Milk Thistle Medicinal herbs

Silybum marianum

A well-known annual or biennial herb. It is grown as an annual and produces fruit in the second year. It comes from the Asteraceae family. It grows up to 2 m tall. In the second year after planting, spiny leaves with white veins appear. At the end of June, milk thistle blooms purple. At first glance, it is very similar to common thistle. At the end of summer, the flowers turn into fruits, which are then harvested, dried and utilized.

It contains flavonolignans silybinin, silydianin and silychristin (silycristin), collectively called silymarin. Its seeds are a significant source of silymarin. Today, in addition to the seeds themselves, teas, oils, tinctures, ointments, tablets and capsules are used.

It can be used as an ornamental solitary plant. Its majesty and colourfulness stand out best. It can also be grown in beds alone or in mixed plantings. The flowers also look beautiful in a vase.

How to grow milk thistle

• It requires a place where there is plenty of light, but not too dry and the place is protected from wind. During the growing season in the bed, we remove weeds from the milk thistle and water and fertilize regularly.

• Seeds are sown directly at the site. The most suitable time is to sow seeds from April to May. Before sowing, soak the seeds in warm water. We sow to a depth of 2 to 3 cm in rows that are 40 - 50 cm apart. Seeds germinate in about 20 days. In the rows, we thin the plants to a distance of 20 cm, i.e. to a spacing of 40 x 20 cm.

• The soil should be high quality, loamy with a neutral reaction, rich in calcium.

• Basic fertilization consists of incorporating well-aged compost in autumn into the bed where milk thistle will be grown. During the growing season, you can fertilize in the form of watering with liquid water-soluble fertilizer, e.g. Cererit, Kristalon.

• A health problem, especially in sub-mountain areas, is grey mould. Prevention against this disease is early sowing. In warm regions, Fusarium fungi cause damage. From time to time, the occurrence of chicory powdery mildew is recorded, and recently also leaf spot caused by species of the genus Alternaria and Septoria. It is worth treating seeds with e.g. Fundazol and using biologically suitable seeds. Among animal pests, aphids, caterpillars of polyphagous pests and thistle moths cause damage.

• Whole flower heads are harvested before ripening. Then they are left to ripen and dry in a warm, airy and dark place and then cleared of fluff and sorted.