting - kept in a hot oven or spilled hot water. If using a purchased soil mixture heat treatment not required. Sowing work is carried out in the following sequence:

• The prepared soil is poured into the container, lightly compacted with your hands and watered moderately.
• On the surface of the substrate, grooves about 1 cm deep are formed, into which small lemon balm seeds are sown at intervals of 5-7 cm.
• The crops are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil, and the container is covered with cling film and placed on a warm, well-lit windowsill.
• Melissa takes a long time to germinate – up to 20 days. During this time, the greenhouse is regularly ventilated, the surface of the substrate is moistened with a spray bottle and drops of condensate are removed from the film.
• After the emergence of seedlings, excessively dense plantings are thinned out and the seedlings are fed with nitrogen fertilizer for better development.
• Melissa seedlings will be ready to be transferred to the garden bed in 40-45 days. Transplantation is carried out according to the following scheme: the distance between the bushes is about 40-50 cm with a row spacing of 55-65 cm.

When dry sowing seeds Melissas follow the following order:

• First of all, it is necessary to mark the sowing sites so that during germination very thin shoots do not get lost among the weeds. For the same purpose, lemon balm seeds can be mixed with seeds of early ripening crops (radish, lettuce).
• Before starting work, the surface of the bed is loosened and watered abundantly.
• Seeds are sown in furrows 1-2 cm deep at a distance of 40-45 cm from each other, completely covering the crops with a layer of old peat or humus. The optimal row spacing is about 60 cm.

In the first year of life, lemon balm grown from seeds adapts to new conditions and blooms extremely rarely, but in the next season it blooms profusely and for a long time.

Other breeding methods

If lemon balm is already growing on the site, you can expand the “plantation” of fragrant grass using the following methods:

• Dividing an adult plant– the most powerful bush, which has reached the age of 3-5 years, is dug up, the roots are shaken off the ground, and then divided into several parts. Important condition– each new plant should have several young shoots with buds. The cuttings are planted in shallow holes and watered abundantly. Best time for the procedure - mid-spring or late summer.
• By layering– several young shoots 10-15 cm long are bent to the ground and fixed in any convenient way. The contact area is sprinkled with a layer of soil and moistened abundantly. After 2-3 weeks, when the cuttings have taken root, they are cut off from the mother bush with a sharp knife or pruning shears and planted in a permanent place.
• Root cuttings– not the most popular, but effective method. Before the growing season begins, an adult lemon balm bush is dug up. Using a sharp knife, cut out several pieces of roots about 10 cm long, which are placed in moist soil. After planting, adventitious buds actively develop on the root cuttings, due to which young shoots appear in a few weeks. The mother bush is planted in its original place, where it will continue to grow.

Features of care

Many gardeners mistakenly believe that after planting, lemon balm can grow like a weed without needing care. However, an undemanding culture for wellness still needs several basic activities:

• Timely and competent watering - in hot weather, lemon balm is watered every two days, in cool, cloudy weather - twice a week. Stagnation of excess moisture leads to rotting of the roots, so waterlogging should be avoided.
• One-time feeding - every spring at the beginning of the growing season, apply a bucket of mullein solution with the addition of nitrogen fertilizer. In the future, to maintain the nutritional value of the soil and preserve moisture, the root zone of the plants is mulched with humus or old peat.
• Every 3-5 years, the bushes are rejuvenated by division, otherwise the lemon balm leaves become coarser and smaller, and the plant’s yield gradually decreases.
• To protect lemon balm from winter freezing, at the end of autumn it is hilled up high, having previously been cut off. aboveground part, after which they cover with a layer of fallen leaves.

With proper care, lemon balm actively increases the vegetative mass and blooms profusely.