Purple Salsify

Purple salsify is a tasty vegetable with edible root which can be used also as a spice. Its leaves are used for preparing salads and healing agents. The plant can be grown all around the country.
Purple salsify is a biennial plant. The seeds develop in the second year. The leaves are up to 60sm long, narrow, tender, whitish. The roots are conical, up to 30sm long and 2-3sm wide. They are yellow-white outside and white inside and they are also rich with milky juice that gives the typical flavor and healing properties of the plant. The flower stalk is twiggy and reaches up to 1.80m height. Each branch ends with a columbine raceme. The blossoms are purple and their blossoming season is in July. The germination of the seeds remains 2-3 years. The vegetation period lasts 120-130 days.
Purple salsify is a cold-resistant plant and you can plant it before the winter. You need 1g of seeds for 1m2. The plant is drought-resistant but for a good crop you have to choose wet and cool regions.
If the soil humidity and the soil nutrients are not enough, the flower stalks come up in the first year and the roots are bad. That’s why it’s necessary to irrigate the plant. Best irrigation is the drip irrigation.