... Virginia sida is the solution

Virginia sida completely resists frost and drought. During the great drought of 2006 in Poland, it hasn't been raining at all for 4 months, there was only a 10% loss on the plantation. However, those individuals, the stems of which have died back, grew again from the suckers under the soil during the rainfalls in August, and by October they had reached a height of one meter. The really big loss occured in the seed-crop. In 2008, the drought in Hungary damaged the recently planted nurslings. The blazing sun burnt out the tiny growing plants, despite watering. During this year's spring, to huge surprise, Virginia sida grew again even where the burnt out nurslings stood.

In our climate, the full-blown plant will start to blossom from June, until the first frosts in October. This feature makes Virginia sida quite different from the other plants which blossom and are a resource for honey. In its first year it reaches a height of 60-90 cm, very slowly. During this period the various weeds grow much quicker, so chemical or mechanical weed killing is necessary. However, from the second year it grows to 2.5 - 4 meters, grows lots of shoots which take away the growing space from the weed. The various herbicides must be carefully applied, because knowledge about their effects on Virginia sida is incomplete as of yet.

This herb, if expediently cultivated, provides an opportunity for the farmer to choose an alternative culture in case he couldn't cultivate traditional food plants with an adequately good crop anymore, or couldn't cultivate them at all. Cultivation is worth for the farmer, for the district, for the state.  back...  main page