Flax, also known as linseed, is considered the oldest cultivated plant in the world. The first items of clothing were made from flax in very early times. The useful plant can also be grown in your own garden - because of the blue flowers or to harvest fibers and linseed.
How to grow flax in the garden?
To grow flax in your own garden, choose a warm, protected location with well-drained, dry soil and little nitrogen. Sowing takes place in late March to early April without risk of frost. Flax requires a lot of light and minimal care.
What is made from flax?
- Fibers for clothing, linen fabrics, book spines
- Linseed oil for nutrition and the machine industry
- Flaxseed for nutrition and animal feed
Growing flax in your own garden
If you plan to grow flax yourself in the garden, you must first think about what is important to you. If you want to harvest the fibers for fabrics, you need particularly tall varieties.
For harvesting linseeds as grain or for pressing to produce oil, there are low varieties of linseed in which the seeds have a particularly high oil content.
The right location for flax in the garden
Flax likes it a little warmer. Flax tolerates frost very poorly. Choose a somewhat sheltered location with well-drained, dry soil that is low in nitrogen.
Sow flax only in areas where no other types of flax have grown for at least four years. If the time interval is shorter, fungi will form in the soil, causing the young plants to rot.
Linse is sown at the end of March and beginning of April. However, no more severe frost can be expected. Flax is a long-day plant, so it needs a lot of light. Flax grows particularly quickly in May and June.
Flax hardly needs any care
You only need to fertilize flax varieties that you grow for fiber production. A fertilizer based on phosphorus and potassium (€6.00 on Amazon) ensures particularly strong, long fibers. Linseed oil is not fertilized.
Watere sparingly. Flax for fiber needs more moisture than flax for oil production.
When can flax or linseed be harvested?
Flax is ready to harvest 110 to 120 days after sowing. It is then pulled by hand including the roots. It is ideal if the plants are harvested a week before they are fully ripe.
Tip
It's not for nothing that the base of paintings is called a canvas. The fabric is made from flax, i.e. linen. It can be woven very finely and is almost lint-free.