The noble laurel is known to culinary specialists for its fragrant leaves.
It is difficult to imagine many hot dishes without bay leaves, especially soups, cabbage soup, borscht.
However, it is not necessary to buy this seasoning.
Growing laurel noble at home
will provide you with fresh high-quality raw materials.
Laurel noble
In nature, noble laurel - evergreen up to 18 meters high.
Its young leaves and shoots are used as a spice ( Bay leaf), they also have medicinal properties.
Most essential oils accumulates in leaves in autumn or winter.
Branches with leaves are cut from a 3-4 year old plant and hung in the shade to dry.
When the leaves dry, they are plucked and stored in linen bags.
Cut off up to a third of the crown at a time.
And a year later, new leaves are harvested from the same plant - it grows so fast.
This plant is unpretentious, easily tolerates pruning.
Therefore, in the south it is sometimes used for hedges , giving the most diverse, sometimes bizarre form.
Laurel noble rather frost-resistant plant.
Dies only at 15 degrees of frost.
The drier the air, the lower the temperature it can tolerate.
A bay tree grows on almost any soil, except for marshy ones, but prefers neutral or slightly alkaline ones.
Laurel at home
Laurel noble grows well at home.
He is not afraid of drafts. Therefore, in the summer it is put on open air, slightly shading from straight lines sun rays.
The only condition when growing laurel
Need it water properly , avoiding waterlogging of the soil, and regularly spray the leaves.
In summer, plants are sprayed so that water penetrates deep into the crown. This helps to prevent the appearance of pests, especially scale insects. When watering, add baking soda to the water (half a teaspoon per 1 liter).
Laurel is placed both in the sun and in the shade, although it branches better in the sun.
In winter, the noble laurel is more comfortable at a temperature of 13 degrees, but it tolerates drops of up to 2 - 5 degrees. If the room temperature is above 18 degrees, then the plant should be sprayed frequently. Otherwise, due to the dryness of the air, the leaves of the noble laurel will begin to fall off, which often happens.
At proper care only those leaves that have been growing for more than three years fall off.
Leaves are harvested as a spice when they grow more than 10 cm in length.
Transplant laurel in the spring , choosing a pot 2 cm larger than the old one. This limits the growth of the root system, and hence the growth of the bush itself.
At the bottom of the pot, be sure to put broken shards and coarse sand with a layer of 3-4 cm for drainage. The land mixture is prepared from turf, leaf soil and sand (2: 1: 0.5). 
plant formation
Growing laurel can turn into an exciting activity. After all, a noble laurel can be given any shape!
In the south, there are entire parks with animals, figures, hedges made of living laurel plants.
At home, you can also form various compositions from laurel. To do this, the plant will have to be trimmed often.
The laurel looks beautiful in the form of a ball or pyramid. To form a crown for this, they begin in the spring of the second year of life.
The upper part of the main shoot is cut at a height of 10-12 cm above the soil surface. After that, 2-3 shoots grow from the underlying buds. When these shoots are 15-20 cm long, pinch them.
Thus, the bushes grow by 8-10 cm per year. You can also form them in a standard form.
Reproduction of noble laurel
Laurel plants get used to living conditions in a room better when propagation by seeds .
To plant the seeds, they are cleaned of pulp, as it delays their germination. When dried, the seeds quickly lose their germination capacity, so they are usually sown in the fall. But if this is not possible, then they are stored until spring sprinkled with sand in a cold place.
Seeds are sown in a bowl with a soil mixture of soddy, leafy soil and sand (1: 1: 0.5), covered with a film or glass on top.
They germinate faster at temperatures above 18 degrees.
When the seedlings grow up and they have two leaves, they are seated according to the 2x2 cm pattern or in small pots.
Later they are planted in separate pots.
TO propagation of laurel cuttings start in March-April.
Cuttings for this are cut 6-8 cm long from mature, but not lignified shoots. When cutting the handle below, the following technique is used: the knife is driven almost to the end, and then the bark with adjacent tissues is partially torn off.
It turns out like a heel below bottom node. The lower leaves are removed.
Cuttings take root hard
.Therefore, root stimulants are used, for example rootin
(soaked cuttings are lowered with their lower part into this growth powder; shake off excess powder).
The cuttings are planted in coarse sand to a depth of 1-2 cm according to the scheme 10x10 cm. To maintain air humidity, a plastic bag is pulled from above.
So that it does not touch the cuttings, pegs are installed - it turns out a mini greenhouse.
A month later, when the cuttings take root, they are planted in pots with a diameter of 7-9 cm, using the same soil mixture as for the seedlings. 
Healing properties of noble laurel
Laurel noble is used not only as an extremely popular seasoning. It also has healing properties.
In particular, in the house laurel cleans the air . Its aroma is useful for intestinal spasms, inflammation of the respiratory and biliary tract.
To make the aroma stronger, the laurel is placed near the window, watered twice a week with the addition of a glucose solution (5 ml per 5 liters of water) or aspirin (5 g per 1 liter).
At high humidity, the aromaticity of plants increases, so a vessel with water is placed between the plants.
Be sure to remove dead leaves.
Laurel is used not only as a spice, but also for treatment rheumatoid arthritis, gout, flaccid paralysis , with spastic pains, as well as with diabetes .
Growing noble laurel at home, you will get useful plant very fragrant, beautiful and healing.
Good day to all!
Noble laurel (laurus nobilis) or bay tree, with fragrant leaves of which every housewife is familiar, grows in nature in the south of Europe, in the Mediterranean, in the Western Caucasus. But laurel can also act as houseplant, especially since home care for him is not at all difficult.
And the health benefits of this plant in the room are very large. Bay leaves contain a lot of phytoncides and essential oils that purify and heal the air. Yes, and the energy of the plant is very good, not in vain, because it is a noble laurel! Wreaths of laurel branches were awarded to heroes and winners!
Laurel bush is very well suited for both the bedroom and the living room. It improves sleep, harmonizes relationships, smoothes sharp corners, helps mutual understanding.
The most popular use of bay leaves is as a spice. Also seen for a long time medicinal properties plants, to which it owes a large presence of essential oil in the leaves. This oil is widely used in perfumery and cooking.
I got a laurel about ten years ago. Accidentally bought in some store. Brought it home, very happy.
But the plant sat in one place, did not grow. What's happened? I began to carefully examine - and on it was a shield! That's why my laurel isn't growing! And now I will talk about my experience of caring for indoor laurel and how I got rid of the shield on it.
By itself, the laurel plant is quite unpretentious, loves light and fresh air, and is not afraid of drafts. Grows well in normal soil suitable for most evergreens.
If you want to prepare the soil yourself, take such a mixture - turf land - 2 parts, and 1 part each of sand, humus and well-decomposed peat. The soil should be sufficiently breathable with neutral acidity.
In the summer, during the growing season, the laurel needs to be fed. From home remedies, I use water after washing meat, a little ash, and I also fertilize with fertilizers for indoor flowers according to the instructions. Top dressing can be done once every two weeks.
The tree tolerates pruning well, the branches can then be used in the kitchen. Pruning can form a plant and prevent it from growing strongly.
The temperature for growing a bay tree is normal, room temperature. In winter, if it is possible to keep it cooler, then it is better to do so. But I have a laurel in an ordinary room, though in the house in winter we maintain a temperature of 19-20 degrees, sometimes it is even lower, that is, without heat.
In winter, the plant is in a dormant period, so it is not necessary to feed, but water sparingly when the soil dries out. In winter, even the lack of light, the bush tolerates well, it stands in my back of the room on coffee table.
But when it starts to grow, it is better to put it in a brighter place so that the shoots do not stretch.
Reproduction of the noble laurel.
The easiest way is to propagate laurel by root shoots at room conditions during transplantation. There are times when seeds are found in a bag of bay leaves and they sprout from someone.
My Lavrushka has never bloomed, perhaps in room conditions this is not always possible.
I tried to root the stalk under the jar, he sat for a very long time, but he did not take root. Now I propagate only by division during transplantation and by root shoots, which appear in abundance around the main trunk.
Watering the laurel tree.
One of the main conditions successful cultivation laurel - proper watering. The main rule is not to flood the plant, especially in winter when it is at rest. In summer, watering should be sufficient, in the heat you can water every day.
Here it is necessary to monitor the condition of the earthen coma, to prevent drying out. Laurel will react to a lack of water by wilting leaves. If watered in time, the leaves will restore turgor.
For the past few years I have been taking my laurel outside in the summer, and it stands on my terrace until frost. In the heat in the evenings, I can spray the flowers with water, when it rains, I expose them to the rain. to wash off the dust.
In winter, instead of rain, I make a cool shower for the laurel. He loves it very much, the plant just cheers up after bathing. During the shower, I put a plastic bag on the pot so that water does not flow into the pot.
Bay tree pests and their control.
One of the most malicious pests room laurel is a shield. A lot of people wrote to me about this in the comments under the article about. I promised to tell you how I coped with the shield.
Yes, it was not easy. What didn’t I do after I discovered this muck on the branches! Say. that helped one thing I can’t, most likely everything helped in the complex.
Several times I washed the plant with laundry soap with the addition of kerosene. The pot was wrapped with a film, and soap suds from laundry soap with the addition of kerosene. Per liter of water - a spoonful of kerosene. The foam was left on the plant for a couple of hours, then washed off with a shower.
Since I have a laurel in winter on a coffee table, in the evenings I examined the plant, and with a cotton pad moistened with alcohol, I removed the shields from twigs and leaves.
But my scabbard turned out to be not only on the laurel, it also struck lemons and even on the window.
Therefore, in the summer I went on a real attack. She took all the flowers out into the yard, etched the window with dichlorvos, then washed it thoroughly.
I cut the leaves of the hippeastrums, and treated all the plants - laurel, lemons, hippeastrum with Aktara. Moreover, she processed not only the crown, but also poured a little earthen ball, since the scale insect larvae live in the soil.
This treatment was repeated two or three times with an interval of 10-14 days. And after that, the shield disappeared.
Now, for the purpose of prevention, before bringing indoor flowers into the house after a summer stay on the street, I definitely process them all right on the terrace, preferably twice with an interval of 7-10 days.
And in the winter, I periodically examine my pets, so that if something happens, take timely action.
So you learned how you can grow a bay tree at home and how to overcome the scab. We will talk more about the benefits of laurel another time. There will be questions - ask, if I can, I will answer.
That's not all for today. Bye bye! I would be grateful if you share the publication with your friends on social networks.
Laurel noble - care and cultivation at home.
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Bay leaf is called the leaves of a bay tree or a noble laurel. This plant belongs to the Laurel family. It is believed that the laurel originally grew in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. In general, this culture is one of the oldest spices. In addition, the laurel was considered sacred plant for many peoples. It is known that the winners of sports competitions were crowned with bay leaves in Ancient Greece and heroes of war in the Roman Empire. It is no coincidence that the term "laureate" just comes from the word "laurel". In the Middle Ages, the laurel tree was considered a symbol of goodness, able to protect against evil forces. There are many ways to grow a bay tree yourself. We will talk about everything in more detail below.
Today, laurel is grown in Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, the Caucasus, Portugal, Guatemala and Albania. Bay leaf is used not only for culinary purposes, but also for medicinal purposes. In addition, it is used in the chemical industry as a raw material for the production of camphor and cineole.
The laurel tree usually grows only in sunny areas, but with frost and in the shade it feels bad. Bay leaves are harvested in autumn and winter, starting in November and ending in February. At the same time, the leaves of only those trees that are 3-4 years old or more are suitable for collection. And this is done together with the branches. In this form, they are dried, then separated and laid out in special bags. Dried bay leaves can be stored for several years. Only at the same time they should be in a dry room.
Bay leaves are known for their specific smell, which they have due to the unique essential oils found in their composition. They are concentrated kapron, valerian, acetic acid. In addition, essential oils contain quite a lot of phytoncides that have antibacterial properties, as well as fatty acids, tannins and trace elements.
How to grow a bay tree
How to grow a bay tree from a leaf
Laurel reproduces in several ways:
- seeds,
- dividing the bush
- cuttings (leaves).
We will talk about the last method of growing a bay tree at home below.
Stages of planting laurel:
- Laurel cuttings should be harvested in summer or early autumn. Shoots are cut off from an adult tree. It is desirable that the size of the handle is 7-9 cm.
- Next, you need to remove all the lower and upper leaves from the seedling.
- One end of the cutting should be placed in a mineral mixture that stimulates the growth of the root system.
- Then the seedling is placed in a seedling box half-filled with sand and peat moss.
- The container is wrapped in a plastic bag. Only this should be done carefully so as not to damage the integrity of the handle. Thus, the most favorable conditions for root growth. This process is quite lengthy. The first roots will appear only after 7-8 months.
- Next, the sprouted seedlings are planted in a special substrate consisting of moss and leafy soil. Immediately before planting, the soil is checked for the presence of pathogenic bacteria that can harm the cutting.
- The planted cuttings are wrapped with a film, so that moisture will not leave the soil. Please note that for the successful growth of the seedling, the temperature in the room should be maintained at +21 degrees.
- After the seedling has taken root, it should be transplanted into a pot filled with earth for planting. It should include sand, soddy soil, peat and manure.
- After transplanting, the planting container should be covered with large glass jars. This is necessary in order to maintain the desired soil moisture.
- Sprouts are sprayed twice a day. After 1 month, you can introduce fertilizing the soil with mineral fertilizers and manure. Top dressing should be alternated with each other. Immediately before fertilizing, the soil should be abundantly moistened.
- If a plant transplant is necessary, then soil with the same composition is used in which the bay tree previously grew.
Growing bay tree from seeds
Seeds brought from the south are used. The most optimal period for planting is winter (February).
The order of disembarkation in this way:
- Clay containers are used for planting seeds. A layer of expanded clay (3 cm) should be poured onto its bottom, and then sand (2-3 cm). Next, the container is filled with planting soil.
- Laurel tree seeds are planted to a depth of 1.5 cm. The soil temperature should be approximately 20-21 degrees. Seed germination time is 3-4 months.
- Before planting seeds that have sprouted, the soil should be abundantly moistened. Until the sprouts germinate, the ground should be ventilated daily for 15-25 minutes.
- When the sprout hatched, the plant needs to be transplanted. The composition of the soil should be the same as when planting by cuttings (sand, soddy soil, peat and manure).
- Place drainage at the bottom of the pot. Next, a layer of prepared soil is poured.
- When the plant is transplanted, water it. Distilled water is used for irrigation.
- After that, the container with the seedling should be kept in a dark and warm place for 2 weeks. Then it can be transferred to the windowsill.
Bay tree: care
- Laurel "loves" mineral fertilizers and other supplements. Fertilize the soil should be 1 time in 3 weeks.
- In addition, the plant needs to be watered very often. In summer, you need to water 1 time in 3 days, and in winter - 1 time in 4-5 days.
- Bay tree should be replanted every 3-4 years. It is best to plant the plant in wooden boxes.
Why should you grow bay leaves?
exquisite spice
Perhaps no other seasoning is used as often as bay leaf. Fresh and dried laurel leaves are suitable as a spice. Sometimes its seeds are used. Bay leaf can improve the taste of almost any product. It is used for cooking meat and fish dishes. In addition, it is added to marinades, sauces, broths and soups. In particular, it is used in the preservation of cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, squash and other vegetables. Laurel is best combined with beets, tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage. Essential oil is obtained from bay leaves, which can be used in the production of confectionery and alcoholic beverages.
Laurel is recommended to be added to dishes already before the end of cooking. Otherwise, it may start to give bitterness, which will only spoil the dish. It is good to put a lot of bay leaves in a dish, but for a short time, then take them out. In this case, they will give only the best notes of their fragrance.
About the benefits of the plant
Since ancient times, bay leaves have been used to treat various diseases. In particular, it is believed that it can reduce pain during childbirth, and the oil obtained from the plant helps with convulsions. In addition, ancient healers used laurel for nervous tension, joint pain, and to relieve shortness of breath. The seeds and bark of the tree were used to prepare a decoction for urolithiasis and cholecystitis.
Today, bay leaves are used to improve digestion, appetite, to lower blood pressure, relieve swelling, to suppress the development of tuberculosis, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Laurel is considered a good natural antibiotic. It is also used to improve metabolic processes. Thanks to tannins, it allows you to relieve swelling and inflammation. If you properly prepare a decoction of bay leaves, then with regular use it will be an excellent tool for strengthening immunity and restoring the body after a long illness.
Laurel is also known to have good diuretic and astringent properties. It is used as an antifungal and antibacterial agent. In addition, it can help with stomatitis, fever, disorders nervous system, amenorrhea. It is also an effective emetic and diaphoretic. It is applied in folk medicine for the treatment of sprains, bruises and pain in the joints.
The essential oil of leaves, flowers and fruits of the tree is used as an insecticidal and disinfectant. It is also used to make medicinal soaps and ointments. A decoction of bay leaves is necessary to accelerate the removal of excess salts from the body. In addition, it allows you to get rid of salts in the joints, gallstones. The same decoction is useful in diabetes. Just don't take it every day. It is quite enough for a year to conduct a three-week course.
How to choose a bay leaf
Laurel keeps well beneficial features even when dry. Therefore, it makes no sense to look for fresh leaves somewhere. Dry leaves contain almost the same amount of essential oils. They also retain their anti-cancer and antibacterial properties. Thus, both raw and dried bay leaves can be consumed. You just need to know how to choose it correctly. In particular, you need to pay attention to the outside of the leaflet. It should not have any stains. Leaves, as we have said, are collected from November to February. Therefore, it is better to buy laurel during this period.
Bay leaf storage rules
Bay leaf should be protected from moisture. Any airtight packaging will work for this. For example, you can take glass jar and close the lid tightly. Sometimes laurel is already sold in sealed packaging, which does not allow air to enter. This is the so-called reusable zip fastener. Despite the fact that the bay leaf is stored for a long time. Do not store it longer than its expiration date, which must be indicated on the packaging, suggests. If the bay leaf is “left over”, then it can begin to be very bitter.
How to grow a bay tree: video
You can see how laurel is grown in the video:
How to grow a laurel tree, plant propagation, caring for a laurel at home, diseases and photos - read all this and more in our article.
Home and garden care
Caring for the bay tree at home and in open field certain points must be observed. Let's consider them in more detail.
Lighting
Laurel is a quite hardy plant; it can grow in moderate light, but best of all it will develop - and, moreover, actively branch - in bright, mostly diffused, light. It should be protected from excess scorching sunlight.
Temperature
Before growing laurel at home, you need to know that the best summer temperature range is from 18 to 20 degrees, and winter - 10 to 15 degrees.
Laurel is most pleasant to live in the fresh air - on a balcony, in a courtyard or in a country house, including throughout the year - if winter temperatures are kept at + 5-6.
ATTENTION: zero temperatures for it is already a risk zone, and lowering the temperature to -10-12ºС laurel can withstand only a short time.
Priming
To grow laurel at home and in open ground, you need to prepare a soil mixture - this is ordinary garden soil, universal primer from the store or loose nutrient mixture with a neutral reaction, self-prepared according to one of the following recipes:
- one part of leaf, the same amount of soddy land and humus with the addition of two parts of river sand;
- two parts of sod land and one each - leafy land, humus, peat and sand with an additive wood ash in a small amount.
Watering
The plant needs to be watered abundantly in the spring and summer.
IMPORTANT! At the same time, stagnation of moisture in the soil should not be allowed: the water flowing down after watering into the pan should be drained immediately.
Irrigation water is taken soft, not cold - well-settled tap water or rainwater.
With a cool wintering, which will bring great benefits to the laurel, moderate watering is needed - about once a week or less to prevent the soil from drying out. If the wintering is warm, water more often and be sure to regularly moisten the air.
Air humidity
IMPORTANT: humidity in winter should be sufficient, and in summer - high. This - necessary condition successful cultivation of laurel.
When caring for indoor laurel, you should carry out regular spraying with soft water. You can also put the plant in a tray with wet pebbles, place wide vessels with water nearby.
ATTENTION: at the same time, the air must be sufficiently fresh. At home, the bay tree should be in a well-ventilated place.
top dressing
In the spring-summer period of active vegetation twice a week plant support complex fertilizers, while alternating mineral and organic compositions.
In autumn and winter, the frequency of top dressing is reduced to monthly or even more rare. It depends on the thermal regime in which the laurel is contained: with a cool wintering, you will need to fertilize much less frequently.
Growth and flowering
In room culture, the plant lives for about 15 years, on the site, in the same place - up to 60 years. Bush able to grow up to 10-15 meters in height. Laurel at home is limited to 1.5-2 meters with pruning.
Small yellowish flowers bloom in early spring, in March-April, and on some plants - only staminate, on others - only pistillate. When growing flowering in the room is a rarity. After pollination, fruits ripen - blue berries.
pruning
When caring for a bay tree at home - a bush responds well to pruning forming a lush crown: spherical, cubic, pyramidal.
Laurel pruning is carried out starting at the age of 5.
There are two deadlines for this operation: end of summer (August) immediately after the end of the active growing season and end of autumn (October-November), in transition to a state of rest.
On open area damaged branches are pruned in early spring.
Landing
How to grow laurel at home? When answering this question, it is important to remember that when planting laurel at home, a container with a mandatory drainage hole must have standard sizes and the optimal ratio with the growth of the seedling: the vertical size of the pot is from a quarter to a third of the height of the plant.
Before planting a laurel, a drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the container (expanded clay, small pebbles, brick battle).
Then a small amount of prepared soil is poured, on top of it - root system with saved, if possible, earthen clod. Add soil mixture to right level, gently tamping it down.
Transfer
Young, the first five years of life, plants are transplanted, as a rule, every year, adults - once every 2-3 years, and then even less often.
ATTENTION! The method of transplantation should be transshipment, in which the earthen clod is preserved as much as possible, and the new pot is not much, 2-4 centimeters, larger than the old one in diameter.
Your attention room laurel and his photo:
You can also watch a video on how to care for laurel at home:
reproduction
Reproduction of laurel is possible by seeds, as well as vegetatively - cuttings and layering.
Seeds at home
ATTENTION! When growing laurel from seed, there are two main difficulties: laurel seeds quickly enough, in 3-5 months, lose a significant percentage of germination and, due to the high oil content, germinate very slowly, up to six months.
Therefore, the seed should be as fresh as possible, and to see germinated seeds, you should be patient. Laurel is sown in January-February. To speed up germination seeds are treated with a solution growth stimulator, and then planted to a depth of 1-1.5 cm in moistened light soil.
close polyethylene film, contain at 18 degrees, regularly ventilate and maintain the humidity of the substrate.
IMPORTANT! They monitor the possible appearance of mold on the seeds, monitoring their condition weekly. In case of appearance white coating, remove it and wash the seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
As soon as germination begins, the seed coat cracks and then they can be immediately planted in separate containers, placing in the ground to a depth of five centimeters,- but the seedlings will need to wait about a month.
IMPORTANT: young "bay leaves" should be protected from heat and excess sunlight.
In the open field
Laurel fruits ripen in October-November. After they are collected, the seeds are released and scattered in a permanent area, at a depth of about 5 cm. shoots, usually appear from late spring to late summer at a temperature of + 20-22ºС.
When planting laurel with seeds, seedlings are thinned out to a distance of 5-8 cm between individual plants. Sometimes there are January shoots, which, for the most part, die.
Reproduction by cuttings
The best time for harvesting and rooting laurel cuttings in room culture is March-April or June-July;
ATTENTION: in an open area, cuttings are carried out only in June-July.
Cuttings with three internodes (usually their length is 6-8 cm) are cut from the middle and lower parts of semi-lignified shoots.
Lower sheet is removed, the rest are shortened by half and the prepared cuttings are sent for rooting.
At 16-20 degrees, they are deepened by 1-1.5 cm into moistened sand. Cover with plastic wrap ventilate, spray.
Rooted cuttings begin to grow, as a rule, after a month, and when they grow by 2-3 cm, they are seated in separate containers.
Your attention is a video about the reproduction of laurel cuttings at home:
Reproduction by layering
Usually, laurel gives lateral processes with a more or less developed root system, which are carefully separated and seated. Injured places are sprinkled with crushed charcoal.
Thus, when growing laurel You can focus on the following calendars of the main works:
In the open field
Spring
March-April - sanitary pruning: removal of damaged and frostbitten branches. Rooting cuttings in a cold greenhouse.
top dressing
Summer
The whole period is the germination of seeds sown in autumn. Regular feeding
August - shaping pruning
Autumn
October-November: pruning, hardwood harvesting, fruit picking, seed sowing
At home
Spring
March - sowing seeds.
March-April - propagation by cuttings, separation of lateral processes.
top dressing
Summer
The whole period is the germination of seeds sown in February-April. Regular feeding.
June-July - propagation by cuttings
August - shaping pruning
Autumn
October-November: pruning, harvesting of hardwood raw materials. Rare feed.
Winter
February - sowing seeds
Signs of trouble
Leaves turn yellow, curl and fall off- Insufficient air humidity. Regular spraying should be established.
The outer side of the leaves is covered with brown spots- waterlogging of the soil, especially in combination with low air temperature and / or irrigation water. Irrigation needs to be optimized.
Why do the leaves turn black?
The leaves are covered with a spotted black coating, which is easily erased from the surface of the leaf blade - a sooty fungus that settles where it is traces of vital activity of pests: scale insects or mealybugs. First of all, get rid of pests, then remove plaque. In case of severe damage, the affected leaves are removed.
Diseases and pests
A healthy, well-groomed plant is practically not susceptible to diseases and pest invasions. With the wrong home care on the laurel may appear spider mite, scale insect, mealybug. This is especially likely when there is insufficient air humidity.
As a first measure, treat the affected areas with soapy water, and most reliable means insect pest control are directional insecticides.
Beneficial features
The aroma and pleasant bitterness inherent in laurel have made its leaves an extremely popular spice that induces appetite and promotes digestion.
Essential Laurel oil has disinfectant and insecticidal properties.
As a prophylaxis against painful processes in the intestines, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, it is enough just to grow laurel in a room and inhale its aroma.
To enhance the smell of the plant twice a week you can pour aspirin solution(5 g per liter of water) or glucose (1 ml per 1 liter of water). Healing decoctions and infusions of bay leaves are also prepared.
Application
Fatty oil is extracted from the fruits, which is used in medical practice for the manufacture of balls and candles. In addition, it is good antiseptic, and also used in massage procedures. Laurel fruits are also used as a spice.
You learned how a laurel tree differs, caring for it in the open field and at home, how to grow it from seeds, and that having your own personal bush-tree completely covered with ready-made bay leaves, you can say goodbye to colds forever, all year round inhaling air saturated with phytoncides tree of winners.
Bay leaf is our most sought-after spice, without which we can’t stew. But not everyone knows that these leaves with high content essential oils can be grown on your own windowsill.
In addition to being useful for cooking, this magnificent sprawling bush will decorate any room with itself, as well as heal it, because the volatile substances secreted by the plant successfully fight pathogenic microbes, including mycobacterium, the causative agent of tuberculosis.
Growing laurel at home
Practice shows that it is very easy to grow a laurel tree at home, it is very undemanding to conditions and can grow even on a northern windowsill. But if you move it closer to the sun, the plant will immediately respond with abundant branching.
Laurel care at home comes down to regular light watering and spraying. In order for the glossy leaves to shine attractively, it is necessary to arrange a bush once a week. warm shower. Thus, it will be possible not only to decorate the room with a green handsome man, but also to grow foliage for subsequent winter cutting for eating.
The soil for laurel is light, but in no case acidic, which can even destroy the plant. Therefore, when planting, a little slaked lime should be added to the soil.
The noble laurel tolerates drafts and other adverse conditions without any problems. In the summer, it is advisable to take it out to a sunny balcony, while not forgetting to increase the frequency of watering, or to transport the tree to the dacha, where it will feel great throughout the warm season.
Reproduction of laurel at home
If you decide to propagate your tree at home, then this is not difficult - for this, a shoot from a bay leaf, or rather a lignified shoot of 3-4 years, is cut off with a sharp knife under acute angle. After that, the branch is placed for a day in Kornevin's solution to stimulate root formation. So that all forces go to the appearance of roots, 
existing leaves are cut in half.
For a young plant, not ordinary soil, but river sand is suitable. It is poured into a small flowerpot, watered, compacted, and a laurel shoot is planted strictly vertically in it. After this, the plant must be covered with a plastic bag or a glass jar to create a favorable microclimate inside. In a month, the young plant will have roots and young leaves will begin to grow.
An adult plant is transplanted into fresh soil every 2-3 years, not forgetting to add to the soil slaked lime preventing soil acidification.
