How to grow seedlings from seeds of spruce cones. How to grow blue spruce from seeds

For some, the time of sowing seeds for seedlings is long-awaited and pleasant chores, for someone - a difficult need, and someone is thinking about whether it’s easier to buy ready seedlings in the market or with friends? Whatever it was, even if you refused to grow vegetable crops, for sure, you still have to sow something. These are flowers and perennials, coniferous plants and much more. A seedling is still a seedling, no matter what you plant.

A lover of humid air and one of the most compact and rare orchids, pafinia is a real star for most orchid growers. Its flowering rarely lasts longer than a week, but it is an unforgettable sight. Unusual striped patterns huge flowers a modest orchid wants to be considered endlessly. AT room culture Pafinia is rightly included in the ranks of species that are difficult to grow. It became fashionable only with the spread of interior terrariums.

Pumpkin marmalade with ginger is a warming sweet that can be cooked almost all year round. Pumpkin has a long shelf life - sometimes I manage to save a few vegetables until summer, fresh ginger and lemons are always available these days. Lemon can be substituted for lime or orange for a variety of flavors - variety in sweets is always nice. Ready marmalade is laid out in dry jars, it can be stored at room temperature but it's always better to cook fresh food.

In 2014, the Japanese company Takii seed introduced a petunia with a striking salmon-orange petal color. By association with bright colors southern sunset sky, the unique hybrid was named African Sunset (“African Sunset”). Needless to say, this petunia instantly won the hearts of gardeners and was in great demand. But in the last two years, the curiosity has suddenly disappeared from shop windows. Where did the orange petunia go?

In our family Bell pepper love, so we plant it every year. Most of the varieties that I grow have been tested by me for more than one season, I cultivate them all the time. And every year I try to try something new. Pepper is a heat-loving and rather whimsical plant. About varietal and hybrid varieties of tasty and fruitful sweet pepper, which grows well with me, and will be discussed further. I live in middle lane Russia.

Meat cutlets with broccoli in bechamel sauce - great idea for a quick lunch or dinner. Start by cooking the minced meat, while bringing 2 liters of water to a boil to blanch the broccoli. By the time the cutlets are fried, the cabbage will be ready. It remains to collect the products in the pan, season with sauce and bring to readiness. Broccoli needs to be cooked quickly to keep it bright. green color, which, when cooked for a long time, either fades, or the cabbage becomes brown.

home floriculture- not only a fascinating process, but also a very troublesome hobby. And, as a rule, the more experience a grower has, the healthier his plants look. And what about those who do not have experience, but want to have a home houseplants- not stretched stunted specimens, but beautiful and healthy, not causing a feeling of guilt by their extinction? For beginners and flower growers who are not burdened with a long experience, I will tell you about the main mistakes that are easy to avoid.

Lush cheesecakes in a pan with banana-apple confiture is another recipe for everyone's favorite dish. So that cheesecakes do not fall off after cooking, remember a few simple rules. Firstly, only fresh and dry cottage cheese, secondly, no baking powder and soda, and thirdly, the density of the dough - you can sculpt from it, it is not tight, but pliable. good dough with a small amount of flour, it will turn out only from good cottage cheese, and here again, see the “firstly” item.

It is no secret that many drugs from pharmacies migrated to summer cottages. Their use, at first glance, seems so exotic that some summer residents are perceived almost with hostility. At the same time, potassium permanganate is a long-known antiseptic, which is used both in medicine and in veterinary medicine. In crop production, a solution of potassium permanganate is used both as an antiseptic and as a fertilizer. In this article we will tell you how to properly use potassium permanganate in the garden and vegetable garden.

Pork meat salad with mushrooms is a rural dish that can often be found on holiday table in the village. This recipe is with champignons, but if possible, use Forest mushrooms, then be sure to cook it like this, it will be even tastier. You don’t need to spend a lot of time preparing this salad - put the meat in a saucepan for 5 minutes and another 5 minutes for slicing. Everything else happens almost without the participation of the cook - meat and mushrooms are boiled, cooled, marinated.

Cucumbers grow well not only in a greenhouse or conservatory, but also in open ground. Cucumbers are usually sown from mid-April to mid-May. Harvesting in this case is possible from mid-July to the end of summer. Cucumbers do not tolerate frost. That's why we don't sow them too early. However, there is a way to bring their harvest closer and taste juicy handsome men from your garden at the beginning of summer or even in May. It is only necessary to take into account some features of this plant.

Polissias is a great alternative to classic variegated shrubs and woody ones. The elegant round or feathery leaves of this plant create a strikingly festive curly crown, and the elegant silhouettes and rather modest character make it an excellent candidate for the role of big plant in home. Larger leaves do not prevent him from successfully replacing Benjamin and Co. ficuses. Moreover, poliscias offers much more variety.

Pumpkin cinnamon casserole is juicy and incredibly tasty, a bit like pumpkin pie, but, unlike pie, it is more tender and just melts in your mouth! This is the perfect sweet pastry recipe for families with children. As a rule, kids do not like pumpkin very much, but they never mind eating sweets. Sweet pumpkin casserole is a delicious and healthy dessert, which, moreover, is prepared very simply and quickly. Try it! You'll like it!

The hedgerow is not only one of essential elements landscape design. It also performs various protective functions. If, for example, the garden borders on a road, or a highway passes nearby, then hedge just needed. "Green walls" will protect the garden from dust, noise, wind and create a special comfort and microclimate. In this article, we will consider optimal plants to create a hedge that can reliably protect the site from dust.

There are plants that many of us would like to acquire. And one of these crops is the common spruce, a traditional Christmas tree that is most often found in forests. In fact, each person, if desired, can grow it on their own, having only a certain amount of knowledge about the requirements of such a plant. You may well get your own small Christmas tree in a pot, and eventually plant it in an open space. Let's figure out how to grow a spruce from a cone seed and from a twig?

How to grow spruce from seeds?

To do this, of course, you will need cones. You can collect several varieties of planting material from various Christmas trees.

In order to make it easier to get the grains, the cone should be dried a little. You can place it for this on the battery or near gas stove.

The resulting seeds should be dipped for about half an hour in a 0.5% solution of potassium permanganate, this will help eliminate a variety of aggressive particles from them. Rinse after planting material running water and leave to lie in the water for about a day for a full swelling. Next, place the seeds in nylon bags with moist soil (sand) and refrigerate for two to three months. This process is called stratification.

After the prepared material can be used for planting. You can sow seeds in special greenhouses, or you can use ordinary pots or boxes. by the most the best option soil will be the soil brought from the spruce forest. Do not bury the seeds in the ground, just scatter them over the surface, and crush the soil on top by about one centimeter. It is desirable to cover the box with a covering material that can scatter direct sunlight.

After planting, it is worth systematically moistening the soil, preventing drying out and waiting for seedlings. Please note that the soil should not be too wet, as in such conditions the spruce simply will not sprout. After the seeds sprout, wait a bit and thin them out, leaving the most viable ones. In the first year of life, seedlings need a one-time top dressing; for this purpose, you can use a solution of mullein (1: 5).

Transplantation is carried out in the second or third year of the plant's life, in such a place the spruces will grow for about four more years. Young seedlings should be systematically watered, weeded and fertilized.

How to grow a spruce tree from a branch?

Spruce can be grown from a branch - stem cutting. Planting material can be harvested in different time of the year. If you cut a branch at the end of April, it may well take root in the year of planting.

The material collected in June (during the intensive growth of shoots) forms a callus in the first year, and takes root in the second. You can also cut the stalk in August, at this stage the growth of the shoots already stops, and the process of their lignification starts.

It is believed that it is the August branches that are best used for growing fir trees. It is also quite possible to cut a twig in the fall (from September to November), such planting material will be lignified or winter.

The planting of summer and spring branches is carried out right there, and those cuttings that are already woody should be placed in a fairly cool place (about one to five degrees) with a high degree of humidity and stored until spring.

The branches of young plants, whose age ranges from four to eight years, are distinguished by the best survival rate. For cultivation, it is only necessary to cut annual shoots. In the lower part of such material (two to six centimeters), you need to carefully remove the needles. Most often, the length of the spruce cutting is ten to twenty-five centimeters.

An excellent choice for cuttings will be shoots located on the upper half of the crown.
Planting branches is carried out in a greenhouse, while preference is given to special facilities with heating and a fogging installation. However, a cold greenhouse is also quite suitable, which every amateur can build. Drainage is placed on the bottom of small pebbles four to five centimeters thick, then it is worth pouring soddy soil (ten to twelve centimeters) and washed river sand(about five to six centimeters).

Further, such an area is covered with a film so that the interval between it and the sand is about thirty centimeters. To provide shading, burlap is placed on top of the film. In such a greenhouse, a temperature of about twenty-one to twenty-seven degrees should be maintained, while the temperature environment will be five to seven degrees lower. For heating, you can use manure, which will overheat and create the right warmth.

Immediately before planting, dip the cutting halfway into a non-concentrated solution of potassium permanganate or into a solution of a root growth stimulator. Landing is carried out in the sand at an angle of thirty degrees, deepening the branch by two to six centimeters. After this, abundant watering is carried out.

After that, the cuttings should be watered using a watering can with small holes, such manipulation is carried out once a day, and in summer - more often (up to four times a day). After the roots appear, watering is reduced to daily, and shading is removed. For the winter, a rooted plant should be covered with sawdust or dry foliage. Transplantation is carried out in April of the following year.

We talked about how to grow a spruce from a cone or from a branch. This is quite feasible. Thus, even a novice gardener can grow spruce on their own.

Among all the variety of conifers, blue spruce is considered an elite plant, as it has an amazing color, lush needles and a solid appearance. It is not for nothing that she, more often than other representatives of her kind, flaunts near Government Houses, banks and other institutions of considerable importance for the city. Therefore, summer residents increasingly want to grow their own copy, especially if the territory allows. The prickly beauty is used as a tapeworm, making a kind of emphasis on the site. And in winter it becomes main character new year holidays, shining with garlands and lights. But buying a blue-blooded Christmas tree is expensive, so many owners try to propagate it with cone seeds or cuttings. Let's figure out how to grow blue spruce from seeds and cuttings.

Gathering Blue Spruce Seeds

You can also collect seeds on your own. To do this, choose big bumps in February. Then they put them in a cloth bag and put them near the heating device. Under the influence of heat, the cones open, and the seeds can be easily obtained.

But, not everything is so simple with natural reproduction. Unfavorable climate conditions, birds and squirrels contribute to the fact that blue spruce is a plant under the protection of the law. In nature, it is forbidden to touch it.

Once you have sifted the seeds from the husk, you need to rinse them from essential oil and dry again. In order to exclude the possibility of the appearance of bacteria, the seeds can be washed with a not cool solution of potassium permanganate. Finished material can be folded into a glass jar, close the lid and refrigerate. They stay there until March. If speak about natural conditions storage of seeds, then they are stored in the snow.

Not every region has normal climatic conditions, so a refrigerator for storing seed will be a normal option. Spruce seeds can also be bought on the market, in gardening stores, but you need to understand the material and find an honest manufacturer.

Sowing Blue Spruce Seeds

Accurately determine the sowing date, otherwise, after drying the seeds from the refrigerator or from under the snow, it will be possible to store them in this form for 40-50 hours. Having accurately determined the time and place, soak the seeds of blue spruce in a special solution of trace elements for 11-12 hours, then treat with a solution of Fundazol 50% (20 g of the drug per bucket of water) for prevention different kind diseases.

If you are going to sow the seeds of blue spruce in containers - pots or containers, be sure to prepare a special soil mixture - high-moor peat with fertilizers (for 5-6 kg of peat 35 g of limestone flour and 20 g of ammophoska), place the soil mixture in containers and install them in pits in greenhouse to top part containers were at ground level, that is, just bury the pots. Next, sow the seeds in them, to a depth of 1.5 cm and cover with foil.

If the sowing of seeds occurs directly in the soil of the greenhouse, then it must be properly prepared. The surface of the soil is well compacted - with hands, feet, a special roller, it is not so important. Further, the seeds are laid out on the surface at a distance of 3-5 cm from each other and sprinkled with a layer of a mixture of peat and coniferous sawdust in 1 cm.

The first results of the blue spruce shoot

The first shoots appear after 10-15 days, with the frequent arrangement of blue spruce seedlings, it is worth thinning the plants. Only strong specimens are left, the distance between them should be 6-7 cm.
At this time, it is important to keep optimal conditions content:

• watering is not carried out, but only seedlings are sprayed 2 times a day;
• the temperature should not be lower than + 13̊С, but not higher than 15̊С;
• night frosts and direct sunlight adversely affect young plants.

A month later, seedlings with blue needles 3-4 cm high can be observed. It is worth noting that sunlight has a positive effect on the growth rate of specimens. To prevent damage to plants from root rot, a fungicide is first applied, then the plants are directly treated with an insecticide solution.

Growing young blue spruce seedlings

During the first month, the sprout from the seeds increases to 3-4 cm, but it is very important to monitor the soil moisture. Staying in sunny areas provides more intensive growth and rapid development of specimens than their peers in the shade. To quickly grow spruce at home and under normal conditions, you should choose acidic soil, or you can get by with the usual store mix for coniferous trees and shrubs. You can also prepare the soil for planting spruce seeds yourself. As a basis, a universal soil mixture is used, adding earth from a coniferous forest.

Each movement of the sprout painfully endures, so you need to change the pot and replant the spruce no more than once every two years. Perform this procedure only in the spring. When changing the pot, the root system must be protected from exposure, the earthen lump is preserved, and it is also transferred to a new pot. During the first year, the seedling reaches 15-25 cm in height, it depends on the chosen variety and growing conditions.

AT winter period watering is reduced to once a month, provided the temperature is about 0 degrees, if the temperature is higher, the tree is watered once every 2-3 weeks. If the spruce winters in room conditions, then the shoot is additionally sprayed. In order to grow a beautiful Christmas tree, you need to know about the presence of some signs that indicate a violation in care.

How to plant spruce from cuttings?

Professional gardeners prefer to breed ornamental coniferous plants by cuttings in order to completely preserve varietal characteristics. Blue spruce can also be cut from cuttings. This is done in the spring, in early May, when active sap flow begins in the tree.

For cuttings of blue spruce, young lateral shoots are selected, which are located on horizontal lignified branches. They are carefully plucked against the growth of the shoot.

Rules for harvesting blue spruce branches

For cuttings, sprigs from Christmas trees are used, the age of which is from four to ten years. Such trees have the highest survival rate of cuttings. To prepare planting material, you need to find branches with side shoots and carefully tear off 2-3 cuttings 6-10 cm long. You need to tear so that at the end of each cutting you keep a “heel” - a thickening, a remnant of older wood. It prevents the release of resin that can clog the lower cells of the seedling and block moisture from entering the Christmas tree. That is why conifers do not cut with a knife, i.e. do not cut, but tear.

Harvest the material on a cloudy day or in the early morning. The plucked twigs are immediately packed into plastic bag so that they do not dry out, and are planted on the same day. If, before planting, the cuttings are held for 2 hours in a root formation stimulator, then the Christmas tree will grow roots in 1.5 months. Without stimulants, this process will stretch for 3 months or more.

A mature blue spruce is considered pretty unpretentious plant, because without much damage to itself, it can grow in areas characterized by severe frosts, droughts, gusty winds, or with high atmospheric pollution. Also, the advantages of this tree include those factors that it tolerates a haircut or curly crown formation, and lush gray-blue branches can serve as a kind of barometer: they droop before rain, and rise before clear weather.

In order to grow blue spruce yourself, you can use either the method of cuttings, or by carefully collecting and germinating seeds. The method of grafting is considered more preferable, because it allows you to save the best varietal characteristics of the plant and provides a higher percentage of obtaining high-quality planting material.

How to grow a blue spruce from a twig

Branches are harvested by hand, without the use of cutting tools and preferably on cloudy days or in the morning when solar Activity not yet high enough. For cuttings, lateral shoots of trees that have reached the age of 5-10 years are considered the most suitable. Twigs 8-12 cm long are carefully torn off from the tree in such a way that a slight thickening remains at the end of the cutting, which will contribute to the root formation process.

The cuttings are placed in a plastic bag and planted on the same day in the ground for rooting. As a substrate, sand with peat or leaf ground, with top layer from quartz sand and peat. The cuttings are deepened by 2 cm and with the help of polyethylene or plastic bottles create conditions of sufficient heat and humidity.

Another popular way to grow blue spruce from cuttings is the refrigerator sprouting method. The plucked branches are kept for an hour in water. room temperature, after which wet sand is poured into plastic bags, cuttings are planted in it, the edges of the bag are tied and placed in the refrigerator. After two weeks, the plants are planted in the ground. This method allows you to do without chemical root formation stimulants and increases the further survival of plants.

How to grow blue spruce from seeds

Seed harvesting is recommended to start with visual inspection tree - the plant should be healthy, strong, with a crown of good shape and beautiful coloring of the needles. As a rule, the seed material is collected in late November - early December: the cones should be closed, with tightly fitting scales. Further ripening of seeds will be carried out in apartment conditions: spruce cones are poured into cardboard box and placed near heat sources or the highest shelf, where the air temperature is usually slightly higher than near the floor.

After the cones dry, open and all the seeds are collected, they need to create conditions for hardening: the seeds, without separating from the impeller, are placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours, then they are dried on a paper towel, wrapped in a clean flap fabrics and put away glass jar with lid. Until the onset of spring, the jar should be stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

In the spring, the seeds are taken out of the refrigerator and left for 10-12 hours. humid environment which accelerates the emergence of sprouts. The most optimal for this purpose is a mixture of warm water with the addition of antifungal drugs and root formation stimulants.

How to Plant Blue Spruce Seeds

If in the spring the threat of night frosts has already passed, then you can sow the seeds in open ground. As a substrate, it is recommended to use coniferous forest land, to which low-lying peat, sand and complex fertilizers. The seeds sprinkled with soil are sprayed with water and covered with a film to create a greenhouse effect. At this stage, it is very important to prevent both excess moisture and the drying of the earth. The shoots that appeared after 2.5-3 weeks are thinned out and planted at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other.

In the absence of the possibility of planting seeds in open ground, you can use home germination methods. For this purpose, disposable plastic containers: containers are half filled with a mixture of peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 3, moisten it, plant seeds and close the lid of the container.

After the first shoots appear, the lid can be slightly opened, and in the summer, the plants can be taken outside, placing them in a shady place. With the onset of autumn-winter cold weather, containers are placed in a room where it is possible to maintain the temperature within 10-15 degrees Celsius. The next year, when the young Christmas trees get stronger and grow up, they can be transplanted from containers to the site.

At seed propagation blue spruce, it is important to remember that its varietal characteristics are preserved in about 20% of cases, and therefore the color of the needles may not always have a rich blue tint, like that of the mother tree.

My sins are grave, I repeat my grandmother's words. I compiled a list of questions that were asked last year by readers of my magazine, but remained unanswered. I confess: I will answer everything. Sooner or later. No, it won't be late. Why pull, if spring is about to break into the windows and we, huddled in flocks, will rush to plant and sow our estates.

Therefore, I will respond as soon as possible. I'll start with the question of how to grow a Christmas tree from seeds. I answer: elementary for a patient person and very difficult for a hurried person.

So. Are the seeds ready or do you still have to run into the forest to get them?

Yep, ready. Then we start to sow. Yes, without waiting for spring. And if you don’t have seeds, then hurry to the forest, because if you hold out until February, then the cones will open and the light-winged seeds will scatter over the snowdrifts. So it’s better to climb the tree now, pick the bump you like and bring it home. Here, in the warmth, she will open her scales and all that remains is to shake her over a sheet of paper to get seeds.

Yes, do not limit yourself to one cone, take more from nature, because not all seeds are strong and will give sprouts.

And so, the seeds are in our hands. Quickly to the refrigerator, get the rest of the ice, put it in a flat bowl, pour a little water. And spread the seeds on this ice pillow. Keep in super cold water for 2-3 days (it's not difficult: you just need to put ice cubes). During this time, the seeds will swell, and you will prepare bowls with washed sand.

Now you need to spread the seeds on the surface of the sand, sprinkle, slightly moisten. Wrap in a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator.

Now you have some time (1-3 weeks!) to prepare pots and soil for sowing. I understand that there is no soil. Therefore, we go to the store and buy a package of universal mixture. It would be very good if you could buy soil that does not contain fertilizer. If not lucky, then buy another package of agrovermiculite or perlite, and ideally river sand.

We take a pot or container with a depth of 10-12 cm. We check the quality of the drainage holes, if necessary, we make additional ones. We pour a mixture of soil and sand (1: 1), level and compact the surface using a conventional matchbox. Watering. Let the moisture soak in. We spread the seeds on the surface at a distance of 1 cm from each other. Sprinkle on top with a mixture of soil and sand (1: 2) with a layer of no more than 0.5 cm.

Of course, if you were planning to plant coniferous crops in the fall, then perfect soil for growing seedlings of coniferous crops, it should consist of 1 part of loose loam, 1 part of soil from under adult spruce and 1 part of coarse river sand. Well, okay, we will add coniferous soil under the seedlings when it can be collected in the forest.

We wrap the finished pots with crops in a thin non-woven agro-cloth or newspaper and take them out into the garden, where we dig into a snowdrift on the south side of the house. Well, or on an unheated balcony. The higher the temperature, the lower the germination. This must be understood.

Well, in the spring we put the pots under a light shade from mature trees, remove the canvas and the newspaper, and wait for the shoots. If it is very hot and the soil dries out, then you should regularly water it with soft water.

I advise you to choose the strongest seedlings and pick them into containers. So it will be easier to take care of them, and an individual "house" will allow the seedlings to immediately build up a beautiful "figure".

seedlings conifers when grown from seed will be best adapted to the microclimate of the garden. And transshipment into large containers with garden soil(be sure to add coniferous!) will allow you to form a compact well-developed root system enriched with the mycorrhiza of your garden. Those. you will get a plant that does not need a difficult period of adaptation to the conditions of your garden.

After 3-4 years, the spruce seedling will reach 50 cm in height and can be planted in a permanent place.