Basil. Cultivation of the house.

Basil is an annual plant whose height is up to 50 centimeters. The growing part of it above the ground is full of essential oil with a pleasant taste and aroma. Most of all essential oils have its leaves and flowers (up to one percent).

In the fresh state it contains a lot of vitamin C (from 250 to 350 milligrams) and carotene (from 2 to 9 milligrams per hundred grams in raw form).

Basil is a strongly smelling spicy plant, so in the presence of such pleasant properties it is perfectly used as a spice. So, in a small amount in the form of seasoning for salads, soups, gravies, meat and fish dishes, cheese, sauces and marinades, flavoring canned vegetables, pickles and sausages add basil. Growing his house is easier than it seems. You just need to know some methods of how it's done.

Also, the use of basil is reflected in medicine. It is an anti-febrile, diuretic and disinfectant. The water extracts of the basil are treated with gastritis, colic and food poisoning. Broths from its leaves, treat headaches. Also, the leaves are used as a flavor for baths, rinses, compresses, wound healing, treatment of various specimens.

Basil. Cultivation.

It's time to learn how to grow basil. You must provide a place on a fertile, drained soil, with a loamy composition in order to plant a basil. Growing the house should be provided by a relatively high temperature - from 12 to 15 degrees Celsius. Soil must be carefully processed beforehand, and its surface should be leveled.

Interesting name "basil". Cultivation of this plant will be quite effective if its seeds are sown in boxes in early April (one gram of seed per 60 cm by 30 centimeters is sown with 1 gram of seeds), which must be placed in a well-heated room.

A very important factor is the total absence of any other vegetation in the territory where our basil will grow. Growing it occurs slowly enough, so excess vegetation next to it can badly affect yield and quality.

It is worth mentioning about the land in which basil grows. The cultivation of the cultural basil allows the addition of twenty grams of sulfuric acid ammonium to the soil, or urea can be used as a substitute in the amount of ten grams, or thirty to forty grams of superphosphate with twenty grams of potassium chloride (per square meter). If the soil is not fertile enough, or is poorly cultivated, you can use organic fertilizer (from the calculation - from half to one bucket per square meter).

Sow basil is necessary in rows, with a distance of indentation between them from five to six centimeters.

Then it is necessary to cover the seeds with a carefully sifted mixture of soil, a maximum thickness of half a centimeter.

After the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings must be thinned at a row distance of 2 to 3 centimeters.

When it takes about sixty days, the seedling will form 5, 6 leaves, it can be planted.

If you notice that the basil began to bloom, you can harvest. Determine the degree of readiness for harvesting will give you the opportunity, the dense green mass of leaves appeared, and the thicker it is, the more essential oil will be in the basil.

In order for the degree of loss of leaves to be less, harvesting must be made as quickly as possible until it begins to discard the leaves.

The harvested crop of basil, grown at home, can immediately begin to eat or send to dry for subsequent canning. With the right drying temperature (no more than 35 degrees Celsius), it will not lose its natural color and retain all its essential oils.