Grow spruce in a pot. Spring protection of garden plants from pests and diseases

Don't you feel sorry for throwing away the Christmas tree after the holidays? I really. For a long time I began to think about whether and how to grow a Christmas tree on my site, so that it would please us on New Year's Eve. And in summer, the forest beauty looks great on any site, in addition, it brings great benefits, cleans the air.

There are several ways to grow a Christmas tree, you can choose the most suitable for yourself. But this is not an easy task and will have to wait several years.

growing from seed
from a twig
transplant from the forest

It is important that the seeds are ripe otherwise you won't succeed. Many mistakenly believe that once the cone has opened, then the seeds are ready for planting. The buds open when warm, whether the seeds are ripe or not. Nuts need to be prepared already late autumn so as not to be mistaken. long, you need to take into account the rest mode and create conditions as close to natural as possible. Immediately you need to soak the seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, dry and send for stratification in the refrigerator for 2-3 months. At the end of April, you can start sowing. Soak nuts for quick swelling in warm water for a day and sow in a special greenhouse (you can use a box). The best soil for planting is from a spruce forest. We do not bury the nuts in the ground, but lay them out and crush them from above by about 1 cm. It is best to cover the parnichek with covering material, it scatters direct sunlight. Now it remains to monitor the soil moisture and wait for seedlings. The soil should not be overdried or waterlogged. When shoots appear, they need to be thinned out. During the season, small Christmas trees need top dressing. You can feed with a solution of mullein (1 to 5).

Planting a seedling.

This is the easiest and fastest way to get a good varietal tree. But there is one drawback, seedlings are now expensive, so not everyone can afford it. If you nevertheless became the proud owner of a Christmas tree in a pot (you need to buy seedlings only in pots, with a closed root system), decide in advance on the planting site. Imagine that the tree will someday grow. Choose a sunny location or partial shade. The soil for the Christmas tree is slightly acidic or neutral is best. Dig a hole 70 cm deep and 50 cm wide. Drainage is definitely needed at the bottom, broken bricks or just stones will do. seedling need place in the hole at the level at which it was planted in a pot. A serious mistake during planting is the deepening of the root collar. Before filling the hole, add about 30% of river sand to the soil and mix. After planting, the seedling needs daily watering, sprinkling also accelerates the growth of the plant.

Growing a Christmas tree from a branch.

seedlings from spruce branches take root only in the second year. However, many gardeners use this method to grow good varietal trees. It is better to take a twig from the top of a young spruce. We only need a one-year-old cutting. We remove all the needles (5-6 cm) from its lower part and immerse them in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. For rooting, we also need a greenhouse, it is better with heating, if this is not the case, you can arrange heating from manure, it will overheat and give off heat. Only the layer of earth on top should be at least 20 cm so that the seedlings do not burn out. The soil must be well permeable to water and air. Well suited from a spruce forest, with the addition of 30% river sand, preferably washed. We deepen the seedlings by 5-6 cm and cover well. Remember that direct sunlight is dangerous for them, so the greenhouse needs to be shaded with something until it is fully rooted. Watering and spraying should be done several times a day. After the roots appear, watering is usually reduced and shading is left only during the daytime. Thus, young plantings need to be grown for 3-4 years, only then transferred to permanent place.

Transplanting a Christmas tree from the forest.

The advantage of this method is that you can choose a tree 3-4 years old. Minus - they do not tolerate transplantation well. Nevertheless, I took advantage of this method and did not regret it at all. Here the point is that when digging, you need to try not to damage the root, he is at the rod tree and goes quite deep into the ground. And you also need to keep as large a clod of earth as possible on the roots, then the tree will hurt less in a new place. Well, planting and care are the same as when planting a finished seedling.

Preparing for winter.

Young seedlings are not afraid only direct sunlight, but also frost, so with special attention you need to consider the shelter of plants. Greenhouses can be additionally heated in winter, and if this is not possible, carefully cover them and sprinkle them well with snow on top. Young trees for the winter need to be hilled with peat and wrapped with covering material.

The benefits of spruce needles.

When you grow a spruce and understand how difficult it is, your hand is unlikely to rise to throw away the Christmas tree after the holidays, like waste material. And besides, twigs can be used to maintain your health. With the help of spruce needles, many pulmonary diseases, runny nose, tonsillitis, and kidney diseases can be cured. To relieve fatigue, pour 300 g of needles into a glass of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, then pour the infusion into the bath. Fatigue, as if by hand, will remove and mood will improve. To strengthen the immune system, you can brew spruce needles and drink it like tea, this is especially good during the period of mass flu and SARS. You can brew together with twigs, pour about 300 g with three liters of water, boil for half an hour, leave warm for an hour. Then the broth must be filtered. You can add honey lemon juice, jam. choose convenient way how to grow a tree. Grow, let it give joy to you and your loved ones. Happy New Year.

Spruce belongs to the pine family. It grows in Asia, America and Europe. At home, growing a Christmas tree is not so easy, as it needs careful care. The most common species that are grown at home in a pot are spruce and silver spruce. In addition to these varieties, you can still grow araucaria (indoor spruce). Araucaria can be grown at home in a pot 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 sun's rays. Otherwise, it may negatively affect the further cultivation of the tree.

Temperature

In the cold season, spruces need coolness. During this season, the temperature regime should range from +6 to +10 ° С. Forest beauty can quite easily endure negative temperature, only in this case it is required to monitor the soil clod so that it does not freeze.

Watering mode

To grow a Christmas tree in a pot, you need to provide it with competent care. Watering is the main component in the cultivation of forest beauty. The tree should be watered abundantly from March to September.

The soil must not 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 Christmas tree is moistened once a month. Professionals advise spraying the tree from time to time, especially during the cold season.

top dressing

Spruce does not need regular feeding. In summer, spruce is fertilized only about three times with universal dressings.

earth substrate

If you want to grow spruce from seeds, then you need acidic soil for this. You can buy earth mix for coniferous plants or cook it yourself at home. It is required to take universal soil and soil from coniferous forest in the same proportions, and mix it all.

Transfer

The spruce tree tolerates a transplant quite painfully. It is recommended not to disturb the earthen ball and prevent the roots from being exposed. You need to replant the Christmas 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 that are harvested from mid-autumn until 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.

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 during cultivation.

The needles turn yellow and fall off. This usually happens with improper care (sunburn, low or high temperature, improper watering.) 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. AT upper layer soil should add soil from under coniferous plants. You should not expose the roots of the tree, and the level of the soil should not be changed.

If you follow all the above 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 and more acute. Opponents of a plastic tree in an apartment understand that spruce cut down 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 - a minimum of costs, no cleaning, and not a single Christmas tree will suffer because of traditions.

Can you grow your own spruce?

As a New Year, in principle, any plant can become, at least from a distance resembling a conifer, 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 it's more than real!

The biggest difficulty that arises when growing a Christmas tree at home is the limited possibilities of a city apartment in terms of providing a so-called dormant period for spruce. If you pay attention to the cycle of ordinary life forest tree, it is not difficult to notice that during the year the temperature regime that she has to endure varies from heat +30 in summer to frost - 30 in winter months. Christmas trees easily endure such temperature fluctuations throughout the year, moreover, these coniferous trees are perfectly adapted to them, and violation of the temperature regime only leads to diseases of the fir trees.

That is why it is better to start growing a Christmas tree in an apartment with a loggia or other cold and cool place. It is also worth being 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 earth nor the size of even the largest rooms.

On average, a spruce lives about 300 years, but sometimes its age can reach up to 600 years. The oldest Christmas tree on earth this moment almost a thousand years old, and it grows in Sweden. "Old Tikko" - that's the name of the tree - lives and lives in the national park Fulufjellet and is revered as the oldest tree 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 seed.

By growing 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 up 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 a few mature, naturally opened cones of the spruce species you need.

In autumn, somewhere in October, you need to go to the nearest park or woodland and look under the trees for opened cones with seeds in them. If you bring home a closed bud, it will also open, but the seeds in it may not be fully ripe.

Christmas trees belong to gymnosperms and they arose much earlier than angiosperms (flowering) plants. Due to their characteristics, gymnosperms often displace other plants from the territory of growth. The most striking example of such a neighborhood is Christmas trees and birches. At first, small spruces, loving humidity 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 cold place (preferably a refrigerator) for a couple of months.

Generally Christmas trees grow and adapt to absolutely any land from swamp to rocky soil, from sand to clay, but best of all, spruce, of course, will grow on fertile black soil. It will also be important to add some soil to the pot from under the spruce under which you found the cone with seeds.

After two months, when the seeds are ready to germinate, you should put the pot on the windowsill, which is not very hot and not too dark.

By spring, your Christmas tree will be about 5 cm in size, and in 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.

spruce sapling last years It has become popular to purchase just before the New Year in order to celebrate merrily, 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, spruce was considered a sacred tree, they worshiped it, looked after it in every possible way and dressed it up. Having become Christians, the Europeans, however, retained a number of pagan traditions, including a Christmas tree decoration, only now for Christmas. And Peter I, wishing that his state was fully consistent with European canons, introduced this tradition on the territory of Russia.

By choosing this way to celebrate the New Year, you can really kill at least two birds with one stone: do not harm the environment by indulging in the cutting down 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 open field, you need to study the features of its existence until the moment it was in your hands. That is, it is better to select a tree for which you already have suitable conditions. In other words, if you, for example, want to have a Christmas tree in your yard, then you need to choose a seedling according to the conditions of your yard, and not hope that a two or three year old tree can adapt to changed conditions. This is extremely unlikely, and most likely, if the light and thermal conditions and the nature of the soil are too different, the Christmas tree will start to hurt and may even die.

If the conditions for the "birth" of the tree and those into which you transplant it almost completely coincide, then it remains only to immerse the Christmas tree in the hole exactly to the depth at which it was in the pot, and water it in the event of a dry summer (about 10 liters of water per a week during a heat wave).

From a branch.

Another popular way, due to its effectiveness, to grow a Christmas tree yourself is from a twig or a cutting, as professional gardeners call it.

A sprig 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 cutting 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 become stronger in the soil. It is important to remember that Christmas trees do not like heat and direct sunlight, but they also do not tolerate complete darkness.

How to transplant 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 dance around it for the New Year, you can transplant a tree directly from the forest. The most important thing here is not to hurt root system a mature tree is already enough and, when planting, mix the soil from your site with the one where the tree was taken from.

It is best to transplant the tree in autumn or spring, giving it plenty of water and protecting it initially 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 do not rely on the idea that for some time a Christmas tree can be kept in an apartment, 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 tree grows at home, but a specially bred breed. On the cultivation of such specimens, you can watch the video below.

How to grow spruce at home (video)

Type: coniferous
Flowering period: May, June
Height: 30-35m
Green color
perennial
hibernates
Shade-loving
drought tolerant

Green spaces in a suburban area are clean air, natural decor, and a great functional tool for building landscape design. Perfectly in any climatic zone of Russia, coniferous forest dwellers take root, 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 should definitely plant spruces. Let's take a closer look at how to grow a spruce and use it to decorate a garden plot.

Spruce in landscape design
Buying a seedling from a nursery
Growing trees from seeds
Transplanting a forest tree
How to plant a spruce?

Spruce in landscape design

To get started, we invite you to watch the video - perhaps you will find the answers to your questions in it:

To begin with, all kinds of spruce varieties are an excellent material for shaping the style of a suburban area, which is why when choosing planting material, you should pay attention to coniferous varieties.

Thanks to a dense beautiful crown, the shape of which can be adjusted depending on the goals, high and low spruces are successfully used to compose compositions such as:

rockeries;
hedges;
topiary;
single and group landings.

The combination of low coniferous plants with neatly formed crowns, stone and decor made of natural materials suitable for decorating the territory in both regular and natural style, therefore 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 with your own hands, and stones can be found right on the dacha, brought from the river bank or from a quarry

A live spruce hedge is a great fencing element that can be planted along the perimeter or between two different functional areas. Tall, densely planted trees will completely replace the fence, and miniature ornamental plants decorate the territory and create a natural natural atmosphere.

In this case, low, but planted trees close to each other carry a more decorative 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. This is where one of the properties of coniferous plants comes 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 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 (bench, garden decor).

Many specially plant spruce to celebrate the New Year and Christmas in nature. Holiday held on fresh air, 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

Ways to acquire or propagate spruce

If you have chosen spruce as one of the plants to decorate your site and have even decided on a variety, you need to think about where you will take it. Most easy way- buy a ready-made seedling in a nursery, but many do not look for easy ways and try to grow trees on their own, from seeds or twigs. There are those who consider the most hardy and strong specimens taken in the natural environment, that is, dug out in the forest.

Consider the nuances of each of the methods and consider in more detail the features of spruce reproduction.

Buying a seedling from a nursery

If you already have a ready-made design project, and only a few coniferous trees are not enough for its implementation, you can quickly buy seedlings in a 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 the lump of "native soil", so the tree will take root better and faster.

When choosing a spruce tree 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 regimen, etc.

When buying a seedling, pay attention to its viability, which is easy to determine by the following features:

fresh, shiny, partially crumbled needles;
tender growth shoots at the tips of the branches;
natural, not deformed form of branches and trunk;
the needles are not affected by a rusty or whitish coating;
when lightly pressed, the twigs bend, but do not break.

Too small a pot indicates that the spruce was dug up specifically for sale and its root system was disturbed.

Growing trees from seeds

If you have enough time for gardening, you can take up growing different varieties ate from seed. The best species are those that grow in your area. The ripening time of the cones depends on the climate, but for reproduction it is recommended to harvest in late autumn.

The cones are kept dry. cool place protected from wind and direct sunlight. About 2.5-3 months before sowing, seeds are taken out (they are also called nuts) and subjected to stratification to increase germination.

To prepare the seedlings, the seeds are kept for a day in clean water, after soaking for half an hour in a weak (0.5%) solution of manganese. 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 loamy soil is covered with a thin layer (1.5-2 cm) of sawdust, seeds are laid on it, sprinkled with the same layer of coniferous sawdust on top - 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 rods, protecting from harsh winds, and a layer of cotton fabric.

In August, a kind of protection is removed, and instead a shelter is made from a thick layer of dry leaves. Boxes 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 on a short time put in a solution of humus

A special care regimen will be required: moderately moist soil (in the heat - additional watering) and 3-time summer top dressing. As a fertilizer, mullein or a 0.1% hydroponic solution diluted with water is suitable.

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 top dressing is carried out in the spring, before the swelling of the kidneys begins. Suitable mineral nutrient mixture:

manure - 450-500 g;
potassium nitrate - 10-15 g;
superphosphate - 25-30 g.

Everything is thoroughly mixed, distributed in the soil around the seedlings, carefully dug 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 are planted as usual. in early spring, keeping the root ball of the earth

How to grow a Christmas tree from a branch (cutting)

For breeding decorative types 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 woody, but there is also winter method, which is successfully used for all conifers, including spruces.

We bring to your attention a master class on winter cuttings of spruce, which consists in rooting seedlings at home with the possibility of further spring planting in the ground. Using garden shears or a pruner, cut required amount side branches. From the end of the cut, a "heel" should be preserved - a piece of last year's wood. The large "heel" will have to be cut off so that there is no decay of the wood.

The needles from the bottom, close to the “heel”, are carefully cut with a knife, as they are not needed and will interfere with the development of future roots

Many species of coniferous trees do fine without additional stimulants, but spruce is capricious in this regard and requires, especially in winter period, special relationship.

The processed branches are placed in a vessel half filled with Epin's solution (4-6 drops per 200 ml of water), and kept for 12-14 hours

Sphagnum moss, which perfectly absorbs moisture, will serve as a material for storing cuttings.

While the cuttings are gaining strength in Epin's solution, we are preparing a protective "shirt" for them - we soak dry sphagnum in clean water

We take the film and lay it out with a ribbon on the table. We distribute moisture-saturated sphagnum along the tape - 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, we 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 the distributed cuttings neatly into a roll so that it is dense enough, but not cramped for the development of roots.

It turned out a kind of bunch - in this form, coniferous cuttings will be stored until the spring landing in the ground. To prevent the film from untwisting, it must be tied with twine or pulled off with an elastic band.

The place for storing cuttings should be bright and cool - a pantry or a veranda. If in the country wooden windows with double frames, cuttings can be placed between panes or hung from the side, sheltered from direct sunlight

Winter cuttings are good because by the period spring plantings small roots are already appearing.

Rooted branches in April can be planted in the garden - not in a permanent place, but in a pot or box for growing. Perfect option– well-lit, ventilated greenhouse

In two years, the seedlings will finally take root and get stronger, then it will be possible to plant them in open ground, at a permanent place of growth.

Transplanting a forest tree

A trip to the forest for spruce will end safely 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 spruce in the summer, try to keep the root ball of the earth;
for transplantation, a specimen no higher than 1 m is suitable, a maximum of 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, in the outskirts, away from dense thickets.

It is important to properly dig the spruce. Dig a circle around the trunk the same diameter as the circle formed by the lowest branches. The depth of the groove is about half a meter. Carefully remove the tree from the soil, trying to keep the soil on the roots. Put it on a piece of thick cloth, wrap it around and fix the resulting bundle on a wheelbarrow. Grab a couple of buckets of "native" soil so that the Christmas 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 spruce?

Trees dug in the forest and purchased seedlings have general rules landing. There are two periods when spruce takes root better - early spring and late autumn (before the onset of cold weather). Some varieties, such as blue spruce, are best planted in the spring, so before you decide to plant a spruce, check the planting features of the variety you have purchased.

Choose the site most suitable for growing coniferous tree Sunlit or slightly shaded. Take care of drainage in advance, because spruces growing in wetlands do not develop well and lose their needles. The ideal place for landing is a sunny spot with low-lying groundwater and fertile, humus-rich soil.

Low decorative fir trees feel great inside flower arrangements and rocky gardens, on well-lit alpine hills and rockeries

The order of planting spruce 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).
From the excavated soil, sand, peat and humus (in equal parts), we prepare the soil mixture. 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.
falling asleep vacancies the remaining soil, level.

We carry out peat mulching around the root neck, 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 aesthetically pleasing, and adding elements such as oak bark to the topsoil prevents weeds.

In addition to planting, spruce care is also important, so consider the rules for pruning, watering and protecting against diseases.

Features of caring for conifers

Spruce watering is necessary depending on the growing season, age and size, but in any case, the soil around the tree should always be slightly moist. This can be checked by squeezing a clod of earth in your hand. If it crumbles, it's time to water. 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 at the very 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, such as blue spruce. In the hot season, it is enough to water it once every one and a half to two weeks.

Although spruce is considered 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, as it is mainly diseased or dry branches that are removed. Light thinning benefits the whole tree - the sun's rays penetrate deep into the dense crown.

Decorative pruning, on the contrary, is carried out in the middle of summer, after the end of the growth of new shoots. Sometimes the top is cut down if the tree needs to grow in width and not in height. The work is carried out with a sharp tool, and the cut places are treated with a special solution - potassium permanganate and garden pitch.

To remove thick dry branches, hand and rod saws are used, smaller branches - a garden pruner, and for decorative cutting - special garden scissors

Often, spruces and other conifers are threatened by diseases. The most common are fungal infections, leading to shedding of the crown and even death. They need to be dealt with in a variety of ways.

First you need to 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 fungus or variegated rot, cannot be treated, so the tree must be cut down, the stump uprooted, and the surrounding soil thoroughly treated with fungicides.

Signs of the Schutte disease are the appearance of red spots on the branches, yellowed and crumbling needles. Schutte 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 about choosing and growing various ornamental varieties.

Spruce is a coniferous plant that plays the role of a classic decoration of the territory. Blue spruce is one of the endangered species, therefore it is listed in the Red Book. This factor affects the cost of needle seedlings. But why spend money on buying young trees if you can grow them yourself? How to grow spruce from seeds, we will try to understand together, because in addition to saving money, the gardener gets a healthy plant adapted to the environment.

Owners of country estates massively buy blue spruce cuttings for further cultivation, even despite the high cost. This is because not everyone has an idea of how to grow spruce from seeds, but you will know for sure.

Features of blue needles

The main difference between conifers of this species is the color of the needles. When growing spruce at home from seeds, it is possible to obtain a tree with 30% of thorns painted in noble blue, the rest acquire a classic green tint. Therefore, many are interested in the question: "How to grow spruce from seeds at home and get a quality seedling?"

How to get a quality seedling when growing at home?

There are three ways to propagate spruces:

vaccination;
cutting method;
growing from seed.

Cutting method: features

This is the easiest way to grow a new conifer. Planting material is rooted in a greenhouse, since open ground has a negative effect on still immature coniferous plants. So, planting spruce begins with the selection of cuttings. Winter cuttings are best suited, which give results up to 4 times faster. The most favorable period for rooting is considered the moment of swelling of the kidneys. The main thing when propagating spruce is not to forget about maintaining the temperature regime and the required level of moisture.

Blue spruce, grown in this way, after 5 years reaches 1 meter in height. At this point, the tree can be transplanted to a permanent place of growth.

Growing needles from seeds

How to grow spruce from seeds? This process is painstaking and time consuming, and the result depends on the selection of material and how high quality it was.

Seed collection

To grow any plant with your own hands, you need a selected planting material, which is better not to buy, but to get it yourself. For growing spruce seedlings, seeds obtained from the fruits of a coniferous plant - cones are used. Collection of cones is carried out in mid-February. This is the perfect time to collect valuable spruce seeds. Cones are placed in a cloth bag and placed next to heating device or a fireplace, which facilitates quick opening and free access to grains. After a few weeks, you will be able to get the seeds out without damaging them. After the cones open, the spruce seeds in the bag are rubbed together to remove the lionfish. Washing under running water will get rid of the greasy film formed due to the release of essential oils. At the final stage of preparation, the planting material is well dried.

To ensure complete protection of the seeds from bacteria, they are washed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then wiped with a cloth patch. Prepared seeds are placed in a glass jar, which, tightly closed, is placed in the refrigerator. The conditions in the freezer are as close as possible to natural (during the cold season), where the seeds are kept until mid-March.

How to grow spruce from seeds yourself? It is very important to get good planting material, which, however, can be bought on the market if necessary. The main thing is to know a good manufacturer.

preparing the ground

In order for the blue spruce to grow healthy from seeds at home, it is recommended to prepare the site before sowing specimens.

Important! Do not sow blue spruce seeds in areas where you grow vegetable crops- they do not take root in the beds and quickly die.

The optimal growing medium is the ground from under lawn grass mixed with soil taken from under a coniferous tree. Growing in greenhouses involves two planting methods:

straight into the ground
into an additional container.

When planting seeds in pots, do not forget to prepare a peat mixture, with the addition of limestone flour and ammophoska in a ratio of 6:0.035:0.020 kg. The mixture is scattered in containers in which spruce is planted. The pots themselves are buried deep into the earth embankment in the greenhouse.

Important! Choosing the first method of planting, an additional top layer is poured over the soil layer - from sawdust and peat.

Planting seeds

First, determine the most favorable date for planting spruce. The seedling will feel comfortable in nature if the ambient temperature is in the region of + 19 ° C (+ -1-2 ° C).

Important! After changing the temperature regime (i.e. after the refrigerator), they can only be stored for 50 hours.

Before landing, the planting material is treated with a solution of foundationol: 20 g per 10 liters of water.

Planting spruce is carried out in well-moistened soil. If spruce will be grown in greenhouse conditions, then the containers are deepened into the ground by 1.5 cm, and a film is pulled on top. If on open ground, they first tamp the earth in the hole, after which they put the seeds, covering them on top with a peat mixture and a thin layer of sawdust (about 1 cm).

Important! The distance between individual seeds should be at least 3.5-6 cm.

seed germination

The first shoots can be observed after 10-14 days. If spruce seedlings are placed close to each other, there is a need to thin them out. Of the entire range of plants, only the strongest specimens are left, keeping the distance between them up to 7.5 cm.

When immature seedlings move to the active growth phase, it is necessary to maintain optimal conditions cultivation of needles, which are as follows:

cancel watering and put into practice light spraying of seedlings with water - 2 times a day;
maintain the temperature regime: the minimum temperature is + 13 ° C, the maximum is + 15 ° C.

Important! Remember that night frosts and direct sunlight during the day adversely affect fragile young needles.

A month later, a seedling of a young blue spruce reaches a height of 3-4 cm. Experts note that indirect diffused sunlight has a good effect on the growth rates of specimens. Since small needles are resistant to diseases that affect plants, namely root rot, there is a need for special protection: first, a fungicide will be required, then treatment with an insecticide solution.

Plant transplant

You already know how to grow spruce seedlings from seeds, but it is impossible to do it qualitatively without a transplant. annual plants. The procedure is carried out in early spring. After the seedlings have reached the required level, it is important to plant the specimens you have bred so as not to lose the plants.

Before transplanting, pits are prepared, which are rammed and sprinkled with a layer of earthen mixture from under a coniferous plant.

How to carry out a transplant?

Small Christmas trees are dug out of the ground, separating the roots of individual specimens woven together. This work must be carried out quickly, but carefully so as not to damage the root system and prevent it from drying out.

Blue spruce, grown from seeds at home, requires special care. Often these are standard rules.

Interesting! By the third year of growth, less than half of the seedlings survive.

Three years after sowing the seeds, the plants are re-transplanted. This is done to provide enough space for the roots of spruce. During this period, Christmas trees are seated at a distance of 1 m from each other.

Are you wondering how much spruce grows from seed? And we have an answer to this question. After 5 years, you will have a full-fledged spruce, exceeding a height of 1 meter.

Such a bluish-green beauty will become a real decoration of the garden or successfully complement the landscape composition. Growing plants with your own hands is quite difficult, but due to the amusing process and in the event of a positive result, when it turns out that the efforts were not in vain, you will certainly be proud of your Christmas tree.

Many land owners dream of growing fluffy and beautiful. You can even decorate the site beautifully by growing a whole alley of fir trees. This is not the easiest task, it requires compliance with certain rules, as well as patience and time.

. Therefore, if you are wondering how to grow a spruce from a branch, first find a young and healthy spruce, no older than 8 years, from which you can take a branch. Cut them off from the top of the tree. You need to take only one-year-olds. Twigs from the middle of the tree also have a chance to take root, but it is likely that the tree will grow with a crooked crown.

Tricks of growing spruce from a branch:

Usually the branch takes root only in the second year. But if you want the roots to go already in the year of planting, prepare cuttings in the middle of spring.
Cut in autumn or winter, the so-called lignified cuttings are stored all winter in a cool, dark place.
The length of the branch can vary from 10 to 25 cm.
After the branch is cut, remove all the needles from the bottom by about 3-6 cm and put it in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
In order for the stalk to give roots and take root well, it is necessary to do. Well, if it is heated.
You can easily make your own without help. Drainage must be placed at the bottom to avoid stagnant moisture. Stones, broken bricks or large gravel can be used as drainage. After drainage comes soil and a layer of sand on top, better cleaned. Soil can be taken in a spruce forest or purchased at a store.
We cover with a film so that there is a distance of no more than 30 cm between the sand and the film.
At first, spruce needed a shadow, so we put more on top of the film dark coating, you can burlap.
You need to plant a branch to the depth to which you cleared it of needles.
They are planted at a slight angle with an interval of 2 m (if you are planning an alley).
Remember that spruce can grow very large, so do not mess with seedlings.

At first, it is necessary abundantly and every day, in the heat up to four times a day. Don't forget to loosen the soil as well. When the first roots appear, you do not need to water more than once a day. You can spray seedlings mineral mixture. For the winter it is necessary to cover them or foliage.

Grow beautiful Christmas tree from seeds is more difficult than from a branch, but subject to certain recommendations, you can very well boast that you succeeded. It is not recommended to buy seeds in a store or order online, because you do not know the quality of these seeds, how much and under what conditions they were stored.

Tips for growing spruce from seeds:

In November, choose any spruce you like: ask your neighbors for a bump, find a tree in a park or forest. The cone must be plucked from the tree, and not lifted from the ground. At home, these cones must be placed in a warm place, closer to a heater or radiator, and allowed to dry.
When the cone releases seeds, treat them (seeds, not cones) with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then put them in a box of calcined sand.
It is not necessary to dig deep, 1.5-2 cm will be enough. Put the box in the cold. It is these conditions that will be closest to natural.
Thus, the seeds, being at rest, will accumulate useful material and by spring they will be ready to ascend. In this form, the seeds should be left for 2-4 months.
Then the seeds will need to be put in a warm place and constantly so that they sprout. A large amount of water will cause the seeds to rot, so watering should be moderate. With proper care, the first shoots will appear in 2 weeks.
Until the moment you plant a seedling, the soil must be fertilized twice. You need to water in such a way that the soil is moist, but the water does not stand on the surface.
When the night frosts are left behind, and it gets warmer outside, you can plant your spruce on the site. First, dig a hole and put mineral fertilizers there. There is no need to feed the spruce anymore.

At first, the seedling needs a greenhouse. To do this, cover it with a cut plastic bottle. Do not clean such a homemade greenhouse for at least a week. But at the same time, it would be wrong to completely deprive the spruce of air flow. Therefore, periodically remove the bottle to ventilate the seedling and remove the accumulated condensate. Do it in warm time days.

Over the summer, your spruce will not grow and get strong enough to survive the winter frosts. For the winter, it needs to be covered or made a greenhouse. The layer of snow should be sufficient so that the seedling does not freeze.

And now some spruce care rules that will allow you to grow a beautiful, healthy and tall tree on your site.

Spruces may well grow in the shade, as is often the case in natural conditions.

But if you want to get a fluffy tree, and not a long and stunted one, it is still better to choose a sunny place where it is warm enough, humid and not strong wind. Then the tree will grow straight and strong. An abundance of bright light is also not desirable.

Proper tree care:

Spruce loves moisture. It does not tolerate drought well, but it can rot from stagnant water. Therefore, the earth sometimes needs to be loosened, providing water and air access to the roots. It is not often necessary to water an adult spruce, once a week is enough, but at the same time it is necessary to pour at least 10 liters of water. It is this amount that is considered optimal in order to nourish the roots and prevent moisture stagnation.
Requirements for air humidity are low. Humidity tolerates calmly, as well as more arid conditions. To wash the dust and dirt, you can periodically wash the spruce with a hose. Then the needles will acquire a rich green color.
If for the first time you made a mistake with the place, spruce can be transplanted. It will tolerate the transplant well in the absence of bright sun and all conditions are met. But often transplanting spruce is not recommended. To do this, dig a hole in advance in the desired part of the garden, repeat the whole procedure from the beginning: lay drainage, pour soil specially selected for conifers, sand on top. Please note that the basal neck should be above the ground. This is an important condition for healthy tree growth.
Do not often need tree fertilizers. Spruce does not need this at all. If you wish, you can fertilize the soil near the trunk in the spring before the shoots appear.
Reproduction of firs is also carried out through or. If you have a special type of ornamental spruce, prefer the type of propagation by cuttings, then you will be able to preserve all the decorative properties of the spruce.
Spruce does not like dense soil, so you need to loosen near the trunk. Loosen with a chopper or hoe very carefully. No need to dig deep, you risk damaging the roots.
Follow appearance ate. Remove dried branches in time. If the tree begins to split in two, remove one top.

Spruce has many varieties: they differ not only in appearance, but also in the color of the needles. Consider the most common among them:

Ordinary. In other words, this is our usual Russian Christmas tree, green, tall, similar to a cone. The height can be very impressive, up to 50 m. It tolerates frost, shade well and is generally unpretentious in care. Lives for more than one hundred years, reaching the highest point of growth by 150 years.
Canadian. Beautiful spruce with a bluish tint. The height of an adult tree is 10 m. The needles are short, have a slight smell of blackcurrant. He loves the light, but is quite capable of enduring the shadow, as well as severe frosts. The trunk reaches a thickness of 4 m. It does not like high humidity, but it will survive the drought.
Acrocon. A species of common spruce. An excellent choice for those who are looking for an interesting decoration for their site. These are small trees, usually no more than 4 m high, growing in irregular bushes. The needles seem to be pointing down. A special highlight is the multi-colored needles. At first it is bright green, and then it becomes very dark. The combination of both colors creates a very beautiful composition. The buds appear all over the tree, turning bright burgundy by spring.
Inverse. The crown of this spruce resembles a weeping willow. All branches are directed downwards and seem to flow around the trunk. Height is about 6 meters. Its crown can be directed, then the tree will grow in a given direction. If you do not create any support for the trunk, the spruce will not grow at all above the level of the knee, it will spread along the ground.
Serbian. This decorative spruce is one of the thinnest. It grows rapidly, reaches a height of 15 m. It tolerates frost well, but not an abundance of moisture in the soil. The needles are bright green, brightens towards the bottom of the trunk. The decoration is cones of a purple hue. It is almost impossible to meet Serbian spruce in the wild. It is easy to cut, strong winds the tree may fall because the roots go deep into the ground. In Europe, this spruce is very much loved and often used as a traditional Christmas decoration.
Nana. This is one of the varieties of Serbian spruce. Low tree up to 3 m in height with bluish needles. It is undemanding in leaving, well transfers frosts and looks very beautifully. But it grows slowly, no more than 3 cm per year.

It has long been known that the needles contain a huge amount of vitamins, minerals, essential oils. Therefore, winter needles are often used to make homemade cosmetics. It is in winter that it absorbs all the useful substances. Masks, lotions are made from it, coniferous baths are taken, which is very beneficial for the skin and blood circulation in general.

Spruce needles are crushed, poured with boiling water and then used to make face and hair masks, creams, lotions, tonics.

It is also useful to drink such an infusion. It has a diuretic effect, removes small stones from the kidneys and urinary tract. Almost any part of spruce (cones, buds, branches, needles) can be used in the treatment of rhinitis and colds. Inhalations with a decoction of pine needles destroy microbes, facilitate breathing, relieve inflammation. Healing spruce resin ointment will help get rid of boils. Resin and wax can also be inhaled. It is very useful in bronchial diseases. They are cleaned, sputum is removed, inflammation is removed.

An infusion of cones is very useful for external and internal use. For this you need:

Select good cones, grind, pour water and boil for at least half an hour.
Then let it brew under the lid. The infusion is dark brown, the taste is not very pleasant, astringent. It can be used for inhalation.
If you add lemon during boiling, this decoction can be taken orally to strengthen the immune system.
The broth is stored in a cool no more than 3 days.

You can also take spruce branches along with young buds, pour boiling water and let it brew. If you regularly take such an infusion, you can get rid of bronchitis, sciatica, speed up recovery from pneumonia.

It is not necessary to make infusions or decoctions, you can take a few needles, rinse with water and just chew.

In addition to the pleasant coniferous smell from the mouth, vivacity will appear, immunity will be strengthened, and working capacity will increase. Remember that with peptic ulcers of the digestive system, such home remedies are prohibited. Before use, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

More information can be found in the video.

Do you think that a Christmas tree in a pot is better than a cut down or artificial one? We agree with you and are ready to tell you about the choice of such a spruce and caring for it, because the question of how to care for a tree will certainly arise before you when the festive fuss subsides.

Live spruce is good because you don't have to throw it away. In the spring, you can plant it in the garden, in the country or in the yard. However, in order for the tree to survive until spring, it is necessary to create certain conditions for it.

Spruce takes root for a long time: about three years. All this time she needs regular watering. But in the future, you will be able to decorate this living Christmas tree in your area and not worry about buying a New Year's tree.

Live spruces in pots New Year This is, of course, a classic. But you can experiment and dress up (follow the link, we previously wrote about caring for this tree). Araucaria is one of the few conifers that can be grown in room conditions, since it comes from subtropical regions.

In addition, cypresses and cypress trees will be able to replace live spruce. They usually cost less, and in room conditions they feel better than Christmas trees. Cypress (Cupressus) in winter, however, also requires a cool content (at +5 - 10 ° C), but (Chamaecypris) winters normally at 18 - 20 ° C and needs only regular watering and spraying.

Lawson's cypress

Thus, a live spruce in a pot (or its substitute) is a very environmentally friendly option for decorating a house or apartment on the eve of the New Year, although a little troublesome.

What do you need to know about trees?

Before you start planting seeds, you should learn a few interesting facts about this plant. I will say right away that growing spruce at home is given oh how difficult! The thing is that this plant does not like heat too much, fir trees prefer frosty air, especially in winter time. It is very important that your home has a place where the temperature does not rise above 10 degrees in winter. And if there is none, then it is worth refusing to plant a spruce, and no special care won't help here.

When planning to grow spruce from seed, make sure the tree's seeds are fully mature. It is a mistake to believe that if the cone has opened, then the seeds are 100% ripe - even immature ones open in heat. It is better to collect spruce seeds from the cones of the current year's harvest, preferably in late autumn before the first frost.

For growing spruce from a twig, only the top is suitable. Of course, you can also try to root a side branch, but then, most likely, the tree, when it grows up, will be a little “stubby” on one side.

Planting spruce from seeds

It is recommended to plant spruce seeds by the end of April, but these seeds must first be prepared. To do this, we remove them from the cone, inspect externally in order to reject the damaged ones. good seeds soak in a slightly pinkish solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, then dry them before germination. To "deceive" the seeds, put them in the refrigerator until spring.

We remove the future Christmas trees from the refrigerator, and soak them in cold water for a day. Planting seeds is best done in the "native" soil from a coniferous forest. We do not deepen the seeds, but simply put them on top of the black soil, slightly crushing them with soil from above. We protect the tray with seeds from direct sunlight. A month after the emergence of seedlings, they can be carefully dived into separate pots. The first year it is recommended to add a weak solution of mullein to the water when watering as mineral fertilizer.

Planting spruce from the top

For this method, we need a one-year shoot from the top of the spruce. We carefully cut it off, from the bottom we remove all the needles by 5-6 centimeters. The cleaned part of the branch should be placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. To root a young plant, it is recommended to plant it in the spring in a greenhouse or an improvised film greenhouse. The ideal soil mixture for these purposes is considered to be ordinary earth collected in a coniferous forest, diluted by a third with washed river sand. During the rooting period, it is recommended to irrigate the seedling two to three times a day with a sprayer. You should also carefully monitor that the earth in the greenhouse does not dry out, and direct sunlight does not fall on the young Christmas tree. After the appearance of the first roots, spraying is done half as often, we cover the Christmas tree from the sun only from lunch. Experts recommend not replanting a seedling for 3-4 years, only in this case we will get an adult, healthy tree that will transfer its “move” to a permanent place without any special consequences.

Obviously, growing spruce at home is a task for the strong in spirit. But I assure you, you will succeed if you follow the advice of professional gardeners.