Growing spruce Konik at home: care and maintenance

The decorative cone-shaped Christmas tree Konik does not exceed 30 cm in height in the house, while in its natural habitat it can reach a height of two meters. Spruce is native to North America. Konika is a plant, but before buying it, you should familiarize yourself with the agricultural practices of growing Canadian spruce in order to avoid problems.

Description of the species

The conic has the shape of a cone. Fluffy spruces form a dense crown, since the distance between the internodes is small. The needles are small in size, light green in color, reach a length of 6-10 mm. Under good conditions, the diameter of spruce can reach 80 cm. The root system is superficial, located in the upper layer of the earth, and does not go deep into the soil.

The intensity of growth cannot please, because the Konik spruce belongs to plants. The growth per year is only 2-3 cm, sometimes up to 6 cm. Under natural conditions, the duration of growth is 300-500 years.

Caring for Konika at home

Konika loves the shower, so daily spraying will only benefit her.

Components of successful cultivation of Konik spruce under conditions:

• The soil
• bright lighting
• moderate watering
• Temperature regime
• Timely application of fertilizers

The soil

A plant purchased in a store should be immediately transplanted into a new soil, as the technical soil dries quickly and is characterized by a lack of nutrients in its composition. When transplanting, the substrate familiar to the plant should not be destroyed so as not to damage the roots. For planting spruce, you need to take ordinary garden soil containing clay components. This soil will retain moisture.

Lighting

Ate Konik, for good development, a long daylight hours of 10 hours is required. If there is not enough natural light, you should arrange the backlight with fluorescent lamps. Spruce prefers diffused bright light.

If Konika is standing on the windowsill, in order to prevent the needles from falling off, you should turn the pot over from time to time to ensure that the needles are illuminated.

Watering

Spruce does not tolerate stagnant water, waterlogged leads to the fact that the needles become dark purple. Therefore, watering the plant is required only once a week. In the summer, you should still pay attention to the condition of the soil in the tub. If the earth ball is dry, then the plant needs to be watered. Too little moisture is just as bad as too much. This can cause the needles to turn yellow and fall off. When watering, you need to evenly moisten the entire soil in the tub.

Spruce Konika responds well to spraying. Foliar feeding has a good effect on the development of the plant and normalizes the water balance.

Air temperature

When growing spruce at home, you may encounter such a problem as temperature, especially in winter. It is very difficult to provide optimal, close to natural growing conditions in apartment conditions. In winter, the plant rests, so the dormant period of spruce can only be at a temperature not higher than + 10 ° C. If it is always hot in, the needles may shed.

To avoid the death of the plant, the spruce can be taken out to the glazed loggia. Konika easily tolerates temperatures below 0 ° C, but at the same time you need to watch in a pot: it should not freeze.

In summer, the temperature is always high, but it does not harm eating. The main thing is to always keep the soil moist and provide the plant with fresh air by spending daily indoors.

Attention!

You can not place a spruce near the window on the south side. The scorching rays of the sun can burn the crown.

Fertilization

The plant is needed once a year: early in the spring, when the spruce "leaves" the state, or late in the fall. Konika requires complex nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Specialized stores sell balanced fertilizers for conifers. Dry granules are introduced into the soil near the tree trunk, and then the plant is properly watered. But it is preferable to use mineral fertilizers of a soluble form. For one plant, 15 g of the complex is enough. From a wide selection of fertilizers, it can be advised to feed with epin, hall and zircon.

Problems when growing Koniki

When growing indoors, you may encounter some problems, such as yellowing and dropping of needles, the needles can become dull and dull.

Yellowing and falling of the needles occurs as a result of the wrong: the temperature regime is not respected, excessive watering and direct sunlight. The affected branches will not recover, but the rest must be saved. It is recommended to work on the mistakes and carry out the correct care. Bio-regulators are sold in specialized stores - first aid for yellowing needles.

Dull and matte needles. The reason is insufficiently oxidized soil. You need to change its composition. To do this, you need to take the top layer from under any coniferous plant and bring it into a tub with spruce growing in the house. During the pouring of forest soil, it is impossible to damage and expose the root system of the plant.

Common diseases of Konika

All plants, sooner or later, are susceptible to infectious and fungal diseases. El Konika is no exception.

Fungal diseases that damage Konik:

• Schutte - coniferous disease
• Tracheomycosis
• Rust

If the plant is affected by a coniferous fungus, Schutte's disease develops. The needles turn black, with time a whitish coating appears and, in the end, they fall off. As you know, spruce needles are not. For the treatment of the disease, a 3% solution of copper sulfate is used. One treatment is enough. Then you should spray the plant with chemicals: Alirilin-B or Trichodermin. In case of severe damage, you will have to burn.

Soil fungus, settling on the surface of the soil, leads to the disease tracheomycosis. Young spruces are more susceptible to this disease than adults. The fungus does not spare the root system. In infected plants, the needles acquire a reddish tint and fall off. Treatment will not bring positive results, therefore, with such a disease, it is better to immediately get rid of the infected specimen.

Branches are affected by rust - a fungal disease. It manifests itself in the formation of growths of orange color. The needles turn yellow and fall off. For treatment, Gliocladin, Vectra are used. Four times treatment within a month with an interval of 1 week will help cure the disease.

Proper planting will help to avoid diseases. And if it was not possible to keep track, it is required to take timely measures to treat diseases.

Insect pest control methods

In addition to diseases, Konik spruce is susceptible to attack by pests. There are few of them, but having settled on a plant, they can destroy it.

Insect pests:

1. bark beetle
2. Hedgehog false shield

As soon as signs of damage to the plant by pests are noticed, it is necessary to immediately begin processing the pet. You can not hesitate, because insects multiply very quickly, and their activity can destroy the plant.

Contrary to the opinion that it is impossible to grow conifers in the house, with good and proper care of the Konik spruce, it is possible to ensure its normal development, and it will please the owner with an annual increase.