Useful tips for growing medicinal blackroot in a summer cottage
Blackroot officinalis is a biennial or perennial plant that does not differ in decorative attractiveness, but is widely used in folk medicine due to its useful properties. The cultivation of medicinal black root has its own characteristics, taking into account which you can get a plant with a pronounced antimicrobial, fixing, soothing, anti-inflammatory and wound healing effect. Ornamental types of blackroot can be a bright decoration for a flower garden or mixborders.
Botanical description of medicinal blackroot
Main features of medicinal blackroot:
- Plant height can reach 40-100 cm depending on growing conditions.
- The rhizome is thick, rod-like, brown-red in color, up to 3 cm in diameter.
- Stems are erect, densely leafy, branched in the upper half and forming many lateral processes.
- The leaf plates are lanceolate, short-petiolate and pointed. Their surface is covered with a thick silvery-gray short hair. The length of the leaves reaches 20 cm.
- Flowering begins in the second half of May and lasts until the end of August.
- During the flowering period, the black root is covered with paniculate inflorescences, consisting of small flowers of lilac, pink, purple, bright red or blue-blue hue.
- After flowering is complete, fruits are formed - small oval-shaped boxes, which contain blackroot seeds.
- The sap of the plant contains toxic substances - which is why black root is used to scare off mice and other rodents. You only need to work with it with protective gloves.
The medicinal black root grows everywhere - it can be seen on fields, wastelands, roadsides.
Growing medicinal blackroot
The seed method is used to grow medicinal blackroot. To get planting material with good germination, it is best to use seeds collected from bushes in the first or second year of life. Ripe seeds are covered with thorns; they easily cling to clothing after spilling onto the ground. Therefore, their collection will not be difficult.
There are two options for when to plant black root. This can be done both in early spring and in autumn, immediately after harvest. Cynoglossum seeds are highly frost-resistant, so a decrease in air temperature and freezing do not affect their germination.
Lighting and site selection
For cultivation of medicinal blackroot, it is best to choose areas with nutrient soil containing drainage and organic matter, with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction. Despite the fact that under natural conditions the plant is unpretentious and grows on almost any soil, active growth and abundant flowering can be obtained precisely on such soil.
Cynoglossum belongs to light-loving plants. The plant can be grown even in direct sunlight, as it easily adapts to heat and tolerates drought well.
Blackroot can also be planted in shaded areas, but in this case its growth and flowering will be less intense.Shady places are not suitable for cultivation. Lack of sunlight not only inhibits the growth and development of the plant, but also negatively affects its medicinal properties.
Planting blackroot seeds
Growing blackroot from seeds does not require any special preparation. The site needs to be dug up, in case of increased acidity, add lime, since the plant will not grow on acidic soil.
For the black root, you can prepare both planting holes and elongated grooves. Seeds are sown directly into open soil, deepening by about 2-4 cm. Seedlings should be watered periodically.
Usually at the end of March or the first half of April, the first shoots appear. They look like small rosettes, consisting of elongated sheet plates. If necessary, at this time, young bushes can be transplanted to a permanent place.
When transplanting, blackroot bushes should be transferred along with an earthen clod.
When growing cynoglossum, the rooting of young shoots can be accelerated by adding to the prepared planting holes or grooves ammonium nitrate, Kornevin solution or other growth stimulant.
Medicinal Blackroot Care
Medicinal black root is an unpretentious plant that does not require complex care:
- Cynoglossum is able to adapt to any temperature conditions - both prolonged heat and frost, so it does not need frequent watering.
- In hot weather, it is enough to water the plant once every 2 weeks. During the period of inflorescence setting, the frequency of watering can be increased up to 1 time per week. This will provide longer, more abundant flowering.
- After the completion of flowering and the formation of seed bolls, the black root must be prepared for winter. It hibernates outdoors. To do this, watering the plants is gradually reduced, after which they completely stop.
Blackroot tolerates excess moisture much worse than lack of moisture. It grows better on dry soil than on wet soil. Therefore, when it is grown, a drainage layer is necessarily poured onto the bottom of the planting holes or grooves - fine gravel, pebbles, broken brick or expanded clay.
Top dressing
A perennial plant does not need additional feeding. Indeed, thanks to its powerful root system, it independently "extracts" all the nutrients from the soil. But since black root has been grown in one place for many years, this leads to depletion of the soil.
That is why the fertile properties of the soil must be restored by applying top dressing every 2-3 years. For this purpose, you can use both organic and complex mineral fertilizers for perennial crops.
Fertilizers are applied in the form of a liquid solution under the root. The procedure is best done in early spring or early summer.
The solution is prepared according to the instructions on the package. When feeding medicinal blackroot, you need to make sure that the fertilizer does not get on the stems, leaves and flowers of the plant.
Blackroot against rodents and pests
The composition of the medicinal blackroot contains toxic substances that have a destructive effect on insects. They cannot stand the smell of cynoglossum, as it is a natural insecticide. That is why the perennial is never "attacked" by pests, protecting not only itself, but also all the crops planted nearby.
Dried, fresh or chopped black root is an effective folk remedy for mice and rats. It can be used both on a personal plot and in outbuildings.
Bunches of fresh or dried blackroot can be spread out under garden trees - this is protect them from hares and mice in the winter.
Blackroot is a perennial plant that is used both for medicinal purposes and for landscaping the garden. With minimal maintenance, this plant will not only become a bright and colorful decoration of the garden, but also protect it from pests and rodents.