Description of the borago plant, how to grow cucumber grass in a personal plot, recommendations for reproduction, possible difficulties, note for flower growers, types. Borago is also found in the literature under the name Borage or Borage, as well as Borage herb. Plants of this genus belong to the Boraginaceae family. Although according to the data presented on the Plant List website, five different species are included in this genus, but the most famous is only one - Borage officinalis (Borago officinalis). The plant is found naturally in Asia Minor, in southern European regions, in the north of the African continent and in South America. Although Syria can be considered its ancestral lands. It mainly settles in vegetable gardens, weedy places, or grows like weeds.
| Family name | Borage |
| Life cycle | Annual |
| Growth features | Grassy |
| Reproduction | Seed |
| Sowing period in open ground | May or November, but possible throughout the summer |
| Substrate | Any neutral fertile |
| Illumination | Penumbra |
| Moisture indicators | Drought tolerant |
| Special Requirements | Unpretentious |
| Plant height | 0.6-1 m |
| Color of flowers | Shades from white to dark blue and deep purple |
| Type of flowers, inflorescences | Flowers in curls |
| Flowering time | June August |
| Decorative time | Spring-autumn |
| Place of application | Borders, decoration of flower arrangements, flower beds and flower beds |
| USDA zone | 4-9 |
There are several versions of what served as a name for this representative of the flora. According to one of them, Abbot Hippolyte Coste argued that the origins of the name go back to the Latin phrase "cor ago", which means "I excite the heart" or the combination of words in Arabic "bou rasch", from which the term "borage", translated as "Father of sweat", all because the plant was distinguished by the properties of arousal. Based on the interpretations of Hanoin Fourier, the name of the cucumber herb generally goes back to the Middle Ages, since in Latin the word "burra" meant a coarse fabric with elongated hairs, since the stem of the plant is covered with wet hairs. Well, the popular name "borage" or "cucumber grass" came from the smell that leaves the foliage.
Borage is an annual herb with a stem reaching 60–100 cm in height and has a hairy covering. Its root is tap-shaped. The stems grow straight or ascending, its outlines are thick, ribbed, they are hollow inside, there is a branching at the top. The leaf plates, which are located in the root part and at the bottom of the stem, are elliptical or oval in shape, their apex is obtuse, to the base there is a narrowing, passing into a shortened petiole. The foliage, which is formed higher, on the stems themselves has an oblong-ovoid outlines, there is no petiole, the leaves grow sessile, they embrace the stem with their bases. They, like the stems, are covered with tough whitish hairs.
During flowering, flowers are formed, crowning long pedicels, from which curls are collected. The calyx is divided almost to its base into lobes. The shape of the lobes is linear-lanceolate, the surface is also with coarse pubescence. The calyx is shorter than the corolla. The color of the corolla petals can range from whitish to dark blue or deep purple. The corolla tube is short; 5 stamens are formed inside it. With their outlines, the flowers resemble small stars. The flowering process takes all the summer months.
After pollination, nuts are formed, which in borago have an oblong-ovoid shape, their surface with small tubercles. The fruits ripen from mid-summer to September. The entire growing season of borage is 70 to 80 days.
Since cucumber grass is an excellent honey plant, in European countries that are engaged in beekeeping, it is cultivated precisely because of these qualities. Such states are England and France. It is customary to plant borage in household plots to decorate flower arrangements, borders, flower beds and flower beds.
Cucumber grass: planting and caring for the personal plot and in the rooms
- Location selection. Borage does not require a lot of light, so in the garden it can be placed in shade under trees next to the walls, since the foliage dries out from direct sunlight. At home, the borago is even placed on the windowsill of the northern window, and there is enough lighting for it in the winter.
- Planting and soil for planting cucumber grass. Any soil is suitable, but it is better when it has fertile qualities and looseness, slightly acidic (pH 5-6) or neutral (pH 6, 5-7). Planting borago is carried out in May or November, but you can do sowing all summer long.
- Fertilizers for borage. With the arrival of autumn, it is recommended to dig up the area on which the borage will be sown and with the introduction of superphosphate into the soil (based on the fact that 25 grams are used per 1 m2) and potassium salt (here they use up to 15 grams of the agent on the same area). With the arrival of spring, the soil needs to be fertilized with nitrogen preparations, it is best to use ammonium nitrate, which is taken per 1 m2 in the range of 10-15 grams. For indoor cultivation, a universal complex fertilizer once a month is suitable for cucumber grass, such as diammophoska or ammophos.
- General care. The plant is drought tolerant and is watered when grown outdoors only if there is a severe drought. Good soil moisture improves the palatability of the foliage. In rooms, humidification is carried out when the upper part of the soil dries up. After watering, the substrate must be loosened and weeded.
Borago: tips for breeding
The plant is capable of multiplying without human intervention, but then there is a danger in its aggressive seizure of territory and turning into a weed. Therefore, it is recommended to follow this process. The seeds are harvested until they are fully ripe. The cucumber herb must be sown in May or November. But some carry out sowing and during the summer period, if it is not required to receive flowers or seeds, and only juicy greens are grown. Thus, the sown cucumber grass will delight with shoots until frost.
The seeds are placed in the ground without prior preparation. The planting is carried out to a depth of 1, 5–3 cm. It is recommended to keep up to 40–45 cm between rows. It is best when there are 3–4 seed material per 1 m2. When the seedlings appear (usually after 10-12 days), they should be thinned so that the distance between the seedlings remains 15-20 cm.
If you want to get early greens of cucumber grass, then you can sow seeds in pots filled with fertile soil at the end of March, and after 3-4 leaf plates unfold on the seedlings, then transplant borage seedlings into open ground. In this case, planted young plants should be covered with plastic transparent film. To obtain a borage crop in late autumn, seeds are sown in August.
Sowing seeds in several stages is justified by the fact that growing up, the foliage of the borage becomes brown and coarse, it is no longer used in food.
Cucumber grass: possible difficulties (diseases and pests) when growing
Although the plant is most often not interested in harmful insects and is very rarely affected by diseases, such troubles still exist.
If the weather, especially in summer, is dry, the borago can be attacked by aphids, which feed on sucked leaf juices. But since the plant is used for food, it is not recommended to use conventional insecticidal agents. You can use folk remedies that are made on a natural basis: pepper, garlic solutions or soapy water. The whitefly often becomes the same problem, when whitish small midges begin to curl over the plantings of cucumber grass. Here, you will also have to use the numerous folk arsenal to remove pests.
A problem in growing borage is the burdock caterpillar, the fight against which is quite difficult. In this case, it is recommended to spray with a valerian solution (pharmaceutical agent dissolved in water) or with a toothpaste-based agent. The same danger is posed by the pest - the sorrel lancet. For its removal, Parisian greens are used, which is mixed with water and a suspension of dust, diluted with soap and water. Well, the natural method is to manually collect the caterpillars.
If you neglect the rules of struggle and leave the appearance of harmful insects unattended, then soon both young shoots and all borage plants will be destroyed.
Due to high humidity and warm weather, cucumber grass is subject to various spots. In this case, spots of white, gray or brown color appear on the leaves, and subsequently the whole plant dies. If the degree of damage is small, then all areas with spots are removed, and then the planting of borage is treated with iodine solutions (1 ml of the drug must be diluted in 400 ml of water), garlic or onions (30-40 grams are infused in 10 liters of water for 6-8 hours, filtered and apply).
When a plant is not cared for, it goes wild quickly. The foliage of such a borage becomes tasteless and should not be used for food.
It is important to control the independent spread of such plantings, since borago has the peculiarity of self-seeding, and the fallen seeds sprout the next year. Without such control, plants quickly spread throughout the area and begin to aggressively displace other garden plantings, turning into a vicious weed.
Flower grower notes about borago
Often, beekeepers know about cucumber grass as an excellent honey plant. Since 1 ha of plantings of borage harvested up to 200 kg of a transparent, aromatic product. Borage is also a source of bee bread, which is quite valuable. It is curious that insects collecting nectar and pollination of flowers fly to the cucumber grass, even if the weather is cold and cloudy. At the same time, bees begin to pollinate those garden crops and flowers that are next to the borage thickets.
Since borage is very rarely attacked by harmful insects, experienced growers plant it next to potatoes and tomatoes, to scare off not only Colorado beetles, but also other pests of the garden and vegetable garden. Typically, planting protection reaches 95%.
Interestingly, the entire aerial part (stems and leaves) of borage has been used since antiquity for dyeing woolen fabrics, while the material took on a rich blue color scheme. Cucumber herb was used in Western European lands as a vegetable plant, since the young foliage has the smell of cucumbers and resembles their freshness, and the onion flavor is manifested. Can be used in culinary dishes and fresh leaf plates, and flowers can be used both fresh and candied.
Even the healers of Ancient Rome and medieval Europe knew about the properties of the plant and did not ignore the foliage and flowers of the borage. They were thrown into the wine, which was given to the soldiers before the battle, to give them courage, and to the people who suffered from sadness and melancholy during the feast. To date, it has been proven that borage has a mild laxative effect, has diuretic, diaphoretic and enveloping properties, on its basis preparations were made for rheumatism and gout, skin problems, and also as a sedative.
However, there are also contraindications for the use of borage. Among which are pregnancy, intolerance to this plant, chronic cholecystitis and manifestations of bleeding. Also, the constant use of drugs based on borage can affect the functioning of the liver.
Types and varieties of borago
Borago officinalis. The most popular type, which is called the "star flower". Herbaceous annual, native lands are in the Mediterranean, in many territories it has been naturalized. The height of the stems can vary in the range of 60-100 cm, they grow straight or ascending. They are thick, ribbed, there is a cavity inside, the apex is branched. The rhizome is rod-shaped. The surface of the stems and leaves is covered with bristles or coarse hairs. The foliage is alternate, the shape is simple, the length of the leaf reaches 5–15 cm. The flowers have five narrowed triangular petals. The color is most often blue, but there are forms with pink or whitish flowers. Summer bloom, fruits begin to ripen from July to September. The fruit is a nutlet, with an oblong-ovoid shape and small tubercles.
Most often grown varieties:
- Vladykinskoe Semko with oval-shaped foliage of large size, its surface with strong pubescence, large flowers of a closely-blue color, a branchy stem of leaves gathers in the root zone a spreading rosette. The time for collecting greens from the moment of sowing the seeds is almost one and a half months.
- Dwarf it is characterized by increased resistance to heat decrease. The height of the straight stems is about 60 cm, the leaves are large with a dense surface, their shape is oval, the color is rich green. When a plant becomes an adult, its leaves are completely pubescent. The color of the petals is blue. After the shoots have appeared, it takes up to a month until the green mass is collected. The mass of one plant can reach 200 grams.
- A trickle. The height of the highly branched stems of this variety is 40 cm. The leaf rosette is horizontal. The size of the leaves is small, their shape is elongated. The color is green, but there is a waxy bloom, there is a slight wrinkling on the surface. When the foliage is young, it is distinguished by pubescence. The size of the flowers is medium, the petals are blue. After sowing, it takes a month and a half and you can harvest the grass. The mass of one plant is 100 grams.
- April. The stem can be extended up to a meter in height. It grows straight, but it has strong branching and pubescence. The leaf plates are large, the color is green. The foliage surface is slightly wrinkled, covered with hairs. When the leaves are young, but there is fluff on them. The petals of the flowers are blue with a pinkish tinge. The mass of the harvested bush is 100 grams, the greens can be harvested after a month and a half from sowing.
- Okroshka differs in decorativeness. An annual, the height of the stem of which is measured by one meter. The branched stem grows straight. The leaf plates are very large, with a dense surface and a strong cucumber odor.
Borago trabutii. It was first described by the botanist Meir in 1918. Flowers have a whitish color, gathering in racemose inflorescences. The stem grows straight, reaching a meter. The foliage is arranged alternately, its surface is soft, the shape of the leaf plate is oblong-elliptical, converging into an elongated petiole.
Borago pygmaea. Homeland are the lands of Corsica, Sardinia and the islands of Capraia. If it grows in the sun, it partially loses its green color. Perennial, which can reach a height of 40-60 cm. Leaves are simple, arranged alternately. The leaf plate is ovoid, whole petiolate. Flowers with light blue petals, like five-pointed stars. The flowering process takes place from July to October.
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