Content
24 12 2010 admin 21 comments
Spruce (Picea)
Family - pine (Pinaceae).
Origin - North America, Northern Europe, Northeast and Central Asia, Western and Central China.
Growing a Christmas tree at home is not at all easy, but today many are following this path, trying to protect millions of young trees from the ruthless custom. Someone brings home a Christmas tree in a container, bought in a nearby greenhouse, someone is trying to grow a fir tree from seeds.
When growing spruce at home, it is most difficult to provide the tree with a period of winter dormancy. This requires a cold, bright and well-ventilated room, which is difficult to find in a heated apartment. In the warmth, the Christmas tree cannot "fall asleep", its natural cycle is disrupted, which leads to the appearance of uncharacteristic painful shoots or drying out.
Also, do not forget that in nature, spruce is a large, powerful tree that cannot be locked in a pot forever. A two-three-year-old tree must be transplanted into its natural habitat, no matter how sorry it is to part with a pet.
Types of firs
For those who decide to grow a Christmas tree at home, it is better to pay attention to such unpretentious and inexpensive species as common spruce or prickly spruce. Serbian spruce is very hardy, its dark green needles are highlighted with silver from below.
When you click on the picture, it will increase!
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Norway spruce |
Spruce prickly |
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Serbian spruce |
Serbian spruce |
There are dwarf types of spruce: Canadian spruce Conica (ten-year-old plant height about 50 cm) or common spruce Nidiformis (30 cm), which can fit in an apartment, but their appearance is somewhat different from the traditional one.
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Canadian spruce Conica |
Norway spruce Nidiformis |
Spruce tree care at home
Lighting... Spruce prefers bright diffused light. Young trees should be grown in a well-lit area, out of direct sunlight. Spring sunburn is especially dangerous.
Temperature regime... Moderate, requires coolness in winter. The optimum winter temperature is +6 - + 10 ° С. A spruce can easily withstand a drop in temperature to negative marks (at night on a loggia), but at the same time you need to make sure that the clod of earth does not freeze. Ventilation is necessary in summer.
Watering... Regular abundant watering from spring to autumn. The clod of earth must be constantly and evenly moistened. Drying out or waterlogging is unacceptable. During the rest period, watering is reduced to once every 2-3 weeks (if the room temperature is +5 - + 10 ° C). If the temperature is about 0 ° C, then watering is reduced to once a month.
Periodic spraying from a fine spray is necessary, especially in winter in a heated room.
Fertilizers... Top dressing with universal fertilizers for growth.
Earth mixture... In order to grow spruce from seed, you need acidic soil. You can buy a special soil for conifers, or prepare it yourself by mixing in equal shares a universal soil mixture and earth from a coniferous forest.
Transfer... The transplant is extremely difficult to tolerate with spruce. It is necessary to maintain the integrity of the earth clod and prevent exposing the roots. The transplant is carried out every two years at the end of spring.
Reproduction... In order to successfully grow a spruce from seed, it is necessary to collect seeds from the opened cones collected between November and February. You need to sow seeds to a depth of no more than 0.5 cm.Before the emergence of shoots, the pot should be in a cool ventilated room (in nature, spruce grows in early spring under the snow).
One-year-old seedlings usually reach a height of 15-25 cm, depending on the variety and growing conditions.
Possible problems when growing spruce at home
Needles turn yellow and fall... Usually this is a consequence of mistakes in care (temperature regime, improper watering, sunburn). Affected branches are not restored. You can change the conditions of detention and spray with bio-regulators (drugs that increase the immunity of plants are sold in specialized stores).
The needles have lost their shine and wrinkled. The soil mixture is not sufficiently oxidized. It is necessary to add soil from under conifers to the topsoil. You need to be very careful: firstly, do not expose the roots of the plant, and secondly, prevent changes in ground level, that is, do not plant the tree deeper than it was before.
Irina Surdu specially for the site All about flowers
Spruce belongs to the pine family. It grows in Asia, America and Europe. It is not so easy to grow a Christmas tree at home, as it needs careful care. The most common types that are grown at home in a pot are common and silver spruce. In addition to these varieties, you can still grow araucaria (indoor spruce). Araucaria can be grown in a pot at home all year round if the tree is properly cared for.
Content rules
Lighting
In order to grow a Christmas tree at home in a pot, you need to properly care for it. The tree loves bright lighting. It is necessary to grow young specimens in a bright and warm place, while the pot of spruce should be protected from the rays of the sun. Otherwise, it may negatively affect the further growing of the tree.
Temperature
In the cold season, ate needs coolness. In this season, the temperature regime should range from +6 to +10 ° С. The forest beauty can quite easily tolerate freezing temperatures, only it is required to monitor the soil clod so that it does not freeze.
With the arrival of warm days, it is recommended to take the spruce out to the balcony, and shade it from the scorching sun.
Watering mode
To grow a Christmas tree in a pot, you need to provide it with proper care. Watering is the main component in the cultivation of a forest beauty. The tree should be watered abundantly from March to September.
The soil is not allowed to be excessively wet or too dry. In winter, the frequency of watering is reduced to 1 time in 20 days, if the temperature in the room is +6 - + 10 ° С. At a temperature of 0 degrees, the tree is moistened once a month. Professionals advise to spray the tree from time to time, especially during cold weather.
Top dressing
Spruce does not need regular feeding. In the summer, spruce is fertilized only about three times with universal dressings.
Earth substrate
If you want to grow a spruce from seeds, then an acidic soil is needed for this. You can purchase an earthen mixture for conifers or prepare it yourself at home. It is required to take universal soil and soil from a coniferous forest in the same proportions, and mix it all.
Transfer
The spruce tolerates the transplant rather painfully. It is recommended not to break the earthen ball and prevent the roots from exposing. You need to replant the tree 2 times a year, around May.
Reproduction
To grow a Christmas tree at home in a seed pot, you need to take seeds from cones, which are harvested from mid-autumn to the end of winter. At home, seeds are sown no deeper than half a centimeter. During the rooting period of seedlings, the container should be placed in a well-ventilated room.
Saplings that are one year old grow from 15 to 25 centimeters, it all depends on the type and conditions.
The most common problems
In order to grow a Christmas tree at home in a pot, you should adhere to competent care, otherwise there may be problems with growing.
- The needles turn yellow and crumble. This usually happens with improper care (sunburn, low or high temperatures, improper watering regime.) Affected branches cannot be restored. You can only make changes to the conditions of detention and use drugs that increase the immunity of plants. Funds are purchased in special stores.
- The needles wrinkled. This indicates that the earth is not completely oxidized. Add soil from under conifers to the top layer of soil. The roots of the tree should not be exposed, and the ground level should not be changed.
If you adhere to all the listed tips on how to properly grow a Christmas tree at home in a pot, then you can get a beautiful and lush spruce without much difficulty.
On the eve of the New Year, the question of the Christmas tree as the main symbol of the holiday is becoming more acute. Opponents of plastic wood in the apartment understand that a spruce felled in the forest is not an option, because it costs a lot, but it will begin to crumble pretty soon. The most logical decision seems to be to grow and decorate a plant in a pot for the holiday - minimum costs, no cleaning, and not a single Christmas tree will suffer due to traditions.
Can you grow your own spruce?
As a New Year's, in principle, any plant can become, at least from a distance resembling a coniferous, for example, cypress or boxwood. For those who are not looking for easy ways and strive to achieve perfection in everything, it's time to study the question of how to grow a Christmas tree at home, because this is more than real!
The biggest difficulty in growing a Christmas tree at home is the limited ability of a city apartment to provide a so-called dormant period for the spruce. If you pay attention to the life cycle of an ordinary forest tree, it is not difficult to notice that during the year the temperature regime that it has to endure changes from +30 heat in the summer to frost -30 in the winter months. Fir-trees easily tolerate such temperature changes throughout the year, moreover, these conifers are perfectly adapted to them, and violation of the temperature regime only leads to diseases of the firs.
That is why it is better to start growing a Christmas tree in an apartment if there is a loggia or other cold and cool place. You should also be prepared that in two or three years the tree will have to be transplanted into the natural conditions of the forest, because in nature spruce trees reach a height of several tens of meters, and for a tree of such dimensions, of course, neither a pot of soil nor even the largest size is enough. rooms.
On average, spruce lives for about 300 years, but sometimes its age can reach 600 years. The oldest Christmas tree on Earth is now almost a thousand years old, and it grows in Sweden. "Old Tikko" - this is the name of the tree - lives and lives in Fulufjellet National Park and is revered as the oldest arboreal organism on the planet.
How to grow a spruce
You can grow a Christmas tree at home in several simple and affordable ways for everyone.
- From a seed.
Having grown your own tree from a seed, you are guaranteed not to break the law (after all, in some regions of the country it is forbidden to dig trees in the forest) and you will receive a Christmas tree, almost from birth adapted to a new place of residence in your house.
What you need to do to grow a tree from scratch:
- Collect some mature buds of the desired type of spruce that have opened in natural conditions.
In autumn, around October, you need to go to the nearest park or forest and look for open cones with seeds in them under the trees. If you bring a closed cone home, it will also open, but the seeds in it may not be fully ripe.
Fir-trees belong to gymnosperms and they arose much earlier than angiosperms (flowering) plants. Due to their characteristics, gymnosperms often displace other plants from the growing territory. The most striking example of such a neighborhood is Christmas trees and birches.At first, small spruces, loving moisture and shade, grow under the crowns of birches, then they become taller than them, later they shade deciduous trees and acidify the soil, thereby finally destroying trees of other species.
- Plant the seeds in a pot and put it in a cool place (preferably a refrigerator) for a couple of months.
Generally trees grow and adapt to absolutely any land from swamps to rocky soil, from sand to clay, but best of all, the spruce, of course, will grow on fertile black soil. It will also be important to add a little soil to the pot from under the spruce under which you found a cone with seeds.
- After two months, when the seeds are ready to germinate, you should put the pot on a windowsill, on which it is not very hot and not too dark.
By spring, your Christmas tree will be about 5 cm in size, and after two or three years it will reach a height of half a meter and will ask to be transplanted into the garden.
- From a seedling.
If you do not have the opportunity, desire or time to grow a Christmas tree from a seed, then you can immediately purchase a spruce seedling. It will certainly be a plant in a pot with a closed root system at the age of just two or three years, that is, ready for transplanting into open ground.
In recent years, it has become popular to acquire a spruce seedling just before the New Year in order to celebrate cheerfully, smelling the needles of a real live Christmas tree, and in the spring to transplant it into a park or forest.
Among the ancient peoples, the spruce was considered a sacred tree, they worshiped it, looked after and decorated it in every possible way. Having become Christians, the Europeans, nevertheless, preserved a number of pagan traditions, including decorating the Christmas tree, only now at Christmas. And Peter I, wanting that his state fully comply with European canons, introduced this tradition on the territory of Russia.
By choosing this way to celebrate the New Year, indeed, you can kill at least two birds with one stone: do not harm the environment, condoning the felling of trees for the sake of traditions, and contribute to the normalization of the ecological situation by planting a new tree in the spring.
In order for the seedling to take root and feel good in the open field, you need to study the features of its existence until the moment it is in your hands. That is, it is better to select a tree for which you already have suitable conditions. In other words, if, for example, you want to have a Christmas tree in your yard, then the seedling should be chosen according to the conditions of your yard, and not hope that a two or three year old tree will be able to adapt to the changed conditions... This is extremely unlikely, and most likely, if the light and heat conditions and the nature of the soil are too different, the Christmas tree will begin to hurt and may even die.
If the conditions for the "birth" of the tree and those in which you transplant it almost completely coincide, then all that remains is to immerse the tree in the hole exactly to the depth at which it was in the pot, and water in the event of a dry summer (about 10 liters of water in week during extreme heat).
- From a twig.
Another popular way, due to its effectiveness, to grow a Christmas tree yourself - from a twig or a cutting, as professional gardeners call it.
A twig about 20 cm long should be cut in spring or autumn from the top of a beautiful and healthy spruce, which is at least 5 years old, slightly cleaned of needles at the base and planted in the ground - in a pot at home or in a greenhouse on the street. In order for the stalk to be guaranteed to take root, you can soak its end for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and only then plant it in the ground. After planting, it is better to cover the stalk with a film and maintain the soil temperature at 21-26 degrees Celsius, and keep the air temperature at least 4-7 degrees. The first days before the roots appear, you need to water the newly-made seedlings several times a day, and then reduce the amount of water as they take root and take root in the soil.It is important to remember that Christmas trees do not like heat and direct sunlight, but they also cannot stand complete darkness.
How to transplant a spruce from the forest
If you have a house on your own land, and you want to start admiring an adult Christmas tree as soon as possible and lead round dances around it for the New Year, you can transplant the tree directly from the forest... The most important thing here is not to damage the root system of a sufficiently mature tree and, when planting, mix the soil from your site with the one from which the tree was taken.
It is best to replant the tree in the fall or spring, giving it abundant watering and protecting it at first and, if necessary, from the scorching rays of the sun and other extreme weather events that can adversely affect an already stressed tree.
In general, conifers do not like frequent changes of their place of residence, so you should not rely on the idea that a Christmas tree can be kept in an apartment for a while, then planted in open ground, and do this several times with the same tree. Sooner or later, you will have to part with your pet in favor of more natural conditions for her.
But there is also an option when not an ordinary forest Christmas tree grows at home, but a specially bred species. You can watch the video below about growing such specimens.
How to grow a spruce at home (video)
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- Type: conifers
- Full-bloom Period: May, June
- Height: 30-35m
- Green color
- Perennial
- Hibernates
- Shady
- Drought resistant
Green spaces on a suburban area are both clean air, and natural decor, and an excellent functional tool for building landscape design. Coniferous forest inhabitants take root perfectly in any climatic zone of Russia, among which are slender Christmas trees with lush, dense needles. It is no secret that the aroma of resin is useful for both people and plants, so everyone who cares about their health must plant spruce. Let's take a closer look at how to grow a spruce and use it to decorate a garden plot.
- Spruce in landscape design
- Methods for acquiring or breeding spruce
- Buying a seedling in a nursery
- Growing trees from seeds
- How to grow a Christmas tree from a branch (cutting)
- Transplanting a forest tree
- How to plant a fir tree correctly?
- Features of caring for conifers
Spruce in landscape design
To get started, we suggest you watch the video - perhaps you will find answers to your questions in it:
To begin with, all kinds of spruce varieties are an excellent material for forming the style of a suburban area, which is why, when choosing planting material, you should pay attention to coniferous varieties.
Thanks to the dense, beautiful crown, the shape of which can be adjusted depending on the goals, tall and low spruces are successfully used to compose compositions such as:
- rockeries;
- hedges;
- topiary;
- single and group landings.
The combination of low conifers with neatly formed crowns, stone and decor made from natural materials is suitable for decorating the territory both in a regular and natural style, because rockeries with spruce as a key element are very popular.
Rockeries are also good because they require small investments with the maximum aesthetic effect: almost all plants can be grown by hand, and stones can be found right on the territory of the cottage, brought from the river bank or from a quarry
The spruce hedge is an excellent enclosure that can be planted around the perimeter or between two different functional areas. Tall, densely planted trees will completely replace the fence, and miniature ornamental plants will decorate the area and create a natural natural atmosphere.
In this case, low, but planted trees close to each other bear a decorative rather than functional load - they separate the rockery zone from the rest of the territory
Having a small Christmas tree in the country, you can practice the art of topiary - create a geometric figure, spiral or other simple three-dimensional object from a lush spruce crown. Here one of the properties of conifers will come in handy - slow growth (3-5 cm per year).
It is better to start comprehending the basics of topiary with the least complex shapes - a cube, pyramid or a ball, and then move on to more complex configurations, for example, spirals
Against the background of brick and wooden buildings and fences, groups of rarely planted fir trees of various heights look beautiful, and a single tall Christmas tree can become the center of a recreation area or an excellent background partner for a gazebo (benches, garden decor).
Many people specially planted a fir tree to celebrate the New Year and Christmas in nature. A holiday held in the open air is more interesting and more fun than a banal family feast, and the process of decorating a tree with garlands and toys is a real magical ritual that children will remember for a lifetime.
Methods for acquiring or breeding spruce
If you have chosen spruce as one of the plants to decorate your plot and even decided on a variety, you need to think about where you will get it. The easiest way is to buy a ready-made seedling in the nursery, but many do not look for easy ways and try to grow trees on their own, from seeds or twigs. There are also those who consider the most hardy and strong specimens taken in the natural environment, that is, dug in the forest.
Consider the nuances of each of the methods and take a closer look at the features of spruce breeding.
Buying a seedling in a nursery
If you already have a ready-made design project, and only a few conifers are missing for its implementation, you can quickly buy seedlings in the nursery. This is also true if you need some rare, exotic variety that is difficult or long to grow on your own.
Coniferous seedlings, like other plants, are sold in pots of various sizes, depending on the size of the plant. When planting a Christmas tree in the ground, you should completely preserve a lump of "native soil", so the tree will take root better and faster.
When choosing a spruce in a nursery, consult a specialist on the main growing factors that relate to the size of an adult tree, its winter hardiness and endurance, lighting conditions, watering regime, etc.
When buying a seedling, pay attention to its viability, which is easy to determine by the following signs:
- fresh, shiny, not partially crumbling needles;
- tender shoots of growth at the tips of branches;
- natural, not deformed shape of the branches and trunk;
- the needles are not affected by a rusty or whitish coating;
- when pressed lightly, the branches bend rather than break.
Too small a pot indicates that the spruce was dug up specifically for sale and its root system was violated.
Growing trees from seeds
If you have plenty of time to do your gardening work, you can consider growing different varieties of spruce from seed. The best species are those that grow in your area. The ripening time of cones depends on the climate, but for reproduction it is recommended to harvest in late autumn.
The buds are stored in a cool dry place, protected from wind and direct sunlight. Approximately 2.5-3 months before sowing, seeds are taken out (also called nuts) and stratified to increase germination
To prepare the seedlings, the seeds are kept in clean water for a day, after soaking them for half an hour in a weak (0.5%) manganese solution. Then they are immersed in containers filled with wet sand and stored until sowing in the cold - snow or refrigerator.
Sowing is carried out in mid-April, and it is better to use a greenhouse with sawdust for this. Sandy loam soil is covered with a thin layer (1.5-2 cm) of sawdust, seeds are placed on it, sprinkled on top with the same layer of coniferous sawdust - they create conditions close to natural, but more comfortable for growth
If you decide to plant seeds in open ground, you will have to arrange additional protection. It can be a frame made of twigs, which protects from a harsh wind, and a layer of cotton fabric.
In August, a kind of protection is removed, and instead of it, a shelter is made from a thick layer of dry leaves. Crates are sometimes used instead of open ground, but the growing conditions remain the same.
After 2, less often after 3 years, the seedlings are planted in the ground with an interval of 40-50 cm.Before planting, too long or damaged roots must be removed, and the remaining ones must be placed in a humus solution for a short time.
A special care regimen will be required: moderately moist soil (in the heat - additional watering) and 3-time summer dressing. A mullein or 0.1% hydroponic solution diluted with water is suitable as fertilizer.
The growth of seedlings lasts another 3-4 years. All this time, they need to be loosened, fertilized, watered about 1 time per week. Mandatory feeding is carried out in the spring, before the beginning of the swelling of the kidneys. A Mineral Nutrient Blend works well:
- manure - 450-500 g;
- potassium nitrate - 10-15 g;
- superphosphate - 25-30 g.
Everything is thoroughly mixed, distributed into the soil around the seedlings, carefully dug in to a shallow depth (8-10 cm) and watered so that the fertilizer is absorbed into the soil.
After 6-7 years, you will receive Christmas trees ready for planting in a permanent place. They, as usual, are planted in early spring, keeping a root ball of earth.
How to grow a Christmas tree from a branch (cutting)
For propagation of decorative species, cuttings are used. Twigs cut in early spring (in April) can take root in the same year, later ones only the next year. Many people prefer August cuttings, when the shoots finish growing and begin to lignify, but there is also a winter method that is successfully used for all conifers, including spruce trees.
We bring to your attention a master class on winter spruce cuttings, which consists in home rooting of seedlings with the possibility of further spring planting in the ground. Use a pair of garden shears or pruning shears to cut as many side branches as needed. From the end of the cut, a "heel" should remain - a piece of last year's wood. The big "heel" will have to be cut off so that there is no decay of the wood.
We carefully cut the needles from the lower part close to the "heel" with a knife, since they are not needed and will interfere with the development of future roots
Many species of coniferous trees do well without additional stimulants, but the spruce is capricious in this regard and requires, especially in winter, a special attitude towards itself.
We place the processed branches in a vessel half-filled with Epin's solution (4-6 drops per 200 ml of water), and stand for 12-14 hours
The material for storing cuttings will be sphagnum moss, which perfectly absorbs moisture.
While the cuttings are gaining strength in Epin's solution, we prepare a protective "shirt" for them - soak dry sphagnum in clean water
We take the film and lay it out with a long ribbon on the table. We distribute sphagnum soaked in moisture along the ribbon - it will play the role of a substrate for growing spruce cuttings.
We lay out the cuttings on the prepared base in the following order: first, dip each branch in a stimulating powder (for example, "Kornevin"), then place the lower part on a ribbon with moss
We fold the film in half so that the roots are pressed against the sphagnum and wrapped in a film, and the tops of the cuttings are free.
We roll the film with distributed cuttings neatly into a roll so that it turns out to be dense enough, but not cramped for the development of roots
It turned out to be a kind of bunch - in this form, coniferous cuttings will be stored until spring planting in the ground. To prevent the film from unrolling, it must be tied with twine or pulled together with an elastic band.
The storage space for cuttings should be light and cool - a pantry or a veranda.If in the country house there are wooden windows with double frames, the cuttings can be placed between the glass or suspended from the side, sheltered from direct sunlight.
Winter cuttings are good because small roots already appear by the period of spring planting.
Rooted twigs in April can be planted in the garden - not in a permanent place, but in a pot or growing box. A well-lit, ventilated greenhouse is ideal.
In two years, the seedlings will finally take root and get stronger, then it will be possible to plant them in open ground, in a permanent place of growth.
Transplanting a forest tree
The spruce trek into the forest will end happily if you remember a few simple rules:
- dig up a tree in autumn or spring when the soil is soft and moist enough;
- if you transplant a spruce in the summer, try to keep a root ball of earth;
- for a transplant, an instance of no higher than 1 m is suitable, maximum - 1.5 m; the larger the tree, the longer its roots and the higher the likelihood that you will damage them;
- more lush and strong Christmas trees grow along the edges of the forest, on the outskirts, away from dense thickets.
It is important to dig up the fir tree correctly. Dig a circle around the trunk with a diameter about the circle formed by the lowest branches. The depth of the groove is about half a meter. Lift the tree out of the soil carefully, trying to keep the soil at its roots. Lay it on a piece of thick cloth, wrap it and secure the resulting bundle to the wheelbarrow. Grab a couple of buckets of "native" soil so that the tree takes root faster in new conditions.
Do not forget about one important nuance - before digging, be sure to mark the cardinal points, north and south on the branches in order to plant a tree, focusing on them
How to plant a fir tree correctly?
Trees dug in the forest and purchased seedlings have general planting rules. There are two periods when the spruce takes root better - the beginning of spring and late autumn (before the onset of cold weather). Some varieties, for example, blue spruce, are preferable to plant in the spring, therefore, before you decide to plant a spruce, check the specifics of planting the variety you have purchased.
Choose an area most suitable for growing coniferous trees - sunlit or slightly shaded. Take care of drainage in advance, because spruces growing in wetlands do not develop well and lose needles. The ideal place for planting is a sunny patch with low-lying groundwater and fertile, humus-rich soil.
Low decorative spruces feel great inside flower arrangements and rocky gardens, on well-lit alpine slides and in rockeries
The order of planting ate is as follows:
- We dig a hole 50-60 cm deep, 60 cm in diameter on the surface and 30-35 cm in the lower part.
- We arrange drainage from a 20-centimeter layer of a mixture of sand and crushed stone (or gravel).
- Prepare a soil mixture from the excavated soil, sand, peat and humus (in equal parts). Add 100-150 g of nitroammophoska to it.
- Partially fill the hole with soil mixture, moisten.
- Place the root ball of the seedling in the hole.
- We fill up the free places with the remaining soil, level it.
We carry out peat mulching around the root collar, which is located at the level of the soil surface. Additional application of peat will warm the roots and retain moisture.
Wood or peat mulching is also attractive from an aesthetic point of view, and adding elements such as oak bark to the topsoil prevents weeds
In addition to planting, caring for the spruce is also important, so we will consider the rules for pruning, watering and protecting against diseases.
Features of caring for conifers
Watering the spruce is necessary depending on the growing season, age and size, but in any case, the soil around the tree should always be slightly moistened. You can check this by squeezing a clod of earth in your hand. If it crumbles, watering time has come. Watering should be done carefully, distributing water around the entire root ball.The average water consumption for a 2-meter tree is 10 liters once a week.
Small seedlings require a special regime - several times a day in small portions, since the roots are close to the surface and dry out quickly. In addition to watering, do not forget about spraying, after which the spruce will sparkle in the sun with clean shiny needles.
If you do not permanently live in the country, choose drought-resistant species for planting, for example, blue spruce. In a hot period, it is enough to water it once every one and a half to two weeks.
Although spruce is classified as a slow growing tree, it needs pruning from time to time. Preventive pruning is carried out once a year, in early spring, until new shoots begin to grow. It is also called sanitary, since it is mainly diseased or dry twigs that are removed. Light thinning benefits the whole tree - the sun's rays penetrate deep into the dense crown.
Decorative pruning, on the other hand, is carried out in the middle of summer, after the end of the growth of new shoots. Sometimes the top is cut if the tree needs to grow in width rather than height. The work is carried out with a sharp tool, and the cuts are treated with a special solution - potassium permanganate and garden pitch.
Hand and bar saws are used to remove thick dry branches, garden pruners are used for smaller branches, and special garden shears are used for decorative haircuts.
Often, Christmas trees and other conifers are at risk of disease. The most common are fungal infections, leading to crown shedding and even death. It is necessary to deal with them using various methods.
To begin with, you should remove the damaged needles and diseased branches, then saturate the soil with Kornevin and treat the tree with Immunocytophyte, Amulet, Zircon or any other drug that increases immunity. Some diseases, such as root sponges or variegated rot, cannot be treated, so the tree must be cut down, the stump must be uprooted, and the surrounding soil must be carefully treated with fungicides.
Signs of schütte disease are the appearance of red spots on the branches, yellowed and crumbling needles. Schütte is treated with Skor, Strobi, Falcon, Quadris, starting from May until the end of summer
And at the end - a few tips from a professional on the selection and cultivation of various decorative varieties.
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