How to grow milk thistle in the garden: useful tips from experienced gardeners

A layman looking at this plant might think it is a thistle. However, milk thistle is a one- or two-year-old medicinal plant called milk thistle, or Silybum marianum, which belongs to the Asteraceae family. Already in ancient times, the Egyptians used a plant called silibam to treat liver diseases, jaundice and snakebites.

Milk thistle: planting and care

This plant requires good soil with a neutral reaction and sufficient calcium. The seeds are sown in early spring. It must be remembered that they require a supply of water in the soil for germination. They are sown in rows of 20 cm, at a distance of 50 cm. If we have too thick sowing in one row, it will be necessary to thin out the plants immediately after germination. Otherwise, when the leaf rosette begins to ripen, it will be impossible.
Milk thistle is a biennial plant. In the first year, it creates a rosette of tough, mottled leaves with white spots and yellow thorns. In the second year, the rosette turns into a branched stem with a height of 0.5 to 2 meters. In case of injury, milk juice flows out of the plant. In June, inflorescences appear on the stems, surrounded by a wreath of smaller inverted leaves with sharp thorns. The flowers are graceful, reddish-purple, purple-crimson and rarely white. Fruits are smooth brown-black algae with fluff, oily, slightly bitter in taste.
Milk thistle is often grown in gardens as a vegetable. In warm areas, it often grows in rubble and is resistant to high temperatures and rocky places.

Milk thistle seeds: application

In our country, milk thistle seeds are used as a drug. They are grown specifically for pharmaceutical processing. Therefore, it is one of the few plants grown in large areas. Hand picking milk thistle seeds begins when the seeds turn dark and begin to cling to the surface of the garment. After harvest, they are left to dry in a shady, well-ventilated place, preferably by hanging them in mesh bags. Then, you need to remove the fluff from the dried milk thistle seeds.
Milk thistle seeds are used in powder or infusion form. It is used in the treatment of acne, cirrhosis of the liver, gallstones, jaundice, varicose veins and leg ulcers, hemorrhoids, has anti-hepatic activity.

We also have milk thistle in our gardens - a good honey plant rich in bumblebees, bees and other insects.