How to grow arugula from seeds in winter at home on a windowsill, planting and care
Arugula is a natural doctor that is able to protect against problems with the thyroid or prostate gland, normalize the hemoglobin level in the human body and get rid of edema. This plant has a spicy, nutty mustard scent and can turn a simple salad or soup into a gourmet meal. If you want to feast on fresh leaves, then you can learn how to grow arugula at home on your windowsill.
Features of growing arugula at home
Before you grow arugula at home, you should find out its features and understand some of the nuances. This is the only way to get the desired result without wasting time and effort.
Great advantage growing arugula is that at home it is quite simple, since the plant is considered not capricious and gives a good harvest in a variety of containers: from flower pots to wooden boxes.
When growing greens at home, the following features should be considered:
- it is necessary to give preference to a neutral or slightly alkaline soil;
- the soil is disinfected without fail. To do this, you can hold it in the oven for half an hour;
- the bottom of the container where the seed is planned to be planted is covered with drainage. Pebbles, broken brick or expanded clay can be taken as drainage;
- the plant needs light. For this reason, the container with seeds should be placed on the windowsill on the south side. In the event that there is little light in the apartment, you can use ordinary lamps with daylight;
- direct rays of the sun should not fall on the arugula, for which it is worth making a kind of screen around the container, which is easy to build from ordinary sheets of white paper. Such a screen can be not only around the pot, but also cover the upper part of the window.
The success of the business depends on how correctly each stage is organized, namely: the selection of seeds, sowing and care of the sprouts. Only if these requirements are met, you can finally enjoy a delicious product. By the way, if you break this or that rule, the beneficial properties of arugula will worsen.
The choice of planting material
Arugula can be found in any shop for summer residents. All seeds are processed before packing, therefore, after purchase, they do not need to be disinfected or treated. However, there are some features that are worth paying attention to. So, the grown plant may not end up with arugula.A similar name is found in two more plants from the sacral family.
That is why you should focus on varieties such as Koltivata, Poker or Rococo. These plants, when properly planted and cared for, can produce fresh greens after 25 days.
Conditions for growth
After the arugula seeds are planted, the container must be placed immediately on the windowsill, preferably near the heating battery. In the event that the seeds are additionally covered with something, they should be periodically ventilated. The soil should be moistened more often, but this should be done delicately, preferably with a spray bottle.
If all conditions are met thoroughly, the first shoots can be seen already 5-7 days after planting. In such a case, it is not worth protecting and covering them, and the box is assigned a permanent place. Arugula does not need fertilizing with chemical substrates. If the soil is selected correctly, then the plant will take everything it needs from it.
Lighting
If we talk about lighting, the planted arugula should receive enough light. If the plant is on a window or balcony not on the sunny side, it will lack light. In such a case, you should worry about providing it with artificial lighting.
Typically, daylight bulbs are positioned 50 centimeters above the soil or shoots. On cloudy days, a plant even on the south side still needs additional light. However, the main thing is not to overdo it, as excess light can cause the plant to grow tall and too thin.
Temperature
Sprouts need to be protected from drafts, which, however, are a danger to any plant, but arugula is the most sensitive and tender. Do not open a window or window where the container with the planted seeds is. As for the temperature regime, it is necessary to ensure that the air in the room does not drop below +17 degrees, even in winter.
Capacity
If we talk about the capacity where the arugula will be grown, then there are a lot of options, since the plant is unpretentious and does not need any special delights. So, for these purposes, a wooden box, a flower pot, a plastic container is suitable.
Some gardeners or truck farmers manage to make containers for landing from incredible things, for example, from milk bags. Any container must have sides, the height of which is at least 12 centimeters. It is imperative to make holes at the bottom of the container so that, if necessary, moisture leaves, and air flows to the roots.
It is better to place the container on a stand or tray so as not to damage or stain the windowsill. It will be ideal if you choose boxes of the same length as the surface on which they will stand.
Growing arugula on the windowsill
Arugula, as mentioned earlier, is an unpretentious plant, so its planting looks like this:
- we prepare the soil;
- scatter the soil into containers;
- we moisten the soil;
- lay out arugula seeds in the soil (it is desirable that there is a distance of 3-4 centimeters between the seeds);
- cover the seeds with a layer of soil about 1 centimeter;
- we moisten the soil;
- cover the container with the planted plant with plastic wrap or glass until the shoots appear.
Seed sowing period
Experienced gardeners and gardeners say that the best time to plant is March, when there are many more sunny days.
Soil preparation
Summer residents are advised to purchase soil exclusively in special stores. It is advisable to pay attention to the very soil that is intended for growing seedlings, since this particular species is rich in phosphorus and those elements that make the arugula strong, and as a result, a person will have an excellent harvest.
Nevertheless, simple black soil is quite suitable for these purposes, which can be taken from the garden where pumpkin or any legumes were grown before. A slightly alkaline or neutral soil is suitable for arugula, and in the ground where there is a peat admixture, it will simply die.
Those who have the desire and ability can prepare the soil at home. This will require sand, turf soil and humus, which must be mixed in almost equal amounts (a little less sand will be needed). As a result, crumbly and loose soil should come out.
Agricultural technology of sowing seeds
Some people believe that the seeds can be simply planted and waited for the expected healthy and tasty plant. In fact, everything is different. The success of growing arugula at home depends on how well each stage is organized.
So, as already indicated earlier, the selection of seeds, sowing, care - all this must be done, strictly relying on the instructions. You can get a fresh and full of vitamin plant by strictly adhering to certain rules, which can be found in detail below.
Care rules
If you decide to grow arugula at home, you need to know a few basic rules of care. So, you should make sure that the plant does not stretch too much. The color of the arugula should be different in intensity. If a certain change in the color or length of the leaves is noticeable in the plant, this may indicate that the light regime is violated. Most likely, the plant needs more light, which can be easily solved with additional artificial lighting.
Particular attention should be paid to light if the cultivation takes place during the winter period.
Watering
Water the plant with enough water. It is better to do this with a sprayer, so that, in the end, the sprouts do not flood. Watering is carried out daily.
Top dressing
When caring for a plant such as arugula, you need to know that it tends to quickly absorb all the substances that can get into the soil with water. Therefore, experts do not advise using any kind of feeding.
If you use a solution of chicken manure or certain chemical fertilizers, and all of them pose a danger to human health, it is guaranteed to get directly into the plant. Moreover, there is one more feature - such feeding destroys all the beneficial properties of arugula, and all the work on growing a useful product will go down the drain.
Thinning
As for thinning, shoots that are already 8 to 10 days old can be thinned out. Thus, in the main, plants are harvested that are withered or are themselves weak. By the way, the latter does not have to be thrown away at all; they are safely added to the soup, having previously removed the roots.
Protection against diseases and pests
If arugula is grown on the windowsill at home, there should be no pest problems. The fact is that, basically, the plant grows in such conditions, since in the garden it is most often attacked by the so-called cruciferous flea, which destroys the crop in a matter of time.
Harvesting and storage
So, subject to all stages of growing arugula at home, the first results can be obtained already 1 month after planting the seeds. The leaves of the plant can be safely harvested as soon as they reach 10 centimeters in height.
It is better to cut off the ripe arugula just before eating. If you act carefully, you can eat fresh herbs for more than a month. The maximum of vitamins and nutrients can be obtained from a fresh product.
Some people prefer to prolong the pleasure - having cut off all the arugula, put it in a shredded form in a container, lightly sprinkle it with salt and store it in the refrigerator.By the way, the plant can be stored in this form for six months.
Some housewives argue that it is better to store arugula in dried form, but this should be done in compliance with the rules so that the plant does not lose its beneficial properties. So, you need to dry only high-quality leaves, and do it naturally in a warm, dark place for 6 days.
