Contents
Generality
Mountain savory, also called mountain savory, belongs to the Labiates family, to the genus Satureja and to the mountain species. It is a perennial plant, 40-50 cm high and 30 cm wide, with a bushy habit, with much branched, creeping or erect stems, lignified at the base, herbaceous, green and hairy at the apex; the roots are fibrous, circular and primary. The leaves are opposite, larger than those of the domestic savory, lanceolate, pointed, smooth, with short petioles and of a bright green color tending to grey. The flowers are hermaphroditic, small, white and grouped in inflorescences in the axils of the leaves and located at the apex of the stems; flowering takes place during the summer. The seeds are round small and very dark in color tending to black. The plant parts used are the leaves, characterized by a more intense and spicy aroma than that of the summer species, and the inflorescences.
Climate and terrain
The mountain savory it prefers temperate climates, but it also thrives in environments with harsh winters, as it tolerates temperatures several degrees below zero. The best exposures are completely sunny environments, but it also adapts to partially shaded areas. As for the soil, savory is an adaptable species, it prefers loose, calcareous, poor, dry and well-drained soils, while avoiding those that are too compact because they are subject to water stagnation. It is a species native to the mountainous regions of southern Europe, it grows spontaneously in the mountains on arid and rocky soils, along roads and paths up to an altitude of 1400-1500 m.
propagated
The mountain savory it multiplies by seed, by division of clumps and by branch.
Sowing is done directly in the field in the fall and, mainly, in the nursery from November-December. In the latter case, the seeds are placed in containers with a light and fertile substrate that must be moistened.To promote germination, the seeds must be treated with hormones and need a light environment, so they must not be buried; in the spring, the seedlings are ready for transplanting. The division of the clumps is practiced in autumn or spring and consists in taking portions of basal branches capable of emitting roots, in order to obtain new specimens identical to the mother plant. Stalking only affects plants less than a year old and consists of covering a branch attached to the parent plant with soil to promote the emission of roots near the nodes.
cultivation techniques
Savory is grown in orchards and home gardens, outdoors and in outdoor pots. The planting distances between the rows are 60 cm and within the row 30-40 cm, with a density of 5-6 plants/m2. Weeding in orchards and vegetable gardens is done by manual weeding, while inter-row weeding is used in field crops. Fertilization is done during seedbed preparation by adding mature manure, while in the years following vegetative recovery a slow-release ternary fertilizer is administered. Although savory is drought resistant during the summer, irrigation is done to increase leaf production, allowing the soil to dry out between one treatment and another.