How to distinguish a male sea buckthorn seedling from a female one. The difference between male and female sea buckthorn. Male sea buckthorn trees

For people far from gardening, it may be a revelation that plants also have gender. Of course, not all representatives of the flora kingdom have male and female individuals, but most of the cultivated breeds that we are used to seeing in our summer cottages have sexual differences. They also exist in sea buckthorn trees, popular among gardeners due to its unpretentiousness and beneficial properties berries In this article we will talk about how to determine whether a sea buckthorn seedling is male or female and whether there are differences in caring for them.

Male sea buckthorn trees

You can distinguish a male sea buckthorn tree by the following features:

• In spring it blooms more magnificently, while the flowers themselves are bright and large.
• A few years after planting (namely, by this moment the tree reaches fruiting age), large scaly buds appear on the thick branches of males, resembling cones in appearance.
• The shape of the leaves of male specimens is curved from the center to the edges of the plate, which is why they resemble a flying bird in appearance (gardeners call them “seagulls”). Also specific gray plaque on deciduous cover in this case it will be stronger than in female plants.
• At the end of summer and beginning of autumn, during the fruiting period, there will be no berries on male trees, because... They serve exclusively for pollination and do not produce crops themselves.

As you can see, determine gender young plant sea ​​buckthorn is difficult even for an experienced gardener, so often the owner learns about it only 3-4 years after planting. However, we can immediately give important advice: you should not spend a lot of money on buying a male seedling of some rare variety, since the subsequent yield, size and taste of berries, etc. depend only on the female specimen.

Features of female sea buckthorn trees

Females are more recognizable and important for the gardener; they can be identified by their characteristic features:

1. Availability of berries- the simplest and most obvious way to identify a female. However, you will have to wait a few seasons to use it.
2. Before the tree begins to bear fruit, female seedlings can be distinguished by their flowers: they are smaller and not as numerous as on the male tree.
3. The leaves of females are more rounded and cup-shaped.
4. The female sea buckthorn also has scaly buds, but not so large, there are fewer scales on them and they do not fit so tightly to each other. The buds also have a special forked shape, which gardeners call a “goat’s hoof.”

Sea buckthorn is a fairly easy tree to care for. It doesn't require frequent watering, pruning branches, etc. However, there are certain tricks in planting and caring for it:

• If you know that a male sea buckthorn grows on a neighboring plot, then you can plant only female ones on yours. They will still begin to bear fruit, having received pollen from a neighbor's tree. However, it is important that the distance between the areas is not too large, otherwise pollination (which occurs with the help of the wind) will not occur.
• When examining the buds of a plant to determine its sex, remember that they acquire their final appearance at least 2.5-3 years after planting. Before this, sea buckthorn also forms buds, but only vegetative ones (those from which foliage and new shoots are formed); the gender of the tree can only be recognized by flower buds.
• The best varieties of female sea buckthorn for planting are “Podruga”, “Podmoskovnaya”, “Etna”, “Zolotistaya”, etc.
• Sea buckthorn can be grown from seeds, but this method is far from the best. You will not know in advance whether the plants you got are male or female, this can complicate the process of harvesting. Propagating sea buckthorn seedlings is a more preferable option. At the same time, remember that the shoots will be of the same sex as the tree that gave them (for example, from a female individual we will also get female seedlings).
• If there is not enough space on your site to plant a new tree, and there are no males nearby, you can purchase a kind of sexual hybrid from the nursery: a female seedling onto which one male branch is grafted. This will save space and guarantee a harvest at the end of the season.

What sea buckthorn is like, planting and caring for it, reproduction features - I will tell you about all this in this article. Valuable medicinal qualities This culture is today known throughout the world. Sea buckthorn is grown, cultivated, and used to make medical and cosmetic preparations, as well as all kinds of culinary delights. All parts of sea buckthorn have medicinal value and are used in folk and official medicine. Depending on the planting location and care, sea buckthorn can be a low spreading shrub or a powerful tall tree.

Photo of sea buckthorn:

Where does sea buckthorn grow?

In the wild, it grows on rocky and sandy soils, in river valleys, near streams, reservoirs, and on seashores. Because of this, it is often called sea thorn, sand berry, and dune thorn. The homeland of sea buckthorn is the highlands of the Himalayas. Where does sea buckthorn grow in Russia? You can answer - everywhere, except perhaps in the Far North. Today this culture is spread throughout the world. This is a representative of the sucker family. Through the efforts of breeders, many varieties have been developed.

Where and how does sea buckthorn grow in the wild, photo:

Features, how to distinguish male from female sea buckthorn, photo

In our domestic expanses, its name is explained quite easily - the branches of the tree are abundantly strewn, covered with bright orange fruits on all sides. The leaves are narrow, elongated, bluish in color, the flowers are so inconspicuous that at first glance they can easily be mistaken for leaves. As already mentioned, depending on the variety, sea buckthorn can be short or tall.

When does sea buckthorn bloom? By the very beginning of May or closer to its middle, small short tassels bloom on the branches, each of them containing 3-5 small yellowish flowers. The flowers bloom first, the leaves follow.

Here it is necessary to mention one feature of sea buckthorn - only female representatives bloom; on male trees there are stamens collected in a bunch. These stamens contain pollen, which is easily transferred by the wind to the female inflorescences, resulting in pollination. If you slightly disturb a flowering male branch, you can see a cloud of this same pollen. Sea buckthorn flowers have no scent and therefore do not attract bees.

How sea buckthorn blooms, photo:

To obtain good harvest, it is imperative to plant male and female trees together. Only female plants produce fruits; male plants are only pollinators. For pollination, sometimes one male representative is enough, which can grow at a considerable distance (up to 50 meters) from the female specimens. Windy weather promotes the process.

Female and male sea buckthorn: the difference is that a male tree can even grow from wild growth. But as for the female plant, it should be cultivated sea buckthorn. As mentioned above, the sex of a tree is determined by the appearance of the buds. The male variety is most easily identified in spring or autumn, while the female variety can be easily identified in summer, when the tree flowers and bears fruit. Female buds are much smaller in size than male buds and are covered with a pair of scales. Male buds are larger, more voluminous, and have from 5 to 7 covering scales.

Male sea buckthorn is on the right, female is on the left, photo:

Sea buckthorn - drawing of female and male branches
Branch of a male plant in spring
Branch of a female plant in spring

When does sea buckthorn season start? When does sea buckthorn ripen? From the last weeks of August until the beginning of October, depending on the climate in the growing region. However, there are also some nuances here: the collection time depends on the purpose for which you need the berries. For freezing or consuming sea buckthorn fresh Fruits should be collected at the very beginning of their ripening (late summer-early autumn). By this time, they are already saturated with vitamins, but are quite hard to the touch and do not ooze juice. If the berries are needed to obtain oil, prepare all kinds of preserves, jams, sauces, then you should wait until they are completely ripe. Ripe fruits are filled with juice and slightly soft.

Why is it difficult to collect sea buckthorn?

Green woodpecker on sea buckthorn

This task is quite difficult; the process can be traumatic due to the sharp thorns that cover the branches. Sea buckthorn has fairly short stalks, and the ripe berries are soft to the touch and easily wrinkle under your fingers. Plus, the juice of the fruit is very acidic and can cause irritation to the skin of the hands with prolonged contact. What to do in this case?

There are radical methods in which the branches are cut off along with the fruits, but this is quite cruel to the tree. Experienced gardeners have found a way out of this situation. To begin with, before harvesting, put on clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, which will inevitably happen. The second rule is that you need to collect fruits from the top of the branch towards the bottom.

How to collect sea buckthorn:

1. The first method is a rough one, in which the branches with fruits are carefully cut off and immediately frozen. Frozen berries are easily removed from the branches, but this method is only suitable for those cases when you need them frozen.
2. The second method is manual; cherries, cherries, apricots and other fruits are collected in the same way. It is traumatic, takes a lot of time, and requires increased attention.
3. The third method is " skillful hands", i.e. production of auxiliary devices. Gardeners use various tricks: they attach a sharp scraper to a long stick with electrical tape, which they use to scrape berries from the branches. Your assistant should stand below and hold either open package, or an open umbrella for picking berries. Sometimes they use a knife with a long handle and collect the fruits using the same principle. However, the most convenient device is considered to be the “cobra” - this popular name, which has taken root among gardeners and summer residents. The device is a loop of dense wire that is securely attached to a long holder. You can drill two holes at the end of a round stick and thread a wire through them. For convenience, the loop itself is slightly bent so that when viewed from the side it resembles a cobra's hood. The top of the loop should be slightly narrowed. The place of fastening must be securely wrapped with wire or wrapped several times. insulating tape. Now you can quite conveniently cut the stalks with a “cobra”; you can open an umbrella from below where the berries will fall.

The “cobra” method of collecting sea buckthorn is the most acceptable and least traumatic.

A device for collecting sea buckthorn berries - a thin nylon rope is stretched between the slingshots

You can also wait until the first frosts, spread a cloth or a piece of polyethylene under the tree, then arm yourself with a heavy stick and attack the trunk and branches with it. From the impacts, frozen fruits will separate from the branches and fall onto the prepared blanket. Decide for yourself what is more convenient for you.

Watch a few videos, perhaps you will use ideas for picking berries with devices that are easy to make yourself, with your own hands.

How to plant sea buckthorn correctly

Before planting, you need to decide on the variety - the selected type of sea buckthorn must be adapted to the climate of your region. It is best to purchase seedlings in trusted places, for example, in nurseries fruit trees or in horticulture institutes. Additionally, you will be confident in the purity of the variety. It should be borne in mind that this culture has a very short period dormancy, so that the sea buckthorn tree does not “wake up” in the middle of winter, choose those varieties that are designed for growing in your area.

When to plant sea buckthorn - in spring or autumn? Sea buckthorn seedlings can be planted both with the arrival of spring and autumn. But it is preferable to do this in early spring- this way they will get along better. If you plant a tree in the fall, sudden winter warming can trigger its awakening.

When choosing a location, give preference to areas near buildings and paths - away from areas where active gardening activity is in full swing. The fact is that sea buckthorn has cord-like roots, which are located in upper layers soil (approximately 50 cm). They are quite long and can diverge to the sides at a distance of more than 10 meters. Thus, the roots can be damaged when digging; they are very sensitive, so even with the slightest injury, the sea buckthorn can get sick. In general, digging the soil near this tree is not recommended, even if you do it carefully. Digging provokes the appearance of growth, especially in places where roots are “touched”. Light loosening with a hoe will be enough. For this light-loving crop, choose open, unshaded places.

Starting in the fall, don’t be too lazy to add sand and humus, mixed in equal quantities(2 kg/1 m² or per hole), phosphorus-potassium supplements are also relevant.

How to plant female and male sea buckthorn together, at what distance? If there are several trees, then the distance between them should be approximately 2-3 meters. Must be present males sea ​​buckthorn (for pollination). As mentioned above, for 5-6 female trees, 1 male specimen is enough. The process itself is no different from planting other fruit representatives: the hole should be approximately 70x70x70 cm, a small hill should be formed at the bottom, and the roots should be carefully spread along its slopes.

After this, the hole is filled with soil just above the root collar. After the soil shrinks, the neck should be level with the soil level. After planting, a wide hole is formed around the tree, which needs to be filled with water in the amount of about two buckets.

How to care for sea buckthorn

Caring for seedlings involves regular watering; you should know that sea buckthorn is a moisture-loving crop. When the seedling gets stronger and becomes a tree, it no longer needs to be watered too often, only during drought. It makes no sense to apply fertilizer to the tree trunk circle, because the cord-like root system The tree spreads out to the sides and stretches for many meters. When sea buckthorn begins to bear fruit, it can be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers, once every 3 years (4-5 kg ​​of humus per 1 m², 20-30 potassium-phosphorus additives).

You should also carefully remove weeds from the area trunk circle, do not loosen the soil too actively (without going deeper than 7-10 cm). It is better to prune branches and form the crown in the spring, while the buds have not yet blossomed.

After the sea buckthorn tree is 8 years old, you can practice anti-aging pruning - remove old branches, giving preference to three-year-old shoots. Dried, frozen, diseased fragments must also be removed.

How to propagate sea buckthorn?

The process is carried out using layering, shoots and seeds. It is inappropriate to describe the seed method in detail, since this method takes too much time. The resulting plants do not inherit the varietal qualities of the mother tree; most often the result is “wild”. Sea buckthorn is often propagated by seeds in the laboratory to obtain new varieties and hybrids.

During coppice propagation, young sea buckthorn inherits all the features of the main tree. Selected representatives are regularly watered in spring and especially in summer. With the arrival of new spring, the shoot is carefully cut off with a small fragment of the root, after which it is planted in a separate place of residence.

How to propagate sea buckthorn by layering? It is necessary to select those branches that are closest to the ground. In spring, small depressions are made in the soil near these branches (about 10 cm). The branches are bent and pinned to the ground with wire staples. When these branches sprout, the pinned area is sprinkled with soil. On next year, again, with the arrival of spring, they are dug up, cut off with pruning shears and transferred to permanent place residence or rearing.

The highest quality and most productive method of propagation is the cutting method. Cuttings of sea buckthorn are no different from cuttings of other fruit trees - everything happens in the same way. Around the middle of summer, cut a beautiful and strong cutting (about 15-20 cm in length), pinch off the three lower leaves, and treat the cut area with the preparation “Kornevin” (optional). Bury the end of the cutting into nutritious soil, substrate or into moist vermiculite. A mixture of pure river sand, fertile soil and peat is perfect. Cover the top of the cutting with a plastic transparent glass to create something like a greenhouse.

In the room where the cuttings are germinated, the air temperature should be approximately +26..+28 °C. Young livestock should be watered regularly, irrigated with a spray bottle, and ventilated periodically (raise the cup). After about 8 weeks, the covering is removed and the cuttings are fed with potassium-phosphorus supplements. The covering is no longer used, the seedling is watered and waits for a new spring. When it gets stronger, it is transferred to a permanent place of growth.

Sometimes on gardening forums you can come across the following question: why doesn’t sea buckthorn bear fruit? The answer is actually simple: sea buckthorn is a dioecious crop; in order to produce fruit, the presence of male and female specimens is required in the same area. If you only have “girls” growing, then they will not bear fruit. “Boys” do not bear fruit at all, but are only pollinators. To solve the problem in the spring, you can plant a couple of shrubs of the opposite sex on the site. It is best to choose cultural male varieties"Aley" or "Gnome". Just in case, it is better to plant two male trees at once, in case one dies or freezes in winter.

Also good results vaccination gives. You can take a few twigs from healthy tree of the opposite sex (for example, from a neighbor in the country) and with the arrival of spring, graft them onto your sea buckthorn.

Varieties of sea buckthorn, description, photo

To obtain a good harvest, large and juicy berries, choose only best views sea ​​buckthorn, which are adapted to grow in your area. Take cuttings from a “proven” tree or purchase from a nursery with good recommendations. High-quality sea buckthorn berries are always large and have pleasant taste, juicy, do not burst in the hands, abundantly cover the branches of the tree.

Variety Krasnoplodnaya - red sea buckthorn photo:

The universal variety Moscowskaya Krasavitsa has an average yield; the shrub grows up to two and a half meters and bears fruit with large (up to 10 g) juicy berries from mid-summer to early autumn.

Chuyskaya sea buckthorn is characterized by a sweeter taste, the branches of the tree are not too densely covered with thorns, the thorns themselves are not long, the size of the fruit is slightly smaller than that of the Moscow Beauty, but larger than average.

Red-fruited sea buckthorn has reddish berries, as is clear from the name, is resistant to disease, is distinguished by vitality and unpretentiousness.

Sea buckthorn Elizaveta belongs to classic varieties, bears fruit abundantly, the berries have a pleasant sweetish taste and are large in size. Description of Elizabeth's sea buckthorn: this is a very winter-hardy variety, resistant to diseases, ripens a little later than other types, and reaches medium size.

Variety “Chuyskaya”, photo:

Botanical sea buckthorn is more convenient to collect, since its stalk is slightly longer than that of other species. To receive valuable sea ​​buckthorn oil This is the species most often grown.

The Giant variety fully lives up to its name, the tree grows up to 3-4 meters in height, the fruits are large in size, and the branches are practically not covered with thorns. That is, the Giant variety is sea buckthorn without thorns. The variety is winter-hardy, the berries ripen by September.

Sea buckthorn Favorite is another common variety in our open spaces. It is distinguished by large sweet berries on long stalks, it is easy to pick, it does not wrinkle under your fingers, the bushes are quite sparse, which optimizes the harvesting process (it is easy to get to the berries). This variety is winter-hardy, unpretentious, and bears fruit abundantly.

Besides medicinal value, this culture can act as an element landscape design on your site. Its long, rope-like roots hold the soil well. With its help you can form hedge, and in company with other shrubs it will look very harmonious.

No matter how you look at it, sea buckthorn is good for everyone - it won’t be a burden to you, since it is unpretentious, incredibly useful and looks beautiful on the site.

Small orange sea buckthorn berries are not only a source of nutrients and vitamins, but also an absolute decoration of the garden. When planting a bush on your site, you need to take into account that it will grow over time and form a real powerful tree. In order to receive bountiful harvest, you need to know the nuances of how to distinguish male from female sea buckthorn, how to properly care for it so that the bushes always bring a good harvest.

Sea buckthorn fruits have a high nutritional value, especially when you compare it with other berries and fruits in the garden. The main valuable substances in the composition are carotene and various organic acids which are necessary for the functioning of the body. Knowing how a female shrub differs from a male one will allow gardeners to always be confident that there will be a harvest.

Varieties and description of culture

Each variety will differ in taste qualities or visually, so before making the final choice, you need to know the features of several types. This is required in order to select best option. In Russia, there are two types of selection of this plant: European and Siberian.

sea ​​buckthorn tree

The varietal diversity is wide - more than 70 varieties are known, among which there are large-fruited, aromatic, with a high content of vitamins, and with increased yields. There are also bushes that have a reduced number of thorns or no thorns at all. If we consider sea buckthorn, which grows in the wild, then its berries are small, weighing only 0.3 g, while cultivated ones weigh on average 0.5 g.

Characteristics of varieties with the largest berries:

The Essel variety is a new product in Siberian selection. The berries are large and orange in color. The shape is oval, the weight of the berry is on average 1.1 g. Ripening time is summer. The taste is sweet, so the variety is classified as dessert.

Gardeners know that sea buckthorn is divided into boy and girl shrubs. This means that the plant is dioecious. When thinking about planting it on your plot, you need to know: one of the bushes must be female and the other male in order to be able to harvest. This difference is a feature that must be taken into account.

How to distinguish sea buckthorn

In order for berries to form, it is necessary that there are bushes of each type in the garden (pollination occurs, as a result of which the process of berry formation begins).

Pollination female bushes produced by the wind. The flowering period of male bushes is 6-12 days, but ovaries (and subsequently berries) are formed exclusively on female specimens.

Female sea buckthorn

When planning planting, it is important to take into account the following feature: for every 5 female bushes you need to plant one male bush. Plantings can be carried out so that there is no more than 50 meters between bushes, but the quality of pollination will be higher if the plantings are located close to each other.

Male and female bushes are very similar to each other visually. This is why it is important to know how to determine the sex of sea buckthorn. This can be done based on several criteria. One of the most accurate determinations will be by flower buds. You can also see what gender a plant belongs to only when it is mature. It is best to do this in the fall, when the bud formation process has completely completed. Also suitable period early spring when the buds begin to swell. IN at a young age sea ​​buckthorn bushes have exclusively vegetative buds- those from which each leaf is formed. If shrubs are purchased through a nursery, then it is necessary to clarify their gender. They can create universal options - male branches are grafted onto female bushes, which allows the plant to guarantee pollination.

Sea buckthorn (male)

For ordinary gardeners who did not purchase the plant from a nursery or did not specify the gender, you need to know a number of features that will help you find the answer to this question. The following parameters are distinguished:

• Tree at a young age (shrub), related to masculine, larger and more powerful than those that are female;
• Adult plants, on the contrary, the female sea buckthorn bush is larger than the male one;
• The generative buds of female seedlings are small in size. An additional difference is that they are covered with two large scales. The same buds, but in male seedlings, are almost 3 times larger, they are covered with 5-10 scales of various sizes. Visually, these buds resemble cones.

Important! Cultivated sea buckthorn, female and male, and the differences between each sex must be taken into account, since the yield directly depends on this parameter.

You can determine whether you belong to one gender or another by looking at the flowers. Female sea buckthorn bushes have flowers yellow. They are collected in bunches of 3-11 flowers. In male sea buckthorn bushes, the flowers have a greenish-silver tint.

Important to consider next nuance during sex determination: if the plant is more than 3 years old, then before entering the fruiting period it is almost impossible to determine exactly whether the plant is male or female.

Attention should be paid to the leaves. In spring and summer, it is very easy to determine the sex using this parameter - female sea buckthorn bushes have brighter and greener foliage. In males – not bright, present gray shade. You should also consider the size and appearance. So, the sea buckthorn boy has even leaves. The main vein, located in the center, is well defined and located with outside. The female leaves are concave in shape; if cut crosswise, they will look like a bowl. Accordingly, the difference is clearly visible in this regard. If you can distinguish the sex of plants planted in the garden, you can understand whether you will need to add other plants of the opposite sex.

Sea buckthorn Adam (male)

Nuances of cultivation

In order to obtain a harvest or maintain its high levels, it is necessary to observe the nuances of cultivation. The features of agricultural technology regarding garden sea buckthorn are simple and do not require special knowledge from the gardener. The first thing to remember is that the crop, regardless of the variety, loves light very much, so it grows well in areas not shaded by buildings or trees.

Sea buckthorn, female or male, should be planted in spring period when plants have enough warmth and sunlight. There are several rules that are recommended to be followed so that plants, regardless of gender, can feel good and bear fruit successfully for several years.

It is important to know! Shrubs require light soil structure. It should be well moistened, but without stagnant water. After this, it is necessary to water in a timely manner.

If the soil is too acidic, then before planting shrubs you need to add a little slaked lime (1 m²/500 g). In the fall, you need to carry out high-quality digging. This is necessary in order to release oxygen and ensure a sufficient flow of water, add sand or nutrients. The peculiarity of planting is that the male bush is placed in the center of the area chosen for sea buckthorn. Female plants should be placed around it. Row planting with a standard distance between plants, which should be 2-2.5 meters, is also allowed.

To provide required quantity nutrients, per 1 m² you will need: superphosphate - 0.25 kg, potassium salt - 45 g. If there are not enough nutrients in the soil (the soil is depleted or long time not cultivated), then fertilizers can be applied directly to the planting area. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers should be applied to the sea buckthorn bush with great care; they are not recommended to be added to the planting hole, and there is also no need to add lime to it. Such fertilizers can harm the root system and burn it. It is necessary to plant sea buckthorn in pre-prepared planting pits. Their dimensions in width, depth and height must be at least 65 cm. Perfect option for planting - seedlings that are already 2 years old.

Sea buckthorn care

If the question arises: is sea buckthorn a boy or a girl, how to recognize and distinguish shrubs, you need to know the answer to it before planting the plant in the ground. The plant has 2 types of buds: growth buds, which are also called vegetative, and fruit buds (fruit-growing, generative-vegetative). If you look carefully, the bud related to the growth will be the same in female and male shrubs. Differences occur in the fruit and growth buds - male buds are noticeably larger and have several dark scales.

Important to remember! In young plants, regardless of gender, exclusively growth buds are formed in the first season, so it is very difficult to determine whether a plant is male or female during this period.

It is recommended to purchase sea buckthorn for your garden that is already 3 or 4 years old, since all types of buds are already fully formed. In young bushes, a leaf will help determine the sex. The peculiarity that the male individual of the sea buckthorn plant has is that the leaves are larger in size.

In order not to make a mistake and purchase necessary plant(“boy” or “girl”), it is best to visit the nursery. Here, sea buckthorn of any variety is propagated vegetatively, and experts monitor the sex of the plant. Also in the nursery there are seedlings with grafting (universal), so the variety of the purchased shrub will be guaranteed to bear fruit. The advantage of purchasing from a nursery is that you can choose required variety, which will take into account the taste, color of the berries and even their size.

Important! All trees should grow as close to each other as possible, preferably no further than 50 m. If the male plant is located far away (across several areas), then the sea buckthorn will bear fruit, but most likely very weakly.

When it is possible to recognize the sex of sea buckthorn, you need to select and prepare land plot for her. The soil should be well dug, watered and fertilized (without adding nitrogen). In order to guarantee abundant fruiting, you need to choose 1 male plant for every 5 female bushes.

You can plant a plant yourself by taking root offspring, but you need to know exactly the gender of the mother plant. It will be possible to check whether a mistake has been made only 2-3 seasons after planting, if the plant is young, which is why it is recommended to choose mature plant, if experience in gardening is not enough.

Sea buckthorn oil

Experts should help ensure that a person understands how to determine the sex of a selected sea buckthorn plant, since not all gardeners know the intricacies and nuances of this process. Also, in the process of determining the sex of sea buckthorn, the shoots will help - in males they are powerful, well-formed, in female shrubs they are more compact.

It is important to distinguish between shrubs in order to create beautiful, from the point of view of landscape design, plantings that can produce a good harvest. It is guaranteed that they can be distinguished in adult plants. During the care process, sea buckthorn will require watering and weeding, as the grass takes up the necessary nutritional components. If there are not enough of them, then you will also need fertilizing in spring and autumn.

Thus, a spreading shrub recognizable by many orange berries requires increased attention. Sea buckthorn and the question of how to distinguish a male plant from a female plant are the main points that concern a novice gardener.

Sea buckthorn is a fairly common berry crop and is successfully grown in most regions of our country. When choosing a sea buckthorn variety, it is necessary to give preference to zoned varieties; in addition, not only female but also male plants should be planted on the site in a ratio of 3–4:1, which will ensure pollination and fruiting.

How to distinguish male from female sea buckthorn

Annual and abundant fruiting Sea buckthorn can only be achieved when both female and female plants grow together in one area. male type plants. Upon purchase planting material or self-propagation by cuttings to distinguish sea buckthornmale from female is easy.

Regardless of the type and variety, you need to pay attention to following features popular berry crop:

• the plant has two types of buds, which are called growth, or vegetative, and fruit-growing, or generative-vegetative;
• the plant does not differ in growth buds, which are almost identical in male and female plants;
• fruit and growth buds have significant differences and make it easy to identify both female and male plants;
• male buds are larger in size and are characterized by the presence of several pronounced scales.

Gardeners should take into account the fact that young plants form buds of exclusively growth type, so the sex of a berry crop can be determined with 100% certainty at approximately the age of three to four years.

How to plant a crop correctly

The agricultural technology features of garden sea buckthorn are quite simple. It should be remembered that this light-loving crop grows well in areas not shaded by buildings or other tall plants. Planting in most regions must be done in the spring according to the following rules:

• the site for growing sea buckthorn should have light, fertile, sufficiently moist soils;
• cannot be planted berry plants in areas with stagnant water and high location groundwater;
• too much acidic soils require mandatory pre-planting liming slaked lime at the rate of 0.5 kg per each square meter;

• Work on deep digging of soil and liming is best carried out in the autumn;
• heavy loamy soils need to improve air permeability, so it is necessary to add coarse-grained river sand, humus or peat;
• You can plant plants in a clump, placing a male plant in the center and female bushes around it;
• Row planting is allowed with a standard distance between plants of approximately 2.0–2.5 m.

When digging in autumn, it is advisable to enrich the soil with basic nutrients. For this purpose, for each square meter you need to add 0.25 kg of superphosphate and 40–45 g of potassium salt. If necessary, potash and phosphate fertilizers are applied directly to the planting hole. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers and lime cannot be poured into the planting hole, due to the risk of burning the root system. Sea buckthorn must be planted in pre-prepared planting holes measuring 65x65x65 cm. Two-year-old seedlings, placed according to a 2x4 m or 1.5x3.5 m pattern, take root best.

Further care

Sea buckthorn can be classified as unpretentious and sufficiently resistant to adverse conditions. external influences berry crops. The plant requires minimal attention, and main agrotechnical activities carried out in conditions home gardening, the following:

• in early spring, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning of the crown, removing all dried, frostbitten or thickening branches;
• at the end of May, sea buckthorn plantings are sprayed with a solution of karbofos, diluted in an amount of 25 g per 10 liters of water;
• for preventive purposes, it is recommended to spray plants with 0.2–0.3% chlorophos in the first half of July;
• if necessary, twice a year, in spring and autumn, moisture-recharging irrigation is carried out followed by loosening the soil in the tree trunk circles;
• To feed sea buckthorn, you can use both organic matter in the form of manure or bird droppings, and mineral complex fertilizers.

When properly seated and good care Behind the sea buckthorn tree, the berry crop is capable of bearing fruit abundantly every year for up to 30–40 years.

Of course, it is preferable to purchase berry seedlings from special plant nurseries, where specialists will help you determine the gender of the plant. Meanwhile experienced gardeners When choosing planting material, it is recommended to focus on the following features:

• male plants have a leaf blade that is almost flat and slightly turned outward;
• a cross section of a leaf of a male plant may resemble a bird in flight;
• the leaves of the female plant are concave at the edges and resemble a boat;
• A cross section of a female plant leaf may resemble a bowl.

Differences are also visible in the density of plaque on the leaves. Such a raid on male plants has a more bluish tint, while the leaves of female plants have a color as close as possible to green.