Table of contents:
Video: Milk Thistle, Cultivation And Use
2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47
Growing milk thistle
Milk thistle is a medicinal and ornamental plant of the Aster family. Among the people, this plant has received many other names: "sharp-motley", "Maryin Tatarnik", "holy thistle", "thistle of St. Mary", "variegated thistle" and others.
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is native to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, from where it spread throughout the world.
Milk thistle is an annual or biennial tall plant (about 1.5 m) with variegated decorative leaves. Its basal leaves are very large (50 cm long or more, about 30 cm wide), oblong-oval, wavy with a notched edge and long spines. If you plant thistle thistle along the fence, you will get a double impassable hedge. The surface of its leaves is dark green, glossy, covered with a pattern of white pearlescent spots.
Gardener's guide
Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios
This plant adorns the garden with its elegant leaves all season, and from mid-summer to late autumn, the plant also constantly blooms. Tubular flowers (raspberry-lilac or purple), collected in round baskets up to 6 cm in diameter, crown the ends of its shoots. Many large seeds are formed in each basket. Milk thistle fruit is a black-yellow achene with a tuft of hairs at the end.
Milk thistle is a drought-resistant and cold-resistant, undemanding plant; it is not difficult to grow it. I breed milk thistle by sowing seeds, starting in early spring, directly into the ground. You can sow them before winter. Those who want to get powerful plants faster, accelerate flowering and the formation of more seeds, good root growth, usually grow it through seedlings.
When sowing milk thistle in the spring, I soak the seeds for several hours to accelerate germination, and then sow them to a depth of 2-3 centimeters. Light fertile soils are most favorable for milk thistle, and heavy and waterlogged soils are unsuitable. Before sowing, I add up to 4 kg of humus or compost, 40-60 g of complete mineral fertilizer, 1-2 glasses of wood ash per 1 m² of soil. I sow the seeds in rows (I place a row from row every 50 cm), leave 30-40 cm between the plants. Milk thistle shoots usually appear on the 8-10th day. When planting seedlings, the distance between plants is 50 cm.
Milk thistle grows quickly: by the middle of summer the plant reaches its maximum size, baskets bloom on the central stems. The flowering of more and more opening baskets on the shoots continues continuously until the very frost. Dried flower heads with bright baskets of milk thistle will decorate any winter bouquet. Its seeds ripen unevenly from the end of August, so I collect them at several times until October. I start harvesting the seeds when the wrappers of the baskets dry up. I cut the baskets, dry them and thresh seeds from them. I store dry seeds in bags in a ventilated room (their germination capacity lasts up to three years).
Notice board
Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale
Milk thistle roots for medicinal purposes are dug up in autumn, washed with cold water and dried at a temperature of + 40 … + 50 ° C degrees. You can store them for one year. I use her grass as a green fertilizer for composting. Milk thistle is not affected by pests and diseases.
Many peoples of the world revered milk thistle as the most powerful medicinal plant, a gift to people from the Holy Virgin Mary. According to legend, Mary pointed out to people the healing properties of milk thistle, and the white spots on the leaves symbolize her milk. It has been widely used since ancient times as a medicine for many diseases.
In the last century, at the Munich Institute of Pharmacy, the biochemical composition of milk thistle was determined. It turned out that it contains a rare biologically active substance silymarin, as well as many other medicinal components (only about 200 valuable components).
Since ancient times, milk thistle has been treated for various, moreover, severe ailments, and very successfully. It is considered a powerful medicinal plant in the treatment of liver diseases: cirrhosis, jaundice, its lesions from alcohol, drugs, toxins, radiation. Milk thistle is also used in the treatment of cholecystitis, inflammation of the bile ducts and cholelithiasis, diseases of the spleen, thyroid gland, blood, salt deposits, varicose veins, edema, dropsy, obesity, sciatica and joint pain, hemorrhoids, allergic diseases.
In dermatology, milk thistle is used to treat vitiligo, psoriasis, baldness, acne. The world famous drugs "Carsil", "Silibor", "Hepatinol" are made from its seeds. In folk herbal medicine, a decoction of milk thistle roots is used for toothache in the form of rinsing, for diarrhea, urinary retention, radiculitis and convulsions.
The juice from its leaves is drunk for constipation, inflammation of the colon and gastric mucosa. Milk thistle seed flour lowers blood sugar levels, cleans even heavily slagged blood, and helps to heal varicose veins.
Milk thistle is useful not only for sick, but also for healthy people: its use increases the liver's ability to cleanse the body of toxins. Its very important property is that it has no contraindications and side effects.
Milk thistle seed decoction
To prepare it, 30 g of powdered milk thistle seeds are poured into 0.5 liters of hot water, boiled in a water bath until the amount of water is halved, filtered through two or three layers of gauze. Take 1 tablespoon every hour. The course of treatment is 1-2 months.
You can use milk thistle in the form of dry seed powder, 1 teaspoon 3-4 times daily before meals, washed down with warm water.
Milk thistle root decoction
It is prepared at the rate of: 1 tablespoon of raw materials for 1 glass of boiling water. The raw material is boiled in a sealed enamel bowl in a water bath for 30 minutes, filtered hot through two or three layers of gauze, squeezed out and brought to the original volume with boiled water. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day, before meals.
Grow a wonderful plant in your garden - milk thistle, and it will decorate the garden all season, and will also help restore and strengthen health. No synthetic medicinal preparations can compare with the healing power of medicinal plants. It is only important to learn how to correctly use this great gift of nature. I will send the catalog in your envelope. Write to the address: 607060, Vyksa, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Section 2, PO Box 52 - Andrey Viktorovich Kozlov. Online store www.super-ogorod.7910.org.
Andrey Kozlov
experienced gardener, Vyksa
Recommended:
Amaranth - Use And Cultivation
Studies have shown that amaranth seeds and leaves are rich in protein, and the leaves are a valuable source of ascorbic acid, carotene, rutin and other biologically active substances. With a detailed study of the amaranth protein, they found that it contains almost all the amino acids necessary for a person. It contains a lot of lysine, an essential amino acid, the lack of which is felt in a number of other plant proteins, for example, in the protein of corn, wheat
Cultivation And Use Of Celery, Types And Varieties
Celery is the most ancient plant originating from the Mediterranean, North Caucasus, North Africa, Europe, spread all the way to Sweden. At least it is still found here in the wild. Even before our era, this plant was used as a medicinal, decorative or ritual. Later it began to be used as a spicy-aromatic culture. In Europe in the XV-XVII centuries, celery is increasingly being introduced into culture. In Russia, it appeared in the 18th century, but never received a wide
Lemon Balm Or Herb Honey (Melissa Officinalis), Features Of Cultivation And Use
For several years I have tried to grow lemon balm on the windowsill; it should be noted that it grew well all year round. I tried to plant it in the open field, alas, the lemon balm disappeared. The gardeners I knew, to whom I told about this, claimed that, apparently, I weeded it out like a weed. Then I found out that, it turns out, this culture does not really like winters
Growing Milk Thistle
Milk thistle has been used as a medicinal plant for over two thousand years. According to historical documents, a decoction of the fruits was used in Ancient Greece - Dioscorides recommended the use of milk thistle for many diseases
Milk Thistle - A Useful Medicinal Plant
From the literature I know that the medicinal raw materials of milk thistle are seeds, roots and even leaves. The seeds are dried, stored in bags and used as a decoction, tincture or powder for the treatment of liver inflammation and varicose veins of the lower extremities