Essential greenery for the garden on the windowsill

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A blizzard is sweeping outside, everything is white and white, and on the windowsill of a cozy kitchen there is a green outfit of live spices, with an unusual spring smell of fresh herbs, envelops with a pleasant aroma, calls to the table.

Spicy aromatic herbs and other greens in the winter kitchen play a dual role. Provide gourmets and lovers of delicate aromas with fresh vitamins, decorate dishes, causing a healthy appetite, are an integral part of a variety of cold snacks, salads, side dishes. With colds, many spicy cultures are used as medicinal. At the same time, bright fresh greens decorate the interior of the kitchen, brings a note of freshness to the design, filled with appliances, dishes and other household “helpers”.

Where to grow greens in winter?

For growing winter greenery, the window sill of the south or southeast window is most suitable because of the greatest availability of heat and lighting. If this possibility is excluded, then the location of the future garden will be equipped with additional insulation and lighting. For illumination, lamps with red and blue spectra of rays are considered the best. You can use fixtures with yellow-orange rays, not tiring the eyes. In addition, lamps should not emit thermal energy so as not to burn plants.

What can be grown on the windowsill?

The most suitable for winter cultivation are crops that do not require special conditions, unpretentious to care (soil, temperature, watering, lighting). Usually spicy-flavoring or green ones are selected with a short growing season and a quick restoration of the vegetative mass, which allows you to make several large cuts (for the holidays) or constantly use small amounts for a dining table, medicinal teas during the autumn-winter season.

Depending on the crop and variety, in 1-2 weeks you can start harvesting spicy vitamin greens. In order to have fresh greens throughout the autumn-winter season, it is more practical to sow in several periods, observing intervals of 7-12-15 days.

General rules for growing aromatic plants on the windowsill

The winter garden on the windowsill is laid in November-December-January, depending on the climatic conditions of the region. The optimal temperature for growing greens is +18 .. + 20 ° С. If the air temperature in the kitchen is higher, then cold-resistant cultures are placed near the window panes, and heat-loving cultures are located in the second row closer to the heating batteries. The room is regularly ventilated without drafts.

Crops of spice-flavoring are carried out in fertilized soil, which reduces or even eliminates the need for further feeding. Sowing before emergence is covered with a dark film, imitating a mini-greenhouse. Instead of planting / sowing, some crops can be grown by distillation in water, without using soil for planting. Such crops include celery, onions, garlic, some salads, leaf beets, aromatic perennial herbs, etc. All types of herbs used for distillation in water, if desired, can be grown in the soil.

The soil should always be moist. Winter greens are watered with settled water at room temperature. Cold chlorinated water will quickly destroy young shoots and plants. Watering is carried out as the soil crust dries. You can not fill the plants. They will rot from excessive moisture. It is better to spray the aboveground mass from a small atomizer more often.

The use of chemicals to protect against diseases and pests is prohibited.