How to dry lavender at home: the timing of the collection of inflorescences and harvesting methods
Lavender is a unique plant with an unusual aroma. The inflorescences contain a large number of useful trace elements. It is used to decorate bouquets, make teas, essential oils and even desserts. How to dry lavender at home so that the raw materials do not lose nutrients during processing.
When to harvest?
You need to harvest lavender when it begins to bloom en masse. The peculiarity of the plant's flowering is that the flowers bloom from top to bottom and it is not necessary to wait for the entire inflorescence to bloom. The main thing is that the lower flowers open.The flowering period of the culture begins around mid-June.
Although the flowering period of lavender is quite long and is approximately 3-4 months, it is undesirable to delay the harvest. The later the inflorescences are cut, the less nutrients they contain. If you hold out until the end of summer, then it will no longer be possible to cut off the inflorescences. Seeds will appear in them, and such inflorescences are no longer suitable for use in cooking or for brewing tea.
Lavender picking is best done late in the evening or early in the morning, when it's not hot outside and the sun doesn't bake. But the best time is considered early in the morning before sunrise, when the morning dew has not yet dried on the plants.
Collecting process
To cut the inflorescences, use only sharply ground scissors or pruners. After pruning, there should be no creases on the stems.Cutting with a blunt pruner adversely affects the he alth of the bushes. Cut should be no more than a third of the entire stem. If you cut more, the root system can die. And since the culture belongs to perennials, if you cut off the inflorescences incorrectly, you can lose the entire bush.
The older the bush, the more inflorescences it will have. And, accordingly, there will be much more harvest in the summer. In the first year of growing the plant, 1-2 bouquets are cut from the bush. After 2-3 years, the number of bouquets may exceed 10.
How to dry lavender?
Dry lavender so that it does not crumble, according to simple rules. First of all, you can not dry the raw materials in the sun. For drying, only closed dark rooms that are well ventilated are suitable. You can dry the inflorescences under a canopy in a draft. The main thing is not to allow the sun to fall on it.
Cut stems are collected in small bouquets and tied with a thread or a bank elastic band. After a few days, the stems decrease in size, and if you use a thread, the bouquet may fall apart. Hang down with flowers.
If you dry the bouquets in limbo, the inflorescences will remain the same saturated shade as fresh ones. Under natural conditions, the blanks will dry for 2-4 weeks. In order not to miss the moment when the lavender dries, you need to check regularly. If the flowers have begun to fall off, then the bouquets have dried up.
Another way to harvest raw materials for the winter is to dry the inflorescences in the sun. It's not the best way. During drying in the sun, some of the nutrients evaporate, but if the deadlines are running out, you can use it. Cut flowers are laid out on a flat surface. They are regularly turned over so that the blanks dry evenly.Lavender should not be dried in this way for more than a week.
Store lavender indoors in cloth bags or glass jars. It is not recommended to use plastic bags for storage. In them, the raw material rots and may become moldy. In addition, when raw materials are stored in bags, plants lose their unique aroma. It is best to use ceramic dishes for storage. In such containers, lavender will remain fragrant until next spring.
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