How to grow spruce from seeds: planting and care at home for beginners

Coniferous plants serve as a real decoration of the site and are often used in landscape design. At the same time, not every gardener knows how to grow spruce from seeds. This is a rather complicated, but very interesting process. It is considered long and laborious. To get the desired result, it is important to choose the right seeds and prepare them for planting. Comprehensive care for seedlings is also of great importance.

How to choose a variety

When choosing a spruce variety for growing on the site, it is important to consider the size of the future adult tree. Not everyone can afford to plant a tree 10-15 meters in size.Therefore, many summer residents prefer dwarf varieties. The most popular varieties of spruce that can be grown on the plots include:

1. Regular or European. In total, there are several dozen varieties of such spruces that are intended for garden plots. Such trees do not exceed 3 meters in height. At the same time, the color of the needles is quite unusual - from bright green to golden. There are also some differences in the shape of the crown.
2. Prickly or blue. For suburban areas, it is worth choosing varieties that do not reach great heights, but have a beautiful crown shape and an unusual color of needles.
3. Grey or Canadian. Distinctive features of this species are the color of the branches and the shade of the needles. The needles are ashy in color. In this case, the crown is cone-shaped or spherical. In total, there are up to 20 varieties of Canadian spruce that can be grown in the garden.

In summer cottages, varieties such as Oldenburg, Akrokona, Aureya are often grown. At home, Formanek or Treblish are usually planted.

How to plant a spruce

For spruce cultivation to be successful, it is important to choose the right site for it. Of great importance is the preparation of seeds and compliance with the rules for their planting.

Choosing a seat

When growing spruce seedlings at home, you must follow certain rules. Spruce sprouts tolerate temperature fluctuations well in winter. However, you can not place them on the windowsill. Delicate seedlings can hardly tolerate exposure to direct sunlight.

When the heat comes in spring, the pot should be taken out into the fresh air during the day, and brought back at night. At this stage, the optimum temperature is +15 degrees. In the warm season, it is recommended to water the plant regularly.

You need to choose a place for spruce on the site, taking into account the size of an adult tree. Typically, these plants are planted away from buildings. Spruce develops well in any place, however, maximum splendor of the crown can only be achieved in a well-lit area. At the same time, direct rays at noon are undesirable, therefore, a site in partial shade is usually chosen.

As for the soil, light loose loam would be ideal. It is important to ensure that there is no high occurrence of groundwater on the site. It is also worth considering that spruce takes moisture and nutrients from neighbors. In the immediate vicinity of the plant, not only vegetables, but also fruit trees do not develop well.

Soil preparation

It is best to take soil in the forest where spruces grow. If this is not possible, the substrate can be made by hand. In this case, the best option would be the soil from the site, on which, in addition to grass, nothing grew.

When preparing the substrate, consider the following:

1. It is advisable to connect the soil from the site where nothing grew with the soil in which the conifers grew. You can also buy such land in the store.
2. After buying or self-harvesting the land, it must be calcined in the oven. This will help get rid of pathogens that can lead to the death of tender sprouts.
3. After calcining the soil, it needs to be spilled with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. This will help to completely disinfect the substrate.

Selection and preparation of seeds

To collect seed material, you need to take an unopened cone in early December. It is best to use the fruits of trees from the city park, as they are the best adapted. It should be borne in mind that in young plants, the cones may be empty. Therefore, experts advise using several specimens from different trees at once.

If the cones are collected before December, you need to wait for them to open. To speed up the process, the fruits should be placed on the battery. They must be in some kind of container so that the seeds do not crumble. To combat pathologies, fruits brought from the street must be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Purchased seeds should also be disinfected.

In addition to disinfection, this procedure will strengthen the immunity of the future tree. Wet seeds are recommended to be dried thoroughly, and then sent for stratification. In this case, it is permissible to use different methods of stratification:

1. Bring snow into a container, put the seeds in it and put it in the freezer for a month.
2. Ignite the sand, pour it into a container with a layer of 2-3 centimeters and place the seeds there. Put the container in the refrigerator.

Complete stratification is required in February-March. At this time, the snow begins to melt, and daylight hours increase. At this stage, it is worth starting to carry out landing work.

Landing

As a container for planting spruce seeds, you should use the most ordinary plastic container with a lid. In order not to carry out the picking procedure, which provokes severe injury to the roots, it is better to immediately plant the seeds in separate cups with a volume of 200 milliliters. After that, it will be possible to move seedlings with a clod of soil into large containers or directly into open ground.

For landing operations, it is recommended to do the following:

1. Prepare the seeds.
2. Make potting soil and fill containers for planting.
3. Moisten the soil, sprinkle with ordinary water from a spray bottle. You can also use the Fitosporin solution. This will help prevent mold.
4. Plant seeds at a depth of 0.5-1 centimeter and sprinkle with earth.
5. Moisten the soil again with a spray bottle.
6. Cover planting with a film or lid to create a greenhouse effect.
7. Remove the container in a warm place.

Even when using individual containers, it is worth using several seeds at once. This is due to the low germination of coniferous plants. It does not exceed 10-50%. In addition, the appearance of a large number of sprouts will make it possible to choose the strongest. The rest just need to be deleted.

How to care for a tree

Tender sprouts need protection from direct sunlight. It needs to be provided until the seedlings reach a height of 5-6 meters. Caring for plants is quite simple. They should be sprayed periodically, and then water the soil. It is best to use melt water for this purpose. The optimum temperature is +17 degrees.

When needles appear on the trunks, it is permissible to use fertilizers. At the same time, it is recommended to give preference to special formulations that are designed for conifers.

Seedling transplant

During the stay in the pot, the spruce grows up to 20-40 centimeters. After that, it needs to be planted in open ground. It is recommended to do this in 2-3 years. It should be borne in mind that trees aged 5 years already take root poorly in a new place.

It is important to consider that plants develop very slowly at first. Only by 7-8 years they reach a height of 1 meter. Before transplanting, the tree must be hardened. To do this, it needs to be taken out to the balcony. Landing is recommended in the spring. It is best to do this no later than the end of March.

To transplant spruce into open soil, it is recommended to do the following:

1. Prepare a recess measuring 50x50x50 centimeters in advance.
2. Place a layer of rubble or pebbles on the bottom.
3. Pour a composition of forest soil, peat, humus and sand onto the drainage layer. These components are recommended to be used in equal parts.
4. Make a hole the size of the seedling pot and water it.
5. Place the spruce in the hole by transshipment. It is important to avoid damage to the roots while doing this.
6. Tamp down the soil and water it generously.

When the spruce takes root, the tree should be actively looked after. In this case, proper irrigation is of great importance. A grown, but still young tree requires 15 liters of water per week. During the rainy season, watering the crop is not required. In dry weather, there is a risk of deterioration in the decorative properties of the plant. In this case, it must be watered with a hose.

Young spruces 1 year old need watering with a small amount of water. It is advisable to do this every day so that the soil remains slightly moist.It is also necessary to regularly loosen the soil so that fresh air enters the root system. Fertilizers applied during planting are enough for several years. Therefore, no new nutrients need to be used.

Tips for beginners

In order for growing spruce by seed to give results, you need to give novice gardeners a few tips:

1. Buy varietal seeds only from trusted stores.
2. It is best to use special large seedling cassettes for planting.
3. At first, it is recommended to moisten the soil by spraying.
4. Until 3-4 years, spruce is afraid of direct sunlight. Therefore, the plant needs to be shaded.
5. Grow seedlings at a temperature not exceeding +18-20 degrees.
6. Don't delay your transfer. A 5 year old tree may not take root.
7. If the soil on the site is very poor, when planting in a recess, you can make mineral dressing - 100-150 grams. Subsequently, spruce feeding is not recommended.
8. In areas where snow falls late, cover spruce with non-woven fabric during the first winter.

Growing spruce by seed is considered a rather complicated and time-consuming process. But with proper planting and quality care, it will be possible to get a strong and he althy plant that will become a real decoration of the garden plot.

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