Worth knowing:
According to legend, a few drops of St. Mary's milk fell on the leaves of the plant while breastfeeding the baby Jesus and thus caused the characteristic white spots on the leaves. Milk thistle has been known as a medicinal plant since the time of Hildegard von Bingen and its active ingredients are used in modern medicine to detoxify the liver. The Marian thistle grows with thorny-toothed leaves up to 100 cm high and shows its spherical, purple blossoms from June to September.
Natural Location:
The milk thistle has its natural habitat in Southeast Europe. There and also in the south of North America it can be found in abundance.
Cultivation:
You may plant the seeds in a hotbed from March or directly in the outdoors from the beginning of May. Alternatively, it is also possible to start propagation indoors on the window sill. Germination usually takes two to three weeks. Since the plant grows quite extensively, you should leave a gap of about 40 cm between the seedlings when planting out.
Place:
The milk thistle grows best in sunny locations.
Care:
Apart from watering the plant in extreme drought, milk thistle does not require any special care. Harvest: wear gloves when harvesting milk thistle to protect your hands from the thorns. Pick the flower heads in early summer while they are still wearing their white crowns and let them ripen spread out in an airy room. When they are completely dry, you can knock out the seeds and keep them in linen bags in a cool and dark place for storage.
During the winter:
The milk thistle can tolerate light frost up to -7° Celsius. With cooler temperatures during the winter and especially if you want to cultivate a biennial plant, growing in pots is recommended. Otherwise, you may reseed in the following year.
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- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © About © : Contact SAFLAX - - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
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