Sunflower or sunflower - family benefits, beauty, health

Sunflower, in English - sunflower, sunny flower. In Latin - helianthus - the meaning is the same. The Germans, the French, the Portuguese, the Ukrainians, and other peoples also see a miniature sun in the bright large inflorescence. I hope you guessed it, we will talk about the sunflower, its benefits, useful properties.

Kuban sunflowers

From a botanical point of view, a sunflower is not a flower. His “head” is an inflorescence, scientifically called a basket. Each seed is obtained from one flower. And even more surprising is that each "ray of sunshine" is a reed, with a large petal, a flower. He does not bear fruit.

In almost all languages, the name sunflower is associated with the sun.

There are two reasons: the appearance and manner of turning after the celestial body. And sunflower seeds are a real pantry of sunny vitamins!

Sunflower - unpretentious plant. Once in the ground, the seeds quickly germinate, sprout and grow together. Sunflower only the first time you need to take care. Basic care is thinning and weeding. And then the roots penetrate deep into the ground, from where they get the necessary nutrition, water.

Be sure to grow sunflowers in the country, garden, if you have children! Then you do not have to buy seeds - they will have their own - healthy, wholesome. Show your child how a bright "flower" turns over the sun. To the question - why?- You can answer: "And so that the seeds are more likely to ripen."At night, the sunflower lowers its head down - "goes to bed."

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Growing sunflower in open ground

In open ground sunflower seeds are usually sown in the Kuban region in the second half of March.

Seeds are buried in the wells to a depth of 3-6 cm. If you want to get a good harvest, then when the seeds begin to sprout, get rid of frail and weak plants. That is, the seedlings should be thinned, leaving only the strongest.

In order for sunflowers to grow well, loosen the ground to a depth of 20-25 cm, destroying the weeds until the plants are strong.

Increase yields can be due to fertilizers. But be careful, do not overdo it! A minor nutrient deficiency can easily transfer sunflower, but an excess can lead to an accumulation of nitrates in the seeds. This is absolutely not necessary for you as a consumer. When fertilizing a sunflower, it is better to use mature humus or compost.

Sunflower care is elementary. He needs only 2–3 times a summer weeding between rows.

And more. As soon as the seeds begin to ripen, the birds will begin to claim them. If you have a few plants, you can cover each inflorescence with gauze or some kind of cloth. You can of course wrap all the sunflower baskets for yourself. But it is better to leave a couple of small heads for feathered guests. They will get used to visiting your garden where they will eat not only sunflower seeds, but also garden pests.

Consider that the sunflower ripens, depending on the climate, 2-3 months. Late plantings do not have time to mature, but they will be pleased with sunny inflorescences.

Sunflowers can be grown in the apartment. In flower boxes or pots, seeds are sown in early spring. In a pot with a diameter of 15 cm, filled with a universal compost mixture, 2-3 seeds are placed.

When the sunflowers sprout, thin them out, leaving one strongest sprout in each pot.

If necessary, feed the plants with nitrogen. Put young flowers on a sunny place.

In late spring or early summer, they are best transplanted into larger pots. And if you want to get the earliest sunflowers on your street, grow seedlings in an apartment, and when it gets warmer, plant them in the ground!

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Sunflower Root useful properties and contraindications

And sunflower roots are nothing at all! They very well remove stones from the kidneys, gall bladder, dissolve salt deposits in the joints, reduce pressure( as often happens with unhealthy kidneys), improve hearing and vision, relieve dizziness, heart and headaches. All of these symptoms are usually present with elevated pressure.

The roots are harvested in late autumn, when the caps are removed. The thing, I tell you, is very, very troublesome.

Dig up the roots, peel off the side small roots, since they are unsuitable for treatment, cut the central thick root, which in its raw form is not inferior in strength to oak, 4-6 parts, dry( and this is a problem, since it is already rawautumn), break into pieces 1-1.5 cm with forceps or nippers and only then can be used for its intended purpose.

1 glass of crushed roots is boiled in 3 liters of water for 3 minutes from the moment of boiling. The broth is drunk for 3 days, that is, 1 liter per day, either before or after a meal, you can drink instead of water, because the drink has a pleasant taste. Then the same roots are boiled again in 3 liters of water, but already 5 minutes, the broth is drunk according to the same scheme, and finally, the same glass of roots is boiled in the same amount of water for 10 minutes, drunk the same way. The roots are thrown away. Thus, from one glass of roots 9 liters of healing broth for 9 days of reception turn out. The next portion of the broth is prepared from the new roots.

Broth roots drink this way for 2 months( 7 glasses of roots).After a couple of weeks, the urine will turn rusty, but do not be afraid of it, this is normal when stones dissolve and salt deposits. By the end of the course, the urine will be clean and clear as water.

When treating, one should not eat spicy dishes and highly salty foods, food should preferably be vegetable( but this, if desired).

A contraindications such as decoction of sunflower roots should not be taken sick, if they are diagnosed - the insolubility of kidney stones. Decoction is also contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women.

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The benefits of sunflower seeds

Sometimes sunflower seeds are called food debris because rude people scatter husk on the street and in the stairwell.

But inside the seeds are not garbage, but a treat useful to humans. The content of valuable elements in it is very high. For example, vitamin D( just called it solar) is more than in cod liver, which is known as a great protector against rickets. This nutraceutical plays an important role in the recovery of the skin, mucous membranes, helps the growth of the child's body.

Even in seeds, there are many vitamins of groups A and E. They have antioxidant properties, protect us from atherosclerosis and tumors, positively affect vision, promote the natural beauty of hair and nails.

Fatty acids are important for the metabolism in the human body, they burn fat cells, preventing their deposition in unnecessary places.

Tannins and carotenoids, which are also part of the seeds, help our body to overcome infections and parasites.

And they also contain phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese, silicon, sodium, and we all need them for health and beauty.

. .. but know when to stop!

Sunflower seeds are so tasty that it is impossible to tear them away. At the same time, they are very high in calories, which can lead to a set of extra pounds, and this is undesirable. Particularly high risk for people who do not play sports. The girl, often gnawing seeds at the TV, runs the risk of losing her slim waist.

In addition, there is a danger of damaging the tooth enamel by flicking the seeds. Dentists advise you to clean them with your hands, and not to bite your teeth. However, this method seems to me very uncomfortable. So gnaw more careful.

Uncooked, sun-dried seeds are much healthier than fried ones. After a hard heat treatment, they lose some of the vitamins, and when they come into contact with fat, where they are most often fried, they noticeably increase in calories.

Unfortunately, some unscrupulous food producers grow sunflower on the soil overfilled with fertilizer. Harvests are higher, but the usefulness of the product is reduced to zero. So the most useful sunflowers are those that grew in the clean land of your country house.

Doctors believe that eating sunflower seeds is a preventive measure against a number of health problems. Including such serious as heart attack, skin diseases, bone fractures.

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Decorative sunflowers

Decorative flower sunflower varieties are a great success for florists and florists. They are not poisonous, but their seeds are small, and to husk them is a little pleasure. But how much joy their merry little faces in the flowerbed will bring! And they, too, will turn after the sun.

Decorative sunflowers are very diverse. You can choose varieties of any height - from 3-meter giants to 30-centimeter dwarfs, with a different type of branching or single stem. You can even create a composition of babies in pots, which is easy to replace with a new mood.

A rich color palette of decorative sunflowers. Modern varieties, except for all known, yellow and orange, bear inflorescences and other shades. For example, white, color of melted milk, ivory, lemon, apricot, orange and so on.

The diameter of the inflorescences of decorative sunflowers is from 5-6 to 17-20 cm. There is also a series of terry varieties! Some are like chrysanthemums, others are gerberas, others are dahlias, and the others are only like themselves.

Impressive variety of petals: rounded, long, with all sorts of bends, etc.

If you are confused by the abundance of pollen from decorative sunflowers, and you are afraid to smudge it, look for a sterile hybrid for sale. You will not get seeds from him, but his buds look neater.

With repeated sowing, it is easy to achieve continuous flowering of decorative sunflowers from the beginning of summer to the first frost.

Food grade sunflower can also be used for decorative purposes. Just remember that, as a rule, it is - large plants.