Spring holidays are just around the corner, so it's time to prepare decorations that will decorate your home and give a festive spring mood to everyone who lives in it. Helps fill your home with a feeling of spring ornamental grass in pots.

Don't wait for fresh grass to appear outside, but grow it in flower pots. You will need at least a week for it to become nice, thick and quite tall.

Prepare interesting small and not too deep dishes - bowls or cups, baskets, you can even use washed halves of egg shells (placing them in cardboard egg packaging or special stands). You will also need soil, grass or cereal seeds (for example, lawn grass, herbs for cats, oats), a spray bottle and plastic film.

Fill these containers with soil and sprinkle the seeds thickly and evenly on top. Carefully moisten the surface with a spray bottle and cover with transparent plastic film. Place them on the window near the radiator - where it is light and warm. Irrigate the crops regularly and generously with water from a spray bottle.

After about 5 days, the seeds will begin to germinate. After 8 days, the grass or cereals should already reach a height of about 8 cm. Now irrigation with water from a spray bottle is no longer enough, start carefully watering the seedlings.

You can use grass or young crops of cereals as a basis for creating a festive atmosphere and spring mood. Place decorative paints or Easter eggs (made of plastic, foam, wood, or painted empty chicken or quail eggs), figures of chickens or bunnies, others small decorations that you would be pleased to see around you these days.

This is how you can decorate your house for Easter by placing flower pot with grass in a basket.

You can also grow grass in a cup - this looks great as an Easter decoration!

Another spring decoration- grass grown in eggshells.

Smile! Let it go good mood will always be in your heart and in your home!

Hello, lovers of natural products! Today I, Elena, will tell you about herbs on the windowsill, the cultivation of which will make your winter diet even healthier.

A special need for greenery is felt in the spring, and it is at this time, with increasing daylight hours, that it is easiest to grow it. Some plants are not so whimsical and can grow on a windowsill all year round.

As children, we always stored molehill soil for the winter. Light and airy, without extra roots and pest larvae, it is excellent for seedlings.

The mole unerringly chooses good land to live in. It throws soil to the surface from a depth of up to 40 cm - as a rule, this is fertile soil, which is especially valued by owners of clay areas. Mole soil does not need to be treated with anything other than the disinfecting phytosporin.

If it is not possible to get this nutritious soil, soil for indoor plants. If you use ordinary soil from the garden, it must first be calcined in the oven and mixed with soil for indoor plants (to avoid strong acidification).

Choosing the right container

Most crops grow best in long seedling boxes. Some herbs (like watercress) don't require much space and any available container will do. Onions are often grown in cake containers, and sometimes even in plastic bottles, turning them into multi-story houses.

Choosing planting material

The best seeds, as you know, grow in their own area. However, not all of them are suitable for window growing, because early varieties are preferred for indoor greenery. In this case, it is advisable to go to a specialized store or online.

What plants should be grown on the window?

Bow on feather

Onions are one of the most unpretentious crops. It can be grown not only in the ground, but also in water (so that there is no rotting and unpleasant odor, the water needs to be changed frequently).

Landing: To quickly obtain greenery, the tops of the plant are cut off, as can be seen in the photo. Some also remove the husks. The feather grows well from both large onion sets and turnip bulbs. And in the spring as usual grocery store You can pick up already sprouted bulbs - this will yield a green harvest even faster.

Care: Onions are not afraid of cold or draft. It requires moderate watering.

Harvesting: Cut feathers little by little (2 - 3 pieces) from each plant as soon as they reach about 10 cm in height.

Watercress

Another simple and useful culture, which will help you recharge with vitamins in just a couple of weeks.

Sowing: Seeds are planted 1 cm deep in watered, loose soil. Growing in a damp cloth is also practiced, but in this case timely watering is required. Shoots appear on the third day. Harvest when the grass reaches 5 cm in height.

Care: The plant tolerates shade and cold well. You can even grow it on northern windows. It likes regular watering and loosening, but fertilizing should not be done, because too little time passes from planting to ripening, and substances we do not need accumulate in the plants.

Harvesting: For an uninterrupted supply of greens to the table, it is better to plant 2 boxes with a difference of 10 days: in one of them the cutting will be done, and in the other the greens will be renewed.

Leaf mustard

It is also very easy to grow.

Sowing: For planting, you need a container with a depth of 10 cm. The pot must be provided with drainage from special pebbles, and it is advisable to mix the soil with coconut fiber in a 1:2 ratio (but hardly anyone follows this recommendation).

Care: Mustard tolerates temperatures well up to +10, so it can easily live on a balcony in the fall or on a cool windowsill in winter. On the contrary, she does not like heat from +20 and goes into the arrow.

You can delay bolting by thickening the planting as much as possible. On cloudy days it is advisable to use additional lighting. The plant likes to be sprayed with water and moderate (especially in winter) watering. If ordinary street soil is taken for sowing, then in the phase of 2–4 true mustard leaves it is advisable to feed the mustard with Rost or Agrolife.

Harvesting: About 3 weeks after sowing, the greens are harvested. After cutting, the bush can produce additional yields.

Leaf salad

This culture itself is quite capricious: it loves light and moisture, and with insufficient watering it acquires a bitter taste. But some varieties (Batavia, Lollo Rosa, Vitamin, New Year, etc.) can withstand high temperatures and short-term drought, and are therefore recommended for indoor gardening.

Sowing: For salad, select a container from 10 to 30 cm deep, always with a hole in the bottom and drainage. It is also advisable to add coconut fiber, humus, and sand to the soil. Seeds are placed in spilled soil to a depth of 0.5 cm, grooves are made at a distance of 10 cm from each other (or pots are used). Then the container is covered with film until the first shoots appear (4 – 5 days). It is better to place the container in the south or southeast.

Care: The salad does well at temperatures from 17 to 21 degrees. When it gets colder, it is better to remove it from the window. The recommended length of daylight for it is 12–14 hours, so on short winter days it will require lighting with fluorescent lamps.

The salad needs thinning. The first is carried out a week after emergence. Leave 2 cm between plants. The second time - in the phase of 2 true leaves - 4 - 5 cm between the bushes. Since the growing season of lettuce is short, it is not recommended to use fertilizer with a high content of nitrogen or iodine.

Harvesting: Greens are cut off gradually, starting from the outer leaves. When the arrows appear (this is approximately 4 weeks after sowing), the bush is removed and a new one is planted in its place. To obtain a continuous harvest, it is recommended to sow every 10 days.

Basil

A tasty and easy-to-use seasoning will turn the kitchen into a branch of the apothecary’s garden, especially if you sow plants of different colors. It is worth considering that green bushes grow faster than purple ones, and they are considered champions in early ripening low-growing varieties.

Sowing: Basil grows well not only from seeds, but also from young shoots dug up in the garden. However, the first method is preferable: the harvest can be obtained over a long period of time. To speed up germination, the seeds can be soaked in warm water for a couple of days (the water needs to be changed every 12 hours), then kept in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 2 hours and dried on a cloth.

The requirements for containers and soil are the same as for lettuce. Sowing is done in moist and loose soil. Leave 1 – 2 cm between seeds. 1 – 2 cm of soil is poured on top, cover with film and put in a warm place until the first sprouts (about 2 weeks).

Care consists of regular watering in summer and moderate watering in winter. In the warm season, greens can be sprayed in the morning. Also, during the short daylight hours, the plant is illuminated for 12 hours. LED lamp, installed 20 cm from the pot.

Bushes grow well if you pinch them in a timely manner, that is, cut off the top leaves, leaving at least 4 below. This can be done for the first time after 6 true leaves appear. If you look closely, you can see in the photo how new leaves are forming in the axils of the lower leaves. Over time, side shoots of the bush will grow from them.

Harvesting: Greens are obtained as the plant grows.

Parsley

It is difficult to obtain a good harvest from seeds: greens grow slowly. It is much more convenient to stick a root from the garden into the pot. I'll tell you how to grow it in two ways.

Sowing: The easiest way to get greens at home is from the early varieties: Grandmother's Garden, Beads, Gloria, Astra, Ordinary Leaf, etc. To speed up germination, the seeds are soaked in water for several days, then treated with potassium permanganate.

A flower pot or seedling box is suitable as a container. Drainage is definitely needed, because parsley does not like excess moisture. The seeds are immersed in grooves half a centimeter deep, then covered with earth and lightly compacted. The pots covered with film are put in a warm place.

Planting rhizomes: Before the soil freezes, dig up roots up to 5 cm in length (for better survival, the greens are cut off). They are planted in a pre-disinfected box with a drainage layer at the bottom and put in a cool place until new leaves appear.

Harvesting: The first greens are cut when the branches reach 10 cm in height.

Dill

This plant feels good in the garden, but at home it is quite demanding in terms of lighting and temperature conditions. For beginners and those with shaded windows, it is better to try growing fragrant grass in spring or summer.

Sowing: For indoor breeding, it is better to choose early ripening varieties: Grenadier, Gribovsky. The seeds must be soaked in water for several hours and then kept in potassium permanganate. Only those seeds that sank during soaking are suitable for growing.

Dill is sown in seedling pots or peat pots and then moved to other containers. There should be drainage at the bottom, then sand, and upper layer must necessarily include fertile soil (special soil or a mixture of soil with peat and humus). The seeds are covered with earth, the pot is covered with film and put away in a bright and warm (+18 and above) place.

Care: Dill loves being sprayed with water. In autumn and winter, the plant must be illuminated in the morning. For this, a regular lamp mounted 50 cm above the pot will do. The duration of illumination is up to 5 hours if the plants live on the windowsill, and up to 15 if they are far from the window (but it is better not to do this with dill).

In addition, the plants need to be rotated so that all the bushes reach the sun, and at night they need to be put away in a cooler place. Twice a month dill is fed with mineral fertilizers. The best temperature for growing is approximately 16 - 20 degrees.

Harvesting: The ripening time of greens depends on the season and the care taken. It is recommended to sow a new batch every 10 days.

Thyme (thyme)

A beautiful and fragrant plant can be grown both in warm weather with a rest in winter, and all year round - subject to additional lighting. Seeds and cuttings are used as planting material.

Sowing: Thyme seeds have good germination. A container with a depth of 15 cm with a small drainage layer at the bottom is suitable for them. Several seeds are placed in moistened soil (it is most convenient to use a spray bottle), a layer of earth about 1 cm is poured on top and covered with film. If the lighting on the window is strong, it is recommended to slightly shade the container.

Propagation by cuttings: Leaves are removed from faded thyme branches and an oblique cut is made, after which they are placed in an opaque container with water. The roots will grow better if you add honey (1 teaspoon per liter of water) or Epin-Extra (two drops per glass) to the water. You can also plant a plant with roots in a pot, the main thing is to choose a container slightly wider than the clod, so that the bush has room to grow, but the soil does not turn sour.

Care: In nature, thyme grows in rock cracks, and therefore it does not need to be heavily moistened, but it also needs to be protected from drought. You can feed as you wish. 2 times per year: in early spring and after flowering, the thyme is cut off, leaving ⅓ of the woody shoot.

Harvesting: To use the leaves fresh, you can cut them off little by little throughout the year. Cut before flowering begins.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a perennial crop, so it will grow slowly in the first years. It propagates by seeds and cuttings, but you can purchase ready-made seedlings.

Sowing: It is best to grow low-growing varieties on the windowsill: Fragrant, Tenderness, Semko, Veshnyakovsky, Rosinka, Richard. It is best to sow in spring. At first you will need a small container. Rosemary likes loose soil, so the soil for seedlings (or garden soil) needs to be mixed with sand; if you forget to water, carefully add hydrogel to the mixture.

The seeds germinate poorly and take a long time. To speed things up, you can soak them in a damp cloth or cloth for a couple of days. They are then placed in damp soil and do not cover with soil. Place the container covered with glass or film in a dark place and wait 2 weeks for shoots to appear. After this, the container is moved to a bright and cool (18 - 20 degrees) place. Slightly grown plantings need to be replanted. Root system The plant is highly branched, so the optimal pot depth is 20 cm and width is 25.

Cuttings and planting: To obtain cuttings, select semi-lignified branches. The top is cut off at a height of 8–10 cm, the bottom is cleared of leaves and placed in water, where Kornevin and similar substances can be added. In a couple of weeks, the roots will appear, which means it’s time to plant them in the ground. The soil, prepared as indicated above, is moistened, the plant is buried 3 cm and covered with a film in the hole. You can remove the cover as soon as the first leaves grow (this will take about another month), preferably gradually.

Care: In the warm season, the bush feels good at 20 - 25 degrees, and in winter the temperature needs to be reduced to 15. But the plant needs more light even at this time, so it is advisable to place it on the south, south-east or south-west side, or install a light bulb nearby. From time to time it needs to be turned to form a uniform bush. In the summer, it is good to take the plant out onto the balcony or plant it on the plot.

Watering is required regularly, but in no case excessive. The soil must not be allowed to dry out. Water is only suitable if it has stood for 24 hours, at room temperature. In summer, water at least 2 times a week. In winter and during flowering, this should be done less often, but at the same time make sure that the soil does not dry out from the batteries. It is advisable to spray young shoots that are just growing green mass.

At the very beginning of growth, if the soil was not very fertile when planting, the plants can be fed with mineral fertilizers. Rosemary also loves honey - 1 teaspoon per liter of water.

Every year for the first 5 years, rosemary is transplanted into a larger pot. Then replanting is required every 3 years, but the top layer of soil must be changed.

Air stagnation or excess humidity indoors may cause powdery mildew, and too dry air contributes to the appearance spider mite and aphids. You can treat rosemary with Fitoverm or tobacco dust.

Harvesting: The aromatic seasoning is obtained during pruning of the plant. It is correct to leave at least ⅔ of the young shoots on the bush, otherwise the plant will weaken. Proper pruning, on the contrary, stimulates growth.

Lavrovishnya

Finally, I’ll tell you about one more good, although not herbaceous, seasoning. It's about about cherry laurel. While residents of the Krasnodar Territory pull it out like a weed, other Russians are forced to buy leaves in a store or bring them from the south. I once bought 2 rooted cuttings in Adler, and for several years in a row my parents plucked the fragrant seasoning directly from the pot.

Cherry laurel is propagated in three ways: cuttings, layering and seeds. The first one is the most difficult. It is much easier to grow a bush by layering: the branch is bent to the ground, buried, and after a while, when independent roots form in the mound, the young plant is separated from the mother plant. But to dwell in detail on vegetative propagation I will not use cherry laurel, because readers who will grow a bush on a windowsill are unlikely to live in southern latitudes and have access to bushes.

Sowing: Cherry laurel seeds are best planted immediately after harvest. If you don’t trust store-bought seeds, you can easily find fresh seeds at a planting material exchange club, which is organized in almost every gardening magazine. For sowing, choose a container that is not too deep. You can prepare the soil yourself from a mixture of garden soil and sand. The seeds are placed in moist soil 1 cm deep, then covered with glass and kept at a temperature of 16 - 18 degrees. In the phase of two true leaves, the plants are transplanted into individual pots.

Care: Bushes love warmth. Optimal temperature in the room for them - 20 - 22 degrees, but minor deviations will not hurt. In a hot room, it is advisable to spray with water at room temperature. Cherry laurel tolerates some shading calmly, but due to lack of light it begins to stretch out. Watering is needed regularly, but not excessively. In summer and spring more water is required, but in winter it is enough to water once every one and a half to two weeks. Excess moisture is easy to notice by the falling of the lower leaves.

If the leaves begin to shrink and turn pale, the plant needs feeding. For this you can use concentrated liquid fertilizer once a month. Also, for good growth, you need to periodically loosen the soil. Once a year, better in spring, the bush needs to be transplanted into a larger container. Once you reach 5 years of age, this can be done much less frequently. Holders personal plots can heal the plant by replanting it in open ground for the summer.

Harvesting: In the first year after sowing, cutting off the leaves will not work. In the future, you will have to extract little by little, so it is advisable to plant several bushes at once. As soon as they grow up, you can pinch them off periodically: cherry laurel tolerates pruning well. To form lush bush It is advisable to pinch the top of a very young (first 6 leaves) plant.

Afterword

I advise beginners to choose the first 3 plants from this list, and then move on to the rest. Beneficial features herbs will eventually inspire you to have a real garden all year round. Have a good harvest and see you again in your home!

Indoor mini-lawns in last years became fashionable floral decoration. Such a piece of nature looks harmonious in the interior of any style: it is beautiful, fresh, original, and, at the same time, unobtrusive.

Home lawns are arranged not only in pots, but also in spacious boxes, which are placed on window sills, stands, tables, etc. They are often grown in balcony flower boxes. And in a large room, such a plant structure can even be arranged on the floor. And not only as decoration - you can walk on the grass. There is nothing complicated about creating a miniature indoor lawn.

Container for growing home lawn

If you are not going to grow herbs in a purchased container such as a pot or box, but are planning to create a full-fledged, albeit small, lawn, you will have to make the foundation yourself. Arrange the right basis- do half the job. In principle, anyone can build a wide and long box with sides 25-30 cm high. But boards, plywood, and fiberboard are not suitable as materials for it - after all, the lawn will have to be watered, and wood absorbs moisture almost instantly. It is better to use sheets of plastic, polycarbonate, plexiglass, etc. The connection is simple, using a drill and screws, bolts, self-tapping screws, and other fasteners.

An important point - in fact, you will have to make not one, but two such boxes. Second, a little bigger size, will act as a tray to drain excess water from the first.

Place drainage on the bottom of the box: pebbles, expanded clay balls, etc. If you are not sure that the drain is clean, disinfect it. You can simply pour boiling water over it to kill bacteria. We either take the soil from the site or buy it ready-made in the store.

What to grow in an indoor lawn

Since the lawn will be placed in the room, it will not get as much sun. At least less than on the street. A group of shade-tolerant herbs is just for such a case. The seed packets indicate the location of the lawn (in the shade or in the sun). Mixtures often include fescue, ryegrass, thin bentgrass, white bentgrass, etc.

Very nice lawns are made from ophiopogon. It's grassy evergreen It grows quickly, forming low ornamental bushes that do not even require cutting.

Sowing is done as on - the seeds are scattered as evenly as possible on the soil surface, after which they are raked with a small rake or sprinkled with a 1-1.5 cm layer of soil.

If very little sun gets into the room, it is better to organize a home lawn with the help of ground covers that grow into green “mats”: ivy, fittonia, selaginella, nertera, etc.

How to care for an indoor lawn

You don't need to mow your home lawn often - given a little sun, the grass grows slowly. One haircut a month – not a lot of work. It is convenient to cut with garden scissors that have long handles. It’s good if you have an electric grass trimmer, with replaceable cutting (shearing) wire.

Watering, although infrequent, is always plentiful - so that the roots develop actively. But it should be remembered that oxygen must reach the roots, otherwise their rotting cannot be avoided. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out regular (2-3 times a month) aeration - pierce the soil in many places. In particularly hot weather or when indoor air is extremely dry (often in winter when the heating is on), it is advisable to spray the plants.

With proper care, a grassy home lawn can remain decorative for 3-4 years, after which the grasses are reseeded.

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Fresh spices are quite expensive in winter period and quickly deteriorate. Plan to grow herbs for winter.

Preparing to plant herbs
1. Find a sunny place, preferably near a south or west window. Often there is not enough light in winter from a north window for herbs to grow normally.
2. Prepare a pot or several pots suitable for the chosen location. Any new one bought at a flower shop or an old one will do. Choose the size according to the planned volume of the selected herbs.
3. Buy soil High Quality. Place 2-3 cm of gravel or expanded clay on the bottom of the pots, and fill the top with soil.
4. Buy herb seeds from trusted stores or a well-known trademark. It is advisable that their region of origin is close to yours. When purchasing, check the expiration date.
5. Water your herbs sufficient quantity water. Watering once a week will provide the herbs with the moisture they need and will not cause the roots to rot.

What herbs can you grow at home?
Most of the herbs growing in open ground, you can plant it at home. Choose herbs according to your own taste. The most commonly grown herbs are: basil, chives, peppermint, rosemary, oregano, cumin. All of these 6 herbs have already been tested for germination in indoor conditions. Oregano needs bright light more than any of these herbs. You can also grow: parsley, dill, tarragon, sage, lemon balm, cilantro, etc.

What can you do with these herbs?
Cooking various meat and fish dishes with herbs is the most famous method of using them. They are also added to various sauces, salads and soups. Many people drink teas and mojitos made from mint and lemon balm. Herbs can be easily frozen in the freezer in sealed bags.
Here are a few more ways you can use spices grown on your windowsill:
1. Bags or jars with aromatic mixtures, sachets.

Dry the cut aromatic herbs and mix to your liking. This aromatic mixture can be stored in jars or specially sewn cotton bags. Dried herbs can also be used in wreaths or bouquets throughout the home, creating a pleasant aroma.
2. Spiced vinegar or oil.

Vinegar prepared with spices is added to salads to give an extraordinary taste. In addition, such vinegar in a beautiful bottle can be an excellent gift.

Here are a few steps to prepare spiced vinegar or vegetable oil at home.
In a blender, combine 3/4 cup fresh herbs to taste with 1 cup oil or vinegar. Strain everything through a sieve. Place fresh or dried whole herbs into a clean bottle or jug. And fill with oil or vinegar. You can experiment with different herbs, different vinegars and oils.
Growing herbs indoors can be an excellent and exciting hobby for lovers of indoor plants and cooking.

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If you want to enjoy fresh herbs, then you don't have to wait summer season, it can be grown at your home.

Growing rules:

1. First you need to buy seeds. When you buy seeds at the store, pay attention to the expiration date. From several varieties, we choose the one that contains the word “Early” or “Early ripening”. For example, if ordinary dill is covered with greenery in about 40 days, “early” dill will delight us with foliage after 25 days.
2. Plant everything according to the instructions on the package.
3. The kitchen is well suited for a home garden; it is always warm and humid.
4. Greens always need large quantities bright sunlight, so in winter it is better to lay out “beds” on southern windows, in summer - on eastern and western ones.
5. We plant each herb in its own pot, with a layer of gravel or expanded clay on the bottom, and purchased soil on top. Never use regular garden soil! It dries out quickly and may contain pathogens.
6. Greens really don’t like too wet soil - it’s enough to water the herb pots once a week.

What herb seeds grow best on a windowsill?

On the windowsill it is best and easier to grow dill, kupir, salad mustard, gulavnik, lettuce, spinach and onions. And watercress can be planted by any homosapians, even a beginner from Mechurin. Onion lovers should give preference to chives, whose thick, thin greens are not only healthy, but also very decorative.

You need to take good care of basil (the earliest ripening is “Green Basil”), garden savory, chervil, marjoram, mint, lavender, kitchen shrubs - Mediterranean rosemary and thyme. Leaf parsley and celery require constant ventilation and replanting.

You can also grow tarragon, lovage, saffron, hyssop and sorrel in your apartment. They will require large pots.

And now we will present to your attention herbs that can be grown at home:

Watercress

This is the fastest growing spice with a subtle, pleasant smell and a bunch of vitamins. Watercress is so unpretentious that it is even grown in a layer of damp cotton wool. True, watercress, like other fast-growing herbs, needs a lot fresh air(open the window more often).

Borago

The aroma of this unpretentious fast-growing plant with blue flowers reminds fresh cucumber, which is why it is also called borage. Shoots appear within 10-12 days, and after 4 weeks you can safely tear up the vitamin greens and add them to salads and various cold vegetable snacks.

Dill

In autumn and winter, dill can be grown indoors (additional lighting with lamps will be required daylight), and in the warm season it feels great on balconies, loggias and terraces. The seeds are planted in a box and when seedlings appear, the plants are thinned out, leaving an interval of 2-3 cm. Abundant watering and fertilizing are required once every 2 weeks. After 40-50 days, young dill can be used for food.

For room conditions Suitable varieties are Gribovsky, Kaskelensky, Armenian-269, Uzbek-243 and others.

This pampered southerner is a big fan of the sun and morning watering. With good lighting and constant soil moisture, indoor basil will contain no less essential oils than what grows in the garden. The shoots of the plant are most fragrant at the beginning of flowering. The smell of basil repels mosquitoes, so in a room with it, night insect attacks are not scary.

Rosemary, alas, does not grow in the middle zone. All the sweeter will be its appearance in a pot on the window! To house this semi-shrub at home, you will need a cutting (although the story with seeds can also be crowned with success). Place it in water, and as soon as roots appear, plant it in the ground. Rosemary loves the sun, but not so much water; excessive watering will only harm the roots. After flowering, young shoots are pruned without touching old shoots. The aroma of rosemary has a calming effect on nervous system and stimulates the appetite.

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Many people plant greens and herbs, and even those who oppose the beds still findin the country place for basil, dill and cilantro. However, you don’t have to wait until summer to season your salad with your own spices - greens grow beautifully in the window at any time of the year.

Fragrant herbs valued at all times. They were eaten and used asmedicine . And what’s interesting is that they have always been credited with certain magical properties. So, the Egyptians believed dill a symbol of grief. IN Ancient Greece to the winners sports competitions they put wreaths on their headscelery . And warriors drank wine infused with its leaves before battle - it was believed that it kindled the ardor of battle. The Romans believed that the smellrosemary gets rid of bad dreams and keeps you young.Dill In ancient times, bouquets of roses were decorated “for fragrance.” Fromlemon balm prepared a love potion. Twigshyssop , moistened with water, the Jewish clergy used in the rite of ritual purification. In the Middle Ages, ladies embroidered twigs on the shirts of their knights thyme - so that they remember their beloved. Acaraway V old England was the main component of love potions. In Rus', many different diseases were treated with gulyavnik, and those who drank its decoction were strictly forbidden to use foul language.

Of course, all this is long in the past. But spicy herbs are still grown today - however, mainly for the sake of taste and aroma. And not only in the garden. Quite easy to growgreenery in a city apartment. But to fill your room with the smell of fresh herbs, it's not enough just to throw seeds into the ground. These seemingly unpretentious plants also require some attention. soil and suffers fromlack of light .

Dill seeds, leafsalad , marigold, white mustard, and gulyavnik are sown on the surface of moist soil and sprinkled with 1 mm of light humus soil.

ForcingLuke can be carried out in water or a layer of soil 7-10 cm thick. For forcing, choose bulbs of the same size - then the feathers will grow evenly. They are soaked for 12 hours in hot water, and after landing they spill warm water so that the roots germinate faster. When the leaves grow 25-30 cm, they can be cut. You need to start from the outermost ones - the greenery grows from the center of the bulb.

- light-loving evergreen bush. It is quite unpretentious, but does not like sudden changes in temperature. It needs to be watered moderately.

Watercress You can grow it in soil mixture, or you can use paper towels or napkins - they are suitable for watercress.Seeds you need to sow quite tightly. Sprouts will appear in just a couple of days, and after about two weeks, when the lettuce has grown to 5-6 cm, you can harvest the first harvest. if you sow the seeds at fourteen day intervals, you will always have fresh cress.

When planning to master growing herbs on a windowsill in winter, autumn and spring, lovers of indoor garden beds consider three undisputed leaders: dill, parsley and green onions.

These plants are suitable as seasonings for many dishes. They gained their popularity due to their ease of care, versatility and taste. How to grow popular and not so popular herbs in the kitchen with your own hands, what to pay attention to so that the harvest is pleasing to the eye and taste?

You can grow almost any greenery on the windowsill in your apartment. The main thing is to choose the right variety and comply with the plant’s requirements for soil composition, air humidity, watering, and temperature conditions.

Important:

• Choose unpretentious varieties, or better yet, hybrids specially bred for indoor conditions. This will simplify care and increase the chances of a harvest. If you are not confident in your abilities and want to get quick results, buy not seeds, but ready-made seedlings in pots.
• Practical pots for herbs on the windowsill should have rectangular shape. Take wide and shallow dishes. Plastic containers are quite suitable; they are light and easy to clean. Ideal for reusable use. Read more about choosing containers.
• Buy light, well-drained soil for your greens. You can prepare a mixture of vermicompost and coconut fiber. The proportion should be 1:2. Be sure to add a layer of small stones, expanded clay, crushed polystyrene foam, or other drainage to the bottom of the pot.
• If the window is cool or drafty, use plastic covers to create mini-greenhouses. You can buy ready-made ones or make them from a bag yourself.
• The optimal daylight hours for green pets are 10-13 hours. In winter there is not enough light, especially on the north side. To illuminate the greenery on the windowsill, install lamps; it is better to buy fluorescent or special phytolamps. Ordinary lamps will not work.

• Don’t neglect feeding, choose complexes mineral fertilizers for watering once every 2-3 weeks. But make the solution less concentrated than for open ground.
• Every other day or more often, spray green pets with a fine spray, especially if the air in the apartment is dry.
• Don't be lazy to turn the pots different sides to the light so that the plant develops evenly.
• To grow greenery, it is better to allocate a window sill in the kitchen to the apartment. Not the best in the bedroom the best place for frequent watering, spraying and application of fertilizers. In the bathroom, herbs will look ridiculous; for its landscaping, they are more appropriate.

If you don't want to limit yourself to just greens, then check out our organization and design tips and find out what else you can grow in your city apartment all year round. However, for beginners it is best start with herbs And . Plants that are difficult to cultivate can disappoint with the results and discourage the process.

Requirements of different greens

Before you go to the store for seeds or seedlings, learn how to grow different types of greens on a windowsill, and choose the simplest and most affordable option for you.

How to grow parsley on a window

To grow parsley in pots, you need a mixture of one part peat, the same amount of humus and twice the volume of garden soil, disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate. But it’s easier to buy ready-made universal primer.

When choosing seeds, give preference to early, quickly ripening varieties. This information is indicated on the packaging. Low-grade species and curly parsley look beautiful. It is important that the selected variety can easily tolerate frequent pruning, because you will constantly be picking leaves to decorate dishes.

Optimal varieties for indoor conditions:

• Appetizing;
• Vorozheya;
• Aster;
• Gloria;
• Nastenka;
• Station wagon;
• Russian feast.

To increase the germination of parsley, experienced gardeners advise keeping the seeds warm in a damp cloth for two or three days. Then you need to squeeze excess water, place the cloth with the seeds in a bag and put it in the refrigerator for several days.

Basic rules for growing parsley on a windowsill:

1. Choose containers for planting with a height of at least 15 cm.
2. When planting, be sure to maintain a distance between holes of at least 5 cm.
3. Bury the seeds to a depth of 0.7-1.4 mm.
4. Immediately after sowing, cover the pot with film or a special plastic greenhouse and place it on a lighted windowsill.
5. Provide a temperature of 17-21 degrees.
6. Moisten the crops, but not too much, otherwise mold will form. Remove the film every day, allowing air access.
7. At proper care Parsley shoots will appear in one and a half to two weeks. The film can be removed.
8. Water your greens two to three times a week. Provide additional food once a month.
9. Optimal temperature regime for indoor parsley – 15-18 °C during the day and 10-12 °C at night.
10. Make sure that the greens are not attacked by pests. Spider mites often spread from other plants to parsley.

When harvesting, try not to tear off the tops, but thin out the rows. This will improve the conditions for further growth.

Features of growing dill in an apartment

When choosing what greens you can grow on the windowsill in winter, pay attention to dill - the second most popular spice in the kitchen.

To enjoy the summer aroma within a month, buy varieties with rapid ripening: Gribovsky, Karusel, Early Miracle, Aurora, Grenadier. You can plant varieties with different ripening periods on the same windowsill, so that you can use the early ones first, and then switch to the late ones, which just have time to grow.

1. For selection good seeds, soak them in warm water for two days, changing the water to fresh water every 12 hours. Throw away everything that floats mercilessly, and use the rest of the material for planting.
2. Moisten the soil in the pots and make holes 1-1.5 cm deep, leaving gaps of about 4 cm.
3. Fill the top with soil, sprinkle with water and cover with plastic, as described above for parsley.
4. Place in a warm place (from 18 to 20 degrees) and protected from sunlight for a week.
5. When the shoots appear, remove the film and place the pot of herbs on the windowsill. If there seem to be a lot of sprouts, thin out, leaving about 3 cm of space around each sprout.
6. Water as the soil dries out. It is better to use a spray bottle as an assistant so as not to damage the young shoots.
7. Turn the pot with different sides to the sun so that the dill grows evenly.
8. Fertilize once every 30-45 days.

Fragrant basil on the window

Basil is another popular choice for growing fresh herbs on a windowsill in a city apartment. There are many varieties of basil in nature, but only a few dozen are suitable for human consumption. The leaves of the plant are used in cooking; they are ideal for salads and for meat dishes, and for marinades.

The best varieties for the room are:

• Marquis – is compact and beautiful shape ball;
• Dwarf is a low bush, there are species with greenery with a purple tint;
• Clove - attracts pleasant aroma and highly decorative.
• Lemon – delicate lemon aroma and crown with beautiful light green leaves.
• Purple is a bright bush with large leaves.

Basil seeds are different long germination. To speed up the process, keep the seed in a warm place for 10-14 days, then soak in warm water for a day. Discard any floating specimens.

1. Make holes in the soil and plant the seeds about 3 cm apart. There is no need to make large gaps, since not all crops will sprout.
2. To speed up germination, make a polyethylene greenhouse. The plant loves light and warmth - provide a temperature of 25 ° C.
3. Moisten the mini-bed as it dries.
4. When basil will sprout, thin out the excess so that there is 5 cm of free space around each plant.
5. Place on a well-lit windowsill and regularly care for the plantings - water, turn, fertilize, loosen the soil. Heat water for irrigation to 30 °C.
6. Basil loves light, so be sure to install a lamp on the windowsill for illumination and provide at least 15 hours of daylight.

For culinary purposes pick leaves from the tops of the bush. This will prevent flowering, which makes the grass unedible.

The ideal lettuce variety for growing at home

When planning to plant greens on the windowsill for the first time, pay attention to watercress. This is one of the most unpretentious and fastest-germinating plants. Watercress seeds do not require long soaking, and the seedlings are resistant to temperature fluctuations and light. The best varieties: Pepper, Common, Broadleaf, Curly.

1. To get a bountiful harvest, soak watercress seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for a couple of hours.
2. Create good drainage at the bottom of the pot and fill it with flower soil from a bag or a mixture of two parts coconut fiber and one part vermicompost.
3. Prepare holes 5-10 mm deep, sow basil and fill the holes with soil. Moisten and cover with film.
4. The first micro-greens on the windowsill will appear in a week. Keep the pot at a temperature of 17-20 degrees.
5. The higher the temperature, the more abundant the watering should be.

Watercress is one of the most unpretentious plants, it can be grown without any soil at all. Some people do it right in the water, while others do it on foam rubber. But greenery looks more attractive in a pot on the kitchen windowsill.

How to quickly get onion greens in winter

To grow onion greens at home on a windowsill, you can use two options - in soil in a pot and in water. The second method is fast and familiar to everyone since childhood. You just need to fill the glasses with water and place the bulbs in them. It is better to take those that have already begun to germinate.

The nuances of growing l uka in the water:

1. The water should be warm - about 40 degrees.
2. If the bulb has not yet begun to sprout, it is recommended to cut off the top by 1.5 cm.
3. Only the roots should be in the water; the bulb should not be immersed more than one-third.

By the way, you can grow it at home in the same way and get a beautiful tree.

Instead of cans, it is convenient to use egg cartons or special pots for growing onions at home. This is a container with holes for the bulbs. It looks neat and beautiful on the windowsill.

Growing green onions in the ground takes longer and is more difficult. Use bulbs for planting, since you may not get a harvest from the seeds at all.

Watch the video for the process of planting bulbs on greens in a bottle.

Fragrant mint in the home kitchen

An excellent choice for the home is mint with a wonderful aroma. Mint – perennial plant, which is easy to grow on a windowsill using root cuttings or seeds. The second method will take more time, but will bring more pleasure.

Peat or loose humus soil with an acidity of no more than 5-6 pH is suitable for growing mint. Feel free to buy universal primer in the store and don’t worry. The ideal temperature is 18-25 degrees. To the plant good lighting required.

1. You need to divide the bush in the fall after the growing season has ended. Carefully divide the rhizomes so that each portion contains shoots with dormant buds.
2. Fill the pots two-thirds full with nutrient soil.
3. Carefully distribute the seedlings and sprinkle them with soil.
4. Pour warm water over it.

The first leaves should appear in about two weeks.

If you bought a bunch of fresh mint, then try to get planting material method cuttings. Just place a few branches in water, dipping them in a root stimulator (root formation). The roots will appear in 8-14 days. All that remains is to plant the seedlings in pots.

1. It is better to sow mint seeds for growing on a windowsill in mid-spring.
2. Fill the pot with soil, prepare holes 0.5 cm deep and moisten the soil.
3. Sow the seeds and sprinkle a small amount of the same soil on top.
4. Cover with a film greenhouse.
5. At a temperature of 19-25 degrees, seedlings will appear a couple of weeks after sowing.
6. Control the moisture of the soil, do not allow drying out and excessive humidity. Water by spraying to avoid washing away the crops.

When growing mint in winter, do not overwater. Let the soil dry out slightly. Avoid drafts. In summer, water more deeply, but protect fresh greens from excess direct sunlight. If conditions permit, use mint to create a fragrant atmosphere in your home.

What else can you grow on a windowsill in an apartment?

When planning to grow herbs on a windowsill in winter, you can choose almost any type of fast-growing spicy herb. herbaceous plants. Oregano and sage perform well in apartments; they are not demanding of light and can withstand partial shade.

The unpretentious one causes little trouble fragrant lemon balm. Melissa seeds just need to be sown in the soil to a depth of 0.5 cm without pre-soaking, watered and moistened regularly. The greens will hatch within a few days. Melissa loves light; its lack reduces the production of essential oils that give the leaves their aroma.

Requires care, but looks very original on the window celery. The easiest way to get celery greens is in water. Simply trim the root part from the stem and leave it in a container of water in a sunny place. In a few days, new shoots and roots will appear. You can transplant the plant into soil or leave it in water. Trim green leaves as needed and care for your pet if replanted.

Green seeds cost pennies. Try and experiment with different types and landing options. Create your own spicy mini-vegetable garden to the delight of yourself and the envy of passers-by looking in the windows. And for greater effect decorate pots with your own hands, using . This way you can save a lot on purchasing containers.

By making growing herbs on your windowsill at home your hobby, you will have fun, decorate your kitchen, and always have herbs on hand for salads and soups. This hobby is ideal for spending time together with children and husband. Have a good harvest all year round!