The green beauty of spruce is not only a decoration for a personal plot, it is also pine needles that secrete phytoncides - volatile substances that have a detrimental effect on many microbes. You can create a hedge from Christmas trees, decorate it for the New Year right on your site, and enjoy its appearance for many decades.
How to prepare and select seeds for sowing?
Growing spruce from seeds is the most reliable way. The seed material must be of good selected quality, which can be purchased at the nursery, or you can get it yourself from the fruit of the spruce - cones. Cones are collected in mid-February, since during this period the seeds are considered especially valuable. The collected cones are placed in a fabric bag, which must be placed next to the battery. After a few weeks, the dried cones open, creating free access to the spruce grains. Next, the seeds must be carefully rubbed together to free them from the lionfish, rinsed under warm water, getting rid of any possible greasy film that can form due to the released essential oils. At the end of the preparation, the seeds are dried.
To provide the planting material with complete protection from microbes, it is washed with weak potassium permanganate, wiped with a cloth, placed in a glass jar that closes tightly and sent to the refrigerator. The freezer provides seeds with conditions similar to their native ones. They are hardened here, undergoing stratification, which improves germination.
Planting seeds in the ground
Before planting seeds, you should prepare a medium-sized pot for free development of the root system. There should be good holes in the bottom of the container. Drainage is laid out at the bottom of the pot, then soil suitable for conifers is poured, which can be collected in a coniferous forest or bought ready-made soil in a store. Before planting, any of the materials are spilled with weak potassium permanganate.
Before planting, the seeds are soaked for three days in warm water, ideally with the addition of a rooting stimulant. The finished seeds are placed in moistened soil to a depth of 0.5 - 1.0 cm. The container is covered with film and placed on the windowsill. Seeds can take a long time to germinate, from two weeks to several months.
Comfortable conditions for keeping young Christmas tree seedlings are:
- cool
- sufficient illumination
- high humidity
- timely feeding.
A sprouting spruce seed with a straight white stem and seed coat indicates the normal development of the seedling. Then the stem acquires a green color with a brownish tint and the first leaves-needles begin to appear. At this time, special fertilizers are applied.
Some experts recommend growing seedlings in one pot for several years, while others advise replanting when the seedlings reach 2 cm. Practice shows that it is better to do the first transplant after a year, the next one after three. When a young Christmas tree reaches a height of 50 cm and is 3-4 years old, it can be safely planted in a permanent place in your garden plot, having previously been accustomed to the street climate for comfortable adaptation.
Spruce belongs to the pine family. Its homeland is North America, Europe and Asia. It is very difficult to grow a spruce at home, but many, wanting to protect nature from the ruthless custom of destroying young trees, go for it.
Inexpensive and unpretentious species are most suitable for growing at home - common spruce, as well as Serbian spruce, the needles of which seem to be illuminated with silver from below.
You can also grow indoor spruce - araucaria, it comes from the subtropics and, subject to the necessary conditions, it can be grown at home all year round.
Lighting
Spruce feels good on northern, dimly lit windows; it does not require a lot of heat and light. It is recommended to grow young trees in a well-lit place, protected from direct sunlight.
Humidity and watering
It is necessary to constantly spray the spruce crown with water 1-2 times a day, since at low humidity the needles will dry out and turn yellow. Water rarely in winter, no more than 1-2 times a month. In summer - every day, making sure that the soil in the pot is evenly moist, avoiding drying out or waterlogging. Watering and spraying must be carried out at a water temperature of 20-25 degrees.
Top dressing
Conifers do not need abundant fertilizer. It is enough to feed the tree 2-3 times during the summer with a weak mineral fertilizer or a small amount of organic matter.
Temperature
In winter, the forest beauty needs coolness; it can easily withstand temperatures dropping to negative levels, but it is advisable not to do this. The optimal temperature in winter is about +6 - +10 degrees. At low temperatures, it is necessary to ensure that the lump of earth does not freeze. In summer, the spruce needs to be ventilated and, in general, the tree will grow better if it is placed on a glazed balcony. The Christmas tree needs to be shaded from the scorching sun so that the young shoots do not turn yellow.
Transplantation and soil
Coniferous trees do not tolerate replanting well, but if the root system has grown greatly and filled the container in which the tree grows, it is time to replant it. Transplantation must be performed during the cold period, when the spruce is dormant. The soil for it, as for other conifers, must be acidic, peat-based. Either buy ready-made soil for coniferous trees, or prepare it yourself by mixing soil from a coniferous forest and a universal soil mixture in equal proportions.
When replanting, it is important to handle the roots very carefully; you also need to be careful not to cover the root collar with soil; this is death for the tree.
Reproduction
To grow spruce from seeds, it is necessary to extract the seeds from the cones that were collected in winter. They are sown to a depth of about 5 mm. Until the shoots appear, the pot should be in a well-ventilated area. Reproduction is possible using cuttings, which are planted in shallow (7cm) pots.
The composition of the soil mixture is sand and peat in equal parts. The cuttings are planted shallowly without closing the node. The temperature for rooting is 24-26 degrees. Caring for young Christmas trees involves proper watering and spraying, as well as protection from direct sunlight.
Pests and diseases of spruce are practically not dangerous; its only and most dangerous enemy is improper care. If you follow these not very complicated rules of care, a living forest beauty can delight you with its splendor and freshness for many years.
On the eve of the New Year, the question of the Christmas tree as the main symbol of the holiday arises more and more acutely. Opponents of a plastic tree in an apartment understand that a spruce cut down in the forest is not a solution, because it costs a lot, but it will begin to crumble quite soon. The most logical solution seems to be to grow and decorate a plant in a pot for the holiday - minimum costs, no cleaning, and not a single Christmas tree will suffer due to traditions.
Is it possible to grow a spruce tree yourself?
In principle, anything that at least from a distance resembles a conifer, such as cypress or boxwood, can become a New Year's tree. For those who are 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 is more than possible!
The biggest difficulty that arises when growing a Christmas tree at home is the limited capabilities of a city apartment in terms of providing the so-called dormant period for the spruce. If you pay attention to the life cycle of an ordinary forest tree, it is not difficult to notice that during the year the temperature regime that it has to endure varies from heat of +30 in the summer to frost - 30 in the winter months. Fir trees easily tolerate such temperature changes throughout the year; moreover, these coniferous trees are perfectly adapted to them, and a 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 if you have a loggia or other cold and cool place. You should also be prepared that in two or three years you will have to transplant them into natural forest conditions, because in nature spruce trees reach a height of several tens of meters, and for a tree of such dimensions, of course, neither a pot of soil nor the size of even the largest room is enough .
On average, a spruce lives about 300 years, but sometimes its age can reach up to 600 years. The oldest Christmas tree on Earth is currently almost a thousand years old, and it grows in Sweden. "Old Tikko" - the name of the tree - is alive and well in Fulufjellet National Park and is revered as the oldest tree organism on the planet.
How to grow spruce
There are several simple and accessible ways to grow a Christmas tree at home.
- From a seed.
Christmas trees belong to gymnosperms and they arose much earlier than angiosperms () plants. Due to their characteristics, gymnosperms often displace other plants from the growing area. The most striking example of such a neighborhood is fir trees and birches. At first, small spruce trees, loving moisture and shade, grow under the crowns of birch trees, then they become taller than them, later they shade deciduous trees and acidify the soil, thereby completely exterminating trees of other species.
- Plant the seeds in a pot and place it in a cool place (preferably a refrigerator) for a couple of months.
At all Christmas trees grow and adapt to absolutely any soil, from swamps to rocky soil, from sand to clay, but spruce, of course, will grow best on fertile black soil. It will also be important to add a little soil from under the spruce tree under which you found the cone with seeds into the pot.
- After two months, when the seeds are ready to germinate, you should place the pot on a windowsill where it is not too hot and not too dark.
By spring, your Christmas tree will already be about 5 cm in size, and in two or three years it will reach a height of half a meter and will beg 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. This plant will certainly be in a pot with a closed root system at the age of just two or three years, that is, ready for transplanting into open ground.
In recent years, it has become popular to purchase a spruce seedling just before the New Year in order to celebrate cheerfully, smelling the needles of a real living Christmas tree, and in the spring to transplant it into a park or forest.
Among ancient peoples, spruce was considered a sacred tree; they worshiped it, looked after it in every possible way and decorated it. Having become Christians, Europeans, however, retained a number of pagan traditions, including decorating the Christmas tree, only now for Christmas. And Peter I, wanting his state to fully comply with European canons, introduced this tradition on the territory of Russia.
By choosing this way to celebrate the New Year, you can indeed kill at least two birds with one stone: do not harm the environment by condoning the cutting down of trees for the sake of tradition, and contribute to the normalization of the environmental situation by planting a new tree in the spring.
In order for the seedling to take root and feel good in the open ground, you need to study the features of its existence before it came into 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 will be able to adapt to the 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 begin to hurt and may even die.
If the conditions of the “birth” of the tree and those into which you are transplanting it almost completely coincide, then all that remains is to immerse the Christmas tree in the hole exactly to the depth at which it was in the pot, and water it in case of a dry summer (about 10 liters of water per day). week during extreme heat).
- From a twig.
Another popular way to grow a Christmas tree yourself due to its effectiveness is from a twig or cutting, as professional gardeners call it.
A branch about 20 cm long should be cut in spring or autumn from the top of a beautiful and healthy spruce tree, which is at least 5 years old, a little cleared of needles at the base and planted in the ground - in a pot at home or in a greenhouse outside. To ensure that the cutting takes 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 cuttings with film and maintain the soil temperature at 21-26 degrees Celsius, and keep the air temperature at least 4-7 degrees. In 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 cannot tolerate complete darkness.
How to transplant a spruce from the forest
If you have a house on your own land, and you want to start admiring the mature Christmas tree as quickly as possible and dancing round dances around it for the New Year, you can transplant the tree directly from the forest. The most important thing here is not to damage the root system of an already mature tree and when planting, mix the soil from your site with the one from which the tree was taken.
It is best to replant a tree in the fall or spring, giving it plenty of water and protecting it at first and if necessary from the scorching rays of the sun and other extreme weather events that can have a bad effect on an already stressed tree.
In general, conifers do not like frequent changes of their place of residence, so you should not rely on the idea that you can keep a Christmas tree in an apartment for some time, then plant it 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 conditions that are more natural for her.
But there is also an option when not an ordinary forest Christmas tree grows at home, but a specially bred breed. You can watch the video below about growing such specimens.
How to grow spruce at home (video)
- Type: coniferous
- Flowering period: May, June
- Height: 30-35m
- Color: green
- perennial
- Winters
- Shade-loving
- Drought resistant
Green spaces in a suburban area provide clean air, natural decor, and an excellent functional tool for constructing landscape design. Coniferous forest inhabitants, including slender fir trees with lush, dense needles, take root well in any climatic zone of Russia. It is no secret that the aroma of resin is beneficial for both people and plants, so everyone who cares about their health must plant spruce trees. Let's take a closer look at how to grow a spruce and use it to decorate your garden plot.
To get started, we suggest you watch the video - perhaps you will find answers to your questions in it:
Let's start with the fact that all kinds of spruce are an excellent material for creating the style of a suburban area, which is why when choosing planting material you should pay attention to coniferous varieties.
Thanks to the thick, beautiful crown, the shape of which can be adjusted depending on the purpose, high and low spruce trees are successfully used to create compositions such as:
- rockeries;
- hedges;
- topiary;
- single and group plantings.
The combination of low coniferous plants with neatly formed crowns, stone and decor made from natural materials is suitable for decorating an area in both a regular and natural style, which is why rockeries with spruce as a key element are very popular.
How to properly arrange group and solitary plantings of ornamental conifers in the garden:
Rockeries are also good because they require small investments with maximum aesthetic effect: almost all plants can be grown with your own hands, and stones can be found right on the territory of the dacha, brought from the river bank or from a quarry
A living spruce hedge is an excellent 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 will decorate the area and create a natural atmosphere.
In this case, low, but planted trees close to each other have a decorative rather than a functional purpose - they separate the rockery area from the rest of the territory
Having a small Christmas tree at your dacha, you can practice your art - 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 understanding 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 sparsely planted fir trees of varying heights look beautiful, and a single tall fir tree can become the center of a recreation area or an excellent background partner for a gazebo (benches, garden decor).
Many people specially plant spruce to celebrate New Year and Christmas in nature. A holiday spent in the fresh air is more interesting and fun than a banal family feast, and the process of decorating a tree with garlands and toys is a real magical ritual that children will remember for a lifetime
Methods of acquiring or propagating spruce
When choosing a spruce in a nursery, consult a specialist on the main growing factors, which relate to the size of an adult tree, its winter hardiness and endurance, lighting conditions, watering regime, etc.
When buying a seedling, pay attention to its viability, which can be easily determined by the following signs:
- fresh, shiny, partially crumbled needles;
- tender shoots of growth at the tips of branches;
- natural, undeformed shape of the branches and trunk;
- the needles are not affected by a rusty or whitish coating;
- When pressed lightly, the branches bend rather than break.
A pot that is too small 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 start growing different varieties of spruce from seeds. The best species are those that grow in your region. The ripening time of the cones depends on the climate, but for propagation it is recommended to collect them in late autumn.
Cones are stored in a cool, dry place, protected from wind and direct sunlight. Approximately 2.5-3 months before sowing, the seeds are removed (they are also called nuts) and subjected to stratification to increase germination.
To prepare the seedlings, the seeds are kept for 24 hours in clean water, after being soaked for half an hour in a weak (0.5%) solution of manganese. Then they are immersed in containers filled with wet sand and stored in the cold - snow or refrigerator - until sowing.
Sowing is carried out in mid-April, and it is better to use a greenhouse with sawdust for this. Sandy loam soil is covered with a thin layer (1.5-2 cm) of sawdust, seeds are placed on it, and the same layer of pine sawdust is sprinkled on top - conditions are created that are close to natural, but more comfortable for growth
If you decide to plant seeds in open ground, you will have to arrange additional protection. It can be a frame made of twigs, protecting from harsh winds, and a layer of cotton fabric.
In August, the original protection is removed, and instead a shelter is made from a thick layer of dry leaves. Instead of open ground, boxes are sometimes used, but the growing conditions remain the same.
After 2, less often after 3 years, the seedlings are planted in the ground at intervals of 40-50 cm. Before planting, too long or damaged roots must be removed, and the remaining ones must be placed in a humus solution for a short time
A special care regime will be required: moderately moist soil (in hot weather - additional watering) and 3-time summer feeding. Mullein or a 0.1% hydroponic solution diluted with water is suitable as a fertilizer.
The growth of seedlings lasts another 3-4 years. All this time they need to be loosened, fertilized, and watered approximately once a week. Mandatory feeding is done in the spring, before the buds begin to swell. Suitable mineral nutrient mixture:
- manure – 450-500 g;
- potassium nitrate – 10-15 g;
- superphosphate – 25-30 g.
Mix everything thoroughly, distribute it into the soil around the seedlings, carefully dig it to a shallow depth (8-10 cm) and water it 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. As usual, they are planted in early spring, preserving the root ball of soil.
How to grow a Christmas tree from a branch (cutting)
To propagate decorative species, cuttings are used. Branches 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 become lignified, but there is also a winter method that is successfully used for all conifers, including spruces.
We bring to your attention a master class on winter cuttings of spruce, which consists of home rooting of seedlings with the possibility of further planting in the ground in spring. Using garden shears or pruning shears, cut off the required number of side branches. At the end of the cut, a “heel” should remain - a piece of last year’s wood. The large “heel” will have to be cut off to prevent wood rotting.
Carefully cut off the needles from the lower part, close to the “heel”, with a knife, as they are not needed and will interfere with the development of future roots
Many species of coniferous trees do well without additional stimulants, but spruce is capricious in this regard and requires special treatment, especially in winter.
Place the treated branches in a vessel half filled with Epin solution (4-6 drops per 200 ml of water) and leave for 12-14 hours
The material for storing cuttings will be sphagnum moss, which perfectly absorbs moisture.
While the cuttings are gaining strength in Epin’s solution, we prepare a protective “shirt” for them - soak the dry sphagnum in clean water
We take the film and lay it out in a long strip on the table. We distribute sphagnum saturated with moisture along the tape - it will act as a substrate for growing spruce cuttings.
We lay out the cuttings on the prepared base in the following order: first, dip each branch in a stimulating powder (for example, “Kornevin”), then place the lower part on a tape with moss
We fold the film in half so that the roots are pressed against the sphagnum and wrapped in film, and the tops of the cuttings are free.
We carefully roll the film with the distributed cuttings into a roll so that it is dense enough, but not tight for the development of roots
The result is a kind of bouquet - in this form the coniferous cuttings will be stored until spring planting in the ground. To prevent the film from unwinding, it must be tied with twine or tied with an elastic band.
The place to store cuttings should be bright and cool - a pantry or veranda. If the dacha has wooden windows with double frames, the cuttings can be placed between the glass or hung on the side, sheltered from direct sunlight
Winter cuttings are good because by the time of spring planting, small roots already appear.
In April, rooted branches can be planted in the garden - not in a permanent place, but in a pot or box for growing. The ideal option is a well-lit, ventilated greenhouse.
In two years, the seedlings will finally take root and become stronger, and then it will be possible to plant them in open ground, in a permanent place of growth.
Transplanting a forest tree
A trip to the forest to pick up a spruce tree will end happily if you remember a few simple rules:
- dig up a tree in autumn or spring, when the soil is soft and moist enough;
- if you replant a spruce in the summer, try to preserve the root ball of soil;
- For replanting, a specimen no taller than 1 m is suitable, maximum 1.5 m; the larger the tree, the longer its roots and the higher the likelihood that you will damage them;
- more lush and strong fir trees grow along the edges of the forest, on the outskirts, away from dense thickets.
It is important to dig up the spruce correctly. Around the trunk, dig a circle with a diameter the size of the circle formed by the lowest branches. The depth of the groove is about half a meter. Carefully remove the tree from the soil, being careful to keep the soil on the roots. Place it on a piece of thick fabric, wrap it and secure the resulting package to the wheelbarrow. Grab a couple of buckets of “native” soil so that the Christmas tree will quickly take root in the new conditions.
Do not forget about one important nuance - before digging, be sure to mark the cardinal directions, north and south, on the branches in order to plant the tree, focusing on them
How to plant a spruce tree?
Trees dug up from the forest and purchased seedlings have general planting rules. There are two periods when spruce takes root better - early spring and late autumn (before the onset of cold weather). Some varieties, for example, blue spruce, are preferable to planting in the spring, so before you decide to plant a spruce, check the planting features of the variety you purchased.
Choose the area most suitable for growing a coniferous tree - sunlit or slightly shaded. Take care of drainage in advance, because spruce trees growing in wetlands develop poorly and lose their needles. The ideal place for planting is a sunny spot with low-lying groundwater and fertile, humus-rich soil.
Low decorative spruces 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).
- We prepare a soil mixture from the excavated soil, sand, peat and humus (in equal parts). Add 100-150 g of nitroammophoska to it.
- Partially fill the hole with soil mixture and moisten it.
- Place the root ball of the seedling in the hole.
- We fill the free spaces with the remaining soil and level them.
We carry out peat mulching around the root collar, which is located at the level of the soil surface. Adding additional peat will warm the roots and retain moisture.
Wood or peat mulching is also attractive from an aesthetic point of view; in addition, adding elements such as oak bark to the top layer of soil prevents the appearance of weeds
In addition to planting, caring for the spruce is also important, so we will consider the rules of pruning, watering and protection from diseases.
Features of caring for conifers
It is necessary to water the spruce 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 lump of earth in your hand. If it crumbles, it’s time to water. Water carefully, distributing the 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 located near the surface and dry out quickly. In addition to watering, do not forget about spraying, after which the spruce will sparkle in the sun with clean, shiny needles.
If you do not permanently live in the country, choose drought-resistant species for planting, for example, blue spruce. During hot periods, it is enough to water it once every one and a half to two weeks.
Although spruce is classified as a slow-growing tree, it needs pruning from time to time. Preventative pruning is carried out once a year, in early spring, until new shoots begin to grow. It is also called sanitary, since mainly diseased or dry branches are removed. Light thinning benefits the entire tree - the sun's rays penetrate deep into the dense crown.
Decorative pruning, on the contrary, is carried out in mid-summer, after the growth of new shoots has finished. Sometimes the top is cut down if the tree needs to grow in width rather than in height. The work is carried out with a sharp instrument, and the cut areas are treated with a special solution - potassium permanganate and garden varnish.
Hand and pole saws are used to remove thick dry branches, garden pruners are used for smaller branches, and special garden shears are used for decorative cutting.
Christmas trees and other conifers are often threatened by diseases. The most common are fungal infections, leading to crown shedding and even death. They must be dealt with using various methods.
First, you should remove 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 sponge 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 Schutte disease are the appearance of red spots on the branches, yellowed and crumbling needles. Schutte is treated with drugs Skor, Strobi, Falcon, Quadris, from May to the end of summer
And in the end - some advice from a professional on choosing and growing various ornamental varieties.
The Christmas tree is a permanent attribute of the New Year. The only pity is that you have to buy it again every time. Or not? Let's try to grow a spruce ourselves. Maybe it will take root in a pot on the windowsill, and in the future, when preparing for the holidays, you will decorate with a garland not an artificial or cut down tree, but a real living Christmas tree.
Planting spruce at home: step by step
Growing spruce in stages is a tedious and complex process. Nothing is impossible, but you must realize that many years will pass before the tree growing on the site turns into that very fluffy beauty, the heroine of fairy tales and songs.
Not every spruce can withstand life indoors. Therefore, experts recommend planting the following three varieties:
- silver spruce;
- araucaria;
- common spruce.
Video instructions
The easiest way is to plant an already grown seedling purchased in a store or at the agricultural market.
This way you have more guarantees that Operation Yolka will end successfully. If you are trying to get a seedling from a branch, remember: rooting will not occur earlier than in the second year after planting. But the method is optimal for breeding high-quality varietal trees.
Planting and maintenance conditions
So, we decided that we would grow a Christmas tree from a branch. Let's get started!
Planting material is taken from the top of a young plant. All needles are removed from the bottom of the branch, and the cleaned end is immersed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 30–40 minutes. It is best to root it in a bucket, where manure is laid in layers (at the bottom) and soil in half with sand. The top layer of soil should be thick enough so that the cutting does not get burned, but at the same time receives heat as a result of a natural biothermal reaction.
The end of the branch is buried 5–7 cm, the entire planting is covered to protect it from direct sunlight. The young seedling is grown until it is strengthened (12 – 24 months) and then transferred to a permanent place.
Temperature
For the proper development of the tree, the following conditions and measures must be observed:
- maintaining a moderate temperature (15-25 degrees);
- sufficient lighting;
- optimal watering without waterlogging or drying out the soil;
- prevention of diseases and protection from mechanical damage.
Soil care
For the plant, select soil with a moderate or weak acidic reaction. A win-win option would be to use loam or sandy loam, but oily or heavy spruce soils are not suitable. The earthen ball in the container where the tree grows should remain moist, but not wet. After watering, loosen the top of the substrate, however, do not go too deep with the rake or trowel, otherwise you may damage the root system.
Trampling or, in the case of home cultivation, soil compaction is undesirable. Try not to let the substrate dry out or crack on the surface.
Watering depending on the time of year
The spruce growing in the house is watered from the beginning of spring until the end of the first month of autumn. As cold weather approaches, the frequency of soil moisture gradually decreases. In the midst of winter, the tree needs to be watered once every 3 weeks at an ambient temperature of at least +6 °C. If the thermometer drops below zero, irrigation is carried out only once every 4 to 5 weeks.
In summer, young Christmas trees are afraid of the scorching direct rays of the sun, in late autumn - frost, and in the winter months - freezing of the soil. Solve the problem in different seasons of the year possible by organizing shady shelters, awnings and protective windings, respectively. If everything is clear with the first type, then measures to protect against cold weather include not only pouring a dense layer of mulch onto the planting circle, but also tying the trunk with burlap or covering it with spruce branches.
Do I need to fertilize?
Conifers in nature grow in fairly harsh conditions and can get by with a minimum of nutrients. The application of fertilizing is left at the discretion of the owner. If desired, you can fertilize the soil from above with special mineral granules, which are distributed over the wet surface immediately after watering. Fertilizing is carried out infrequently: during the planting process and up to two times during the growing season (from May to the end of August).
Reproduction methods
Growing a Christmas tree from a branch at home is much easier than getting a full-fledged specimen through sexual reproduction. What other ways are there to cultivate spruce? Let's list them:
- Growing from seeds and from a cone - all this refers to the above-mentioned sexual (or seed) method of propagation;
- Vegetative propagation - cuttings (growing from a branch).
Grow a spruce from fir cone seeds much more difficult than rooting a cutting. In 10 years, the seedling will grow to only one and a half meters in height, so it will take a long time to wait until you can decorate the tree with New Year’s decorations. Interestingly, with the number of years lived, the growth rate of the plant increases proportionally.
Replanting spruce from the forest
How to grow a Christmas tree in the garden if you don’t have time to bother with germinating seeds or cuttings?
The solution is simple: plant an adult specimen on the site. You can get it for free if there is a coniferous grove near your house. Attention: It is prohibited to take spruce from protected areas and other protected areas.
It is better to carry out the transplantation procedure in early spring or already in autumn, when the weather is moderate and not hot. The landing site is prepared in advance. Even a small seedling will eventually grow to a height of 7 - 10 meters and develop a spreading crown of about five meters in diameter. Remember this and do not dig a hole near buildings or light-loving plantings.
In spruce, the root system does not spread in depth, but in breadth and significantly depletes the soil. In addition, strong roots can undermine the foundation. Planting a tree near electrical or gas lines is also a bad idea. The ideal distance from residential and outbuildings is 15 meters or more.
The dimensions of the hole being organized must be at least 70x70 cm. A thick layer of drainage is poured onto the bottom. The hole is lightly watered so that the soil at the bottom is soaked. In such conditions, the seedling feels better. Fallen needles tend to oxidize the soil. If you do not plan to rake them in a timely manner and remove them from the territory of the site, it makes sense to organize nearby flower beds of plants that love soil with high acidity: these are lupins, hydrangeas, purslane, nasturtiums, poppies, etc.
When choosing a tree for transplanting, look for a small specimen no taller than one meter with an even crown and proportional arrangement of branches. Do not take broken or stunted trees, such a specimen is unlikely to take root. Please note that the spruce on the site should be identified in the same direction in which it grew in its natural environment (towards the south, north, etc.). The tree is dug up from all sides, leaving the root system in an earthen cube of sufficient volume.
Wrap the bottom of the trunk together with a lump of earth in a cloth and deliver it to the site in this form. Don’t forget to collect a bucket of soil from the hole where the plant was: it is poured into a new hole for faster adaptation when replanting.
The spruce is installed vertically in the dug hole. Make sure the barrel is level, and sprinkle it with soil. The planting circle is watered and mulched with wood chips or straw. During the first weeks, the seedling is watered often enough to keep the substrate moist. It is useful to shade the planting with an awning. When the tree gets stronger, maintenance is reduced to a minimum.