Growing thyme from seeds and propagation by cuttings, planting and care in open ground

Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Garden plants Published: September 16, 2016Last edits: January 06, 2021

plant (lat. Thymus) belongs to the largest genus of the Lamiaceae family, representing aromatic subshrubs or shrubs. The Russian word “thyme” comes from the Greek “incense,” which means fragrant substance. By the way, in some cases, thyme and thyme are the same plant, if you mean creeping thyme. Among the people, thyme has many other names - Bogorodskaya grass, lemon scent, flypalm, incense, chebarka, heather. The herb thyme, references to which can be found in the ancient works of Theophastus and Dioscorides, comes from North Africa. The genus also contains several hundred species native to Eurasia and Greenland. The plant is in demand in the food, perfume and medicine industries.

Planting and caring for thyme

• Planting: sowing seeds for seedlings - in mid-March, planting seedlings in the ground - in the second half of May.
• Flowering: June-August, starting from the second season.
• Lighting: bright light or partial shade.
• Soil: light, fertile, drained, neutral or alkaline.
• Watering: moderate, as needed, but with the beginning of flowering, water more often. If the summer is rainy, watering will not be needed.
• Top dressing: only when growing on very poor soil, horn flour is added to the area and the surface is mulched with rotted compost.
• Pruning: in early spring and after flowering, shoots are shortened by two-thirds.
• Reproduction: seeds, cuttings, dividing the bush.
• Pests: aphids, sand worms, meadow moths and weevils.
• Diseases: in conditions of high soil moisture it can be affected by fungal infections.

Read more about growing thyme below.

Thyme plant - description

The height of thyme bushes reaches no more than 35 cm. The stems of the plant are woody, recumbent or ascending, herbaceous flowering branches are ascending or erect. The root of thyme is taproot and also woody. Each type of thyme leaves varies in shape, size and veining. Most often they are short-petioled, leathery, hard, less often - sessile, entire-edged, and in the Far Eastern species - jagged. Thyme flowers, white, pink or purple, are collected at the ends of branches in heads or elongated inflorescences. The fruits are capsules with four spherical nuts with a pleasant aroma and bitter taste, which are called “black thyme” and are used as a seasoning. Thyme blooms in June-August, and its fruits ripen in August-September.

Thyme is related to plants such as lavender, oregano, rosemary, hyssop, basil, motherwort, sage, lemon balm and mint, and in recent years its popularity has grown so much that it can be found in the garden no less often than traditional green crops – dill, celery and parsley.

From our article you can learn how to plant thyme and care for it at home and in the open ground, what are the beneficial properties of thyme, what diseases does it treat and what are the contraindications of thyme, as well as how planting and caring for creeping thyme differs from growing upright thyme species.

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What can you grow after thyme?

Thyme exhibits its full qualities and properties for 3-4 years, after which it begins to gradually lose them. Therefore, after this period of time on the site, it is recommended to replace it with another crop.

A good follow-up candidate after thyme could be green manure, which will enrich the soil with the necessary nutrients and also reduce its acidity if necessary. After a year's rest, the earth will again be ready to accept any variety of Bogorodskaya grass.

Decorating your yard or flowerbed with thyme, planting and caring for it in the open ground is quite easy, will bring not only aesthetic pleasure to everyone around you, but will also provide enormous therapeutic and preventive assistance in eliminating numerous ailments.

The main thing is to listen to the advice and recommendations of the specialists proposed in this article for its high-quality and long-term cultivation.

Planting thyme for seedlings

When to plant thyme seedlings

Thyme is sown for seedlings in mid-March. Small thyme seeds are mixed with river sand in a ratio of 1:3 and sown on the surface of the cactus substrate, into which a third of the black soil is mixed. You can simply mix equal parts of sand and peat, just don’t forget to disinfect the substrate before sowing. The seeds are not buried in the ground, but lightly “salted” with sand on top, sprayed with water from a fine spray, covered with glass and placed in a warm, bright place.

Growing thyme from seeds

Seedlings are kept indoors for at least two months - the best age of seedlings for planting in the ground is 70 days. When the seedlings appear, the temperature of the crops is lowered by several degrees, the covering is removed, and the seedlings and soil in the container are sprayed as soon as the substrate begins to dry out. Provide the seedlings with good ventilation, but avoid drafts.

Methods for propagating thyme

Bogorodskaya grass reproduces in all possible ways, so even an inexperienced gardener can grow it:

Dividing the bush

It is carried out in the spring, with this method the bush is dug up, the roots are carefully separated and planted in previously prepared places. Division is a method that requires extreme care, since careless handling can damage the root system of the bush. Cuttings

This method can be used throughout the growing season. Green cuttings are cut off from a creeping shoot, planted in damp sand and covered with film or a jar to create a greenhouse effect. For three to four weeks, the cuttings are grown, moderately moistened every day, and then transplanted to a designated place on the site or in the garden. Seeds. You can sow thyme seeds directly into a garden bed or greenhouse, or pre-grow seedlings. Seeds are planted in the spring, in early May, after soaking the seeds for twelve hours in warm water. Seedlings grow within a month, but it is important to ensure that weeds do not interfere with the young shoots. It is more convenient to sow the seeds in containers at home in advance, and later, in early June, plant the grown shoots in open ground. In this case, the seeds are sown in March, two to two and a half months before planting on the site.

Unpretentious thyme will take root well on the windowsill in an apartment if you provide it with a sunny and warm place. In a situation of early sowing and planting by seedlings, thyme blooms already in the first year of planting. When planting seeds in the ground, the seedlings will bloom only in the second year of life.

Growing thyme at home

How to grow thyme at home

If you want to grow thyme at home, take a pot with a diameter of no more than 15 cm, pour a layer of drainage material 2-3 cm thick on its bottom, lay the soil on top, the composition of which was described above, moisten it, spread a few seeds over the surface, lay on top of them is a layer of soil 5 mm thick, spray it with water from a spray bottle, cover the pot with glass or film and place it on a south window, providing protection from direct sunlight. Thyme seeds have excellent germination rate. As soon as sprouts appear, the covering is removed.

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Water thyme in a pot sparingly once the top layer of soil has dried out. After a couple of months, leave the most developed seedlings in the pot and remove the weak ones. To get juicy thyme greens, cut them often without allowing the thyme to bloom.

In the photo: How thyme blooms

Growing thyme in open ground

Planting thyme in the ground

In the second half of May, thyme seedlings are planted in a bed that should be located on the sunny side. Thyme can grow in partial shade, but in shady places it stretches out and develops poorly. The soil in the garden bed should be neutral or alkaline, light, fertile and well-drained. On moist clay soils, thyme often wilts, so it is necessary to provide it with good drainage. It is advisable to prepare the soil for thyme in the fall: dig up the area, clear it of plant remains of the previous crop, add compost or rotted manure and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers for digging.

In the spring, before planting, loosen the bed and water the soil with a solution of 20 g of urea in 1 liter of water.

Planting of thyme is carried out maintaining a distance between seedlings of 20-25 cm, and between rows - 40-50 cm.

How to grow thyme in the ground

Caring for thyme requires loosening the soil so that water does not stagnate in the roots of the plant and a crust does not form on the surface of the soil. It is also necessary to weed the bed, removing weeds. To make your work easier, mulch the bed with compost. In addition, growing thyme requires pruning, which is done in early spring or after flowering. The shoots are shortened by two-thirds - before lignification begins. Thyme is pruned so that the bushes are dense and compact.

In the photo: Growing thyme

Watering thyme

Thyme tolerates drought much more easily than waterlogging, so be vigilant and water the plant when it needs moisture. With the beginning of flowering and the growth of young shoots, watering should become a little more frequent. But as already mentioned, if the summer is moderately rainy, thyme does not need to be watered at all.

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Feeding thyme

By and large, thyme does not need fertilizing, especially if you added fertilizer to the soil before planting it. Only on very poor soils can you fertilize thyme with rotted compost in the form of mulch or add horn flour to the soil.

What to plant after thyme

Since thyme is a crop with a low need for nutrients and does not deplete the soil as much as, for example, potatoes, cabbage and celery, any crops can be grown after it, except those belonging to the Lamiaceae family.

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Harvesting

Fragrant branches can be plucked during the entire growing season, but for harvesting they are cut twice - during the period of intense flowering and in the fall, in early September. At this time they contain the most essential oils. To dry, they are laid out in a single layer on a cloth or hung in bunches in a well-ventilated area.

Attention! It is advisable to prune 4-5 weeks before secondary assembly. Then the thyme will grow green mass.

Blooming thyme will decorate any flower garden. They can be used to decorate alpine slides or rock gardens. But it is impossible to evaluate a plant from a photo - it is attractive not only in appearance. Ornamental varieties are grown not only for their flowering, but also for their intoxicating aroma.

Pests and diseases of thyme

Thyme pests

Thyme, like lavender and rosemary, is quite resistant to diseases and harmful insects, primarily due to the essential oil it contains, but if agricultural practices are violated, it can suffer from aphids, sandworms, weevils and meadow moths.

The meadow moth, or rather its caterpillars, feed on the underside of leaves, entwining them with cobwebs. They also damage shoots and flowers. In order to prevent the appearance of a pest on thyme, it is necessary to remove weeds in a timely manner and dig up the area in the fall. Meadow moths are destroyed by treating thyme with Decis.

The sandworm is a black beetle, 7 to 10 mm long, that attacks the ground parts of the plant. To destroy this pest, baits poisoned with pesticides are used.

In the photo: Thyme blooming in the garden

Aphids bite through the leaves and young shoots of the plant and feed on their sap. The drugs Biotlin and Antitlin are effective against it.

The weevil damages thyme flowers by laying larvae in their buds. You need to fight it by treating thyme with a solution of the drug Fitoverma, which is safe for humans.

Thyme diseases

Due to improper care of thyme, namely due to excessive watering, the plant can develop fungal diseases. Infections of this kind are treated by treating thyme with a solution of a fungicide - Fundazol, Ridomil, Topaz, Horus or a similar drug. However, it is better to prevent the disease than to fight it. You can avoid thyme being damaged by fungi by providing it with proper care.

Types and varieties of thyme

There are quite a few types and varieties of thyme. The most famous types of thyme in cultivation are common and creeping thyme.

Common thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Either medicinal thyme or officinalis thyme is native to the Northwestern Mediterranean. This is a plant with flowering shoots up to 15 cm high and leaves pubescent on the underside of the plate. The flowers of this species are pale lilac, almost white. Medicinal thyme plants are divided into several subspecies or varieties:

• Alba – thyme with white flowers;
• Splendence - a variety with carmine-red flowers;
• Elfin is a dwarf plant no more than 5 cm high, forming a dense compact cushion with a diameter of up to 15 cm.

A composition of subspecies of common thyme with flowers of different colors looks great in one area.

In the photo: Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum)

Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum)

It is often called thyme or savory, and is naturally distributed in the Far East, Siberia, the European part of Russia and Western Europe. It is a perennial up to 15 cm high with creeping cylindrical stems and protruding hairy shoots at the bottom. The leaves of plants of this species are petiolate, lanceolate, up to 1 cm long. On peduncles up to 15 cm high, capitate mauve inflorescences open in July. This species has been in culture since the 16th century. There are varieties of creeping thyme with carmine, white and pink flowers, as well as forms with variegated leaves. Creeping thyme is cared for as a ground cover plant.

Early thyme (Thymus praecox)

Available in two varieties:

• Minor is a slowly growing shrub, as if created for alpine hills - with small inflorescences and small pubescent leaves;
• Pseudolanuginosus is a ground cover plant that forms a carpet of flowers, of which there are so many that the leaves are not visible.

Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus)

Or lemon thyme - a natural hybrid of common thyme and flea thyme, found mainly in the south of France. Flowering shoots of this species, reaching a height of 30 cm, bear light pink inflorescences. The leaves of lemon-scented thyme plants are round and variegated. The hybrid has been in cultivation since 1595. Caring for the plant involves mandatory pruning of adult bushes and covering the plant for the winter. The most famous varieties of lemon-smelling thyme are:

• Golden Dwarf and Bertram Anderson - varieties with yellow spots on the leaves;
• Silver Queen is a plant with a white border along the edges of the leaves;
• Golden King is a plant with a yellow border along the green leaves.

Subarctic thyme (Thymus subarcticus)

Distributed in the north and east of Europe in forests, on rocks and along the banks of reservoirs. This is a low shrub with loose inflorescences of bell-shaped dark purple flowers and dense small leaves with downward curved edges. Flowering begins in July or August. The plant has a strong, pleasant aroma.

In the photo: Early thyme (Thymus praecox)

Japanese thyme (Thymus japonicus)

It grows in the Far East, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Northern China on rocks near sea and river banks. It is a subshrub with small elliptical leaves and semi-whorled inflorescences of pink flowers that open in July or August.

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Flea thyme (Thymus pulegioides)

A species with elliptical leaves and dense heads of mauve flowers that open in June.

Siberian thyme (Thymus sibiricus)

A steppe species from Mongolia and Eastern Siberia, blooming all summer with numerous pink flowers.

Dorfler's Thyme (Thymus doerfleri)

Originally from the Balkan Peninsula and rarely found in culture. An interesting, but not very hardy species with light pink flowers appearing in May-June.

What you need to grow

The first thing to do is choose suitable containers, soil mixture and thyme variety.

Place and soil

For normal growth, thyme needs a lot of space and good lighting. In the apartment, give him the sunniest window or place on an insulated balcony or loggia.

Choose loose, well-draining soil with an optimal pH of 6.0 to 8.0 for thyme. Many experts recommend a potting mix for cacti, others recommend an all-purpose potting soil mixed with 1/3 perlite or sand.

Thyme can be planted together with rosemary, since their growing conditions in an apartment are almost the same, more details in this publication.

Preparing containers

Thyme has a powerful root system, which is usually larger than its above-ground part. For one adult plant, a pot with a volume of 4 liters and 25 cm in diameter is suitable. There must be at least one drainage hole at the bottom.

To plant thyme with seeds, you need a small rectangular tray no higher than 8-9 cm in height. A little later you will need small pots, like for seedlings.

Thyme varieties for growing at home

There are two main varieties of this plant: ornamental and culinary. Most varieties are grown as ornamental, but are not edible themselves.

The three most common culinary types are:

• Common thyme is the most popular and is also called French thyme. Creates a bush with a height and diameter of 30-45 cm. It blooms with small, white-pink flowers. It has a classic spicy aroma and taste.
• Lemon - leaves are pubescent on the underside, flowers are pale lilac or almost white. Pleasant lemon aroma and slightly bitter burning taste. Goes well with seafood and sweet dishes.
• Caraway - less common than the previous ones. Best suited to fish and poultry.

Depending on the specific variety (of which there are more than 100), you'll get flavors of lemon, mint, cumin, or even orange.

Thyme can be easily grown from seed, opening up a greater variety of varieties. The most commonly chosen ones are:

• Rainbow;
• Limoncello;
• Honey aroma;
• Bogorodsky Semko;
• Ordinary;
• Fragrant bed;
• Nectar.

Properties of thyme - harm and benefit

Medicinal properties of thyme

The above-ground parts of thyme are harvested for medicinal purposes. Infusions and decoctions of them, using the antiseptic, expectorant and enveloping properties of thyme, successfully treat bronchitis, whooping cough, tonsillitis, tracheitis, sinusitis, sinusitis, bronchopneumonia, diluting sputum and stimulating the work of the bronchial glands. Thyme preparations are prescribed for neuralgia and neuroses, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract - enterocolitis, dysbacteriosis, dyskinesia, atony, intestinal spasms and flatulence.

Thyme is effective in the fight against pathogenic microflora that is insensitive to antibiotics. If you sleep on a pillow filled with thyme, you can forget about problems with insomnia and headaches.

In the photo: Thyme is a healthy and spicy plant

Thyme herb contains bitterness, gum, essential oil, tannins, organic pigments and minerals. Essential oils “red thyme” (aged) and “white thyme” (fresh) have a warming effect on the skin and are used for both medicinal and cosmetic purposes. However, you should be careful in dosages and use them strictly in accordance with the instructions. It wouldn't hurt to have a preliminary consultation with your doctor.

Thyme - contraindications

The benefits of thyme are undeniable, but not everyone can benefit from it. Due to the high content of thymol in the product, it is contraindicated for heart and kidney failure, stomach and duodenal ulcers, especially in the acute stage of the disease. Thyme and preparations made from it are not recommended for pregnant women, since the tonic properties of thyme can cause uterine contractions. Due to an overdose of thyme preparations or their long-term use, hyperfunction of the thyroid gland can develop - Graves' disease. Children under two years of age should not be treated with thyme.