What do you need to know when growing Echinacea?

Echinacea, or, as it is also called, deer root,became popular exclusively because of its bright colors and decorative properties. It is noteworthy that at home, In South America, echinacea was used as a remedy for colds, as well as for snake bites.

When growing Echinacea you will not needspend a lot of effort on creating special conditions for this plant. So if you still think, whether or not to be given a flower on your site, then decide and plant. After all, this flower is not only beautiful purple flowers, but also an abundance of medicinal properties that can be very useful.

Before planting echinacea, the site for her is betterprepare in advance. If at this place for many years nothing grew, except for weeds, you should carefully clean the place from them. If necessary, then apply organic fertilizers to the soil. As for lighting, this flower prefers to warm its leaves in the sun, so it is better to choose a site where nothing prevents sunlight from penetrating.

It should also take into account the fact that in the first year of life Echinacea grows very slowly, but next year more than compensates for last year's slow growth.

When growing Echinacea seeds are best sown on seedlings in early March. Ready seedlings are planted in the ground around the second decade of May, but if the month is rather cold, then it's better to wait a little.

Seeds can be sown directly into the open ground, butthen the seedlings will turn out to be very weak and unfriendly. After planting the seedlings on a permanent place, they must be carefully taken care of. Taking into account the fact that plants grow extremely slowly, they should be weeded in time from weeds that can simply choke young flowers, and constantly loosen the soil.

In Russia, also very popular echinacea purpurea. Cultivation of this plant is no different from caring for a simple echinacea.

It is not necessary to wait from a plant of abundant flowering in the first year of life. Some single specimens can bloom, but the inflorescence will be very small.

If you decide to breed Echinacea solely because of its medicinal properties, you will be useful to know how to properly store flowers for storage.

In the first year of life it is better not to touch such a plant as Echinacea. Flowers, the cultivation of which requires a lot of time at the beginning of their growth, should not be subjected to mechanical influences.

From the second year of life, it is possible to start harvesting the roots of plants. As a rule, it is done in the autumn. At the end of September, the roots are excavated, washed and placed in a well-ventilated room for drying.

When growing Echinacea for treatment useyou can all the plant, even the stems and leaves. They are cut during flowering plants and dried in a dark cool room, for example, in an attic. Broths, cooked from the grass of Echinacea, increase immunity during colds.

As we see, when growing Echinacea, you can use it to decorate your garden plot, or you can plant it solely for the purpose of producing a herb that has medicinal properties.