We grow rosemary on the window in the apartment

Due to their wonderful aroma, rosemary sprigs have been used in cooking for several centuries for the preparation of many dishes. The substances contained in the spice plant improve mood and relieve stress. In addition, rosemary releases essential oils that kill disease-causing bacteria.

So why not have such useful and beautiful greenery in your apartment on the windowsill?

Unfortunately, this wonderful spicy heat-loving plant cannot withstand frosty winters. To preserve rosemary until spring, gardeners have to move it to an apartment and continue growing it indoors, and many end up leaving it at home on the windowsill.

Reproduction methodsrosemary

There are several ways to propagate rosemary to start growing it indoors:

• sow and grow from seeds;
• cut the cuttings and then root;
• buy ready-made bushes or young seedlings.

Naturally, the easiest way is to buy its seedlings and continue growing on the windowsill. But it is much more interesting to follow the growth of a spicy plant from scratch, especially in an apartment, where you can observe its complete formation. Plus, growing rosemary isn't that difficult.

However, it is worth knowing that rosemary is a perennial, and like all perennials, it grows very slowly in the initial period.

Video: growing straight greens on the windowsill - how to propagate rosemary by seeds and cuttings

What varieties of rosemary are suitable for growing in an apartment

At home, it is recommended to grow low-growing varieties of rosemary, such as Aromatic, Medicinal, Tenderness, Richard, Veshnyakovsky Semko.

The most popular variety of rosemary is Rosinka.

How to plant rosemary on a windowsill - features, conditions and step-by-step instructions

When growing rosemary on a windowsill, it is important to comply with all agrotechnical requirements. Only a bush growing in a favorable environment will serve as an interior decoration, a storehouse of nutrients and give a unique flavor to your dishes.

By the way! Rosemary is usually planted in the spring.

Growing place: light and temperature

Before acquiring a spicy plant, you need to familiarize yourself in advance with its requirements for growing conditions.

Temperature

The optimum temperature for growing rosemary at home in the summer is + 20 .... + 25 degrees.

But in the winter, it is better to provide the rosemary with a cool environment, preferably below 15 degrees (a range of 10-15 degrees is fine.

Important! In order for rosemary to bloom well, in winter, when maintaining a house, it needs coolness, and in some sources even a temperature of 5-10 degrees is indicated.

Illumination

In order for rosemary to form leaves more actively, a light-loving plant must be placed in winter on the southern (either southwestern or southeastern), western or eastern windowsill.

By the way! If you only have space on the northern windowsill, then there are simple techniques that increase the amount of sunlight entering the room. For example, slopes can be pasted over with mirrors or something shiny. Plus, you can always do backlight.

Indeed, in winter, one cannot do without supplementary lighting of room greens and vegetables. For this, of course, phytolamps are best suited, but more budgetary full-spectrum LED lamps are an excellent option. On short winter days, rosemary reacts gratefully to morning and evening lightings.

By the way! The pot must be periodically turned towards the light by one or the other side. In this way, deformation can be avoided when the plant bends to one side of the world, which often happens when growing light-loving plants on a windowsill.

In the summer, the container with rosemary is transferred to the balcony (loggia): they are simply taken out into the garden or planted on the site (if it has grown very much). And if you decide to leave a pot of spicy herbs on the south window, then you should definitely follow it with something shade from bright sunlight.

Grow pot

Due to the fact that the root system of rosemary is highly branched, the plant should be planted in spacious (preferably clay) pot. Optimal dimensions of the planting container: height 15-20 cm, width 25 cm.

Advice! Initially, it is better to sow the seeds in common containers, from where, when 1-2 true leaves appear, dive into separate small containers. Then, as it grows, transfer to a permanent place in a large beautiful pot.

Do not forget to put a small layer of drainage (expanded clay, pebbles or vermiculite) at the bottom of the pot, and make holes through which excess water will flow into the pan.

What soil to plant (substrate)

It is most convenient to purchase a universal soil (and preferably for seedlings) in a garden store and then mix it with river sand or perlite (1/3 or 1/4) to make it looser.

Idea! You can add hydrogel to the potting mix so you don't have to water often in summer and winter.

Of course, garden soil can be used instead of purchased soil. The main condition is that the soil must be loose, moisture and air permeable.

Advice! Any land, even purchased land, is recommended decontaminatespilling a solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin... Alternatively, you can steam it in the oven or microwave.

Seed preparation

Rosemary seeds germinate very long and poorly: seedlings make their way to the surface only 2-4 weeks after sowing. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, it is advisable to pre-soak the seeds (so that they swell) for 1-2 days, remembering to maintain the moisture of napkins or cotton pads (the material in which you usually do this).

By the way! If it is written on a packet of seeds that they do not require any pre-planting preparation, then nothing needs to be done! Directly into the ground!

Preparation cuttings for planting, their germination

By the way! You can either cut the cuttings themselves in the garden, if you are already growing rosemary, or buy them in the supermarket or at the market (fresh), just be sure to trim the tip.

Cuttings required semi-lignified.

Preparation of rosemary cuttings for subsequent cultivation on the windowsill is carried out in the following sequence:

1. On a healthy bush, cut off the tops of young shoots 8-10 cm long.
2. Further, the lower part must be cleaned of foliage.
3. Place the cuttings in water for rooting.
4. When the roots appear (after about 2-3 weeks), you can transplant the cuttings into the ground.

Interesting! The author of the next video plants the cuttings directly into the ground.

Video: how to grow rosemary from cuttings at home (without germinating in water)

Direct planting: sowing seeds and further rooting of cuttings

Rosemary is sown as follows:

• The common containers were filled with soil.
• The seeds were spread evenly over the wet substrate.
• Moistened from a spray bottle and that's it!

Important! It is not necessary to cover with earth! Even 0.5 cm.

• Next, the container with crops is covered with glass or foil. And then they put it in a warm place, where the temperature is kept around +25 degrees.

Lighting does not matter at this stage, so you can put the container in a dark place, for example, on a cabinet or refrigerator.

• As soon as the seedlings hatch, the film is removed from the planting container and quickly rearranged to a bright (even bright) and cooler place (18-20 degrees).

Video: how to plant rosemary from seeds - 4 secrets of successful germination

Planting germinatedcuttings rosemary at home is carried out as follows:

• Bury the stalk into damp ground (3 centimeters).
• Drizzle.
• Cover with a bag on top.

And do not forget to make small holes in the mini-greenhouse so that fresh air still flows to the handle. Or just open it periodically for a few minutes.

• Place in a warm and bright place.
• As soon as new leaves begin to appear, gradually remove the shelter (after 3-5 weeks).
• Pinch the top so that the side branches begin to grow.

Video: how to grow rosemary from cuttings

How to care for rosemary after planting and before harvest

So, what's next for rosemary to grow normally at home?

Note! If the rosemary stands in a draft, it can throw off the leaves.

Watering

The substrate in the pot must be constantly moist, but never wet.It is better to underfill the rosemary and allow the soil to dry out for a short time (the plant is southern, which means it is drought-resistant) than to turn the soil mixture into a swamp. In other words, when watering a plant, you need to adhere to the golden mean. For rosemary, prolonged dampness or excessive drought is extremely undesirable: in the first case, the roots will begin to rot and the plant will die, in the second, the leaves will turn yellow and fall off, after which the rosemary will dry out.

Watering should only be done with room temperature water that has settled for 1 day.

During flowering and in winter, the amount of watering is reduced to a minimum. However, it is important to keep an eye on humidity in winter when the batteries dry the air. But in the summer you need to water abundantly (at least 2 times a week).

At first, when rosemary is only gaining green mass, it should be sprayed periodically. But an adult plant is not necessary.

Top dressing

It makes sense to fertilize rosemary only in the initial period of growth - a couple of times at intervals of a month. Liquid mineral fertilizers can be used as top dressing.

Alternatively, you can feed with honey water (1 teaspoon per 0.5 liter of water).

Idea! Buy good fertile soil, which includes humus, compost or vermicompost, and then you will not have to apply any fertilizers to the soil.

Transfer

You need to transplant young rosemary once a year, preferably in the spring (around April). And over the age of 5 years - once every 3-4 years, while it is desirable to change the topsoil annually.

The transplant is carried out by the transshipment method:

1. The plant, together with the earthen lump, is taken out of the old pot, and shortly before that it is spilled abundantly so that the earthen lump can be conveniently reached (so that it does not crumble).
2. They transfer it into a new pot and fill up the missing soil, tamp it slightly and water it.

Trimming (pinching)

In rosemary, it is necessary to periodically trim the shoots, thereby forming a bush, giving it the desired shape.

Cutting stimulates the plant to grow actively, as a result of which the rosemary grows many new shoots and becomes more lush and beautiful.

Important! Rosemary will tolerate pruning well if 2/3 of young shoots remain. But pruning to old wood makes the plant weak and vulnerable, it can start to hurt.

The pruned twigs can be used for food or for cooking.

By the way! Over time, the potted rosemary can be shaped into a small tree (bonsai).

Diseases and pests

Unfortunately, rosemary is very popular spider mites (especially when the air in the room is dry) and aphids... At home, in order to get rid of pests, it is advisable to use exactly biological products (such as phytoverm). In general, tobacco dust perfectly drives away harmful insects.

By the way! Due to stagnant air and lack of ventilation, as well as too high humidity, powdery mildew can appear on rosemary.

Video: the whole truth about growing rosemary on a windowsill

Dates of emergence and harvest of rosemary

Provided that optimal conditions are created, seedlings appear only 2-4 weeks after sowing.

Naturally, the cuttings take root much faster.

But toharvesting fragrant plant can not be started soon.

• Rosemary from seeds takes about a year to grow, i.e. you will get a full harvest only next year.
• Therefore, it is much more practical to plant rosemary by cuttings, then you can harvest the harvest already this year.

And in order for the rosemary to bush faster, it is recommended not to forget to periodically pinch its top.

By the way! It is believed that using rosemary sprigs for seasoning is best during flowering, but this is not necessary.

The main thing when growing rosemary in an apartment on a windowsill is to create the right microclimate. For the care rendered, rosemary will certainly thank you with its beautiful appearance and aroma.

Video: rosemary in a pot - the difficulties of growing