Spruce Super Blue: tree description, planting and care, growing features

Super Blue spruce is called a large straight tree. It has a beautiful conical crown and an unusual blue color. This plant has excellent decorative properties throughout the year - both in winter and in summer. In order for the cultivation of the crop to be successful, it is important to carry out planting work correctly and provide the plant with quality care.

Description

The plant is often used in landscape design. This is due to the high decorativeness of trees.

Origin

This tree comes from the southwestern regions of North America. It is found in rocky areas and is called Picea pungens Super Blue Seedling. At the same time, “Picea pungens” is translated as “prickly spruce”. The phrase "Super Blue Seedling" means "super blue seedling".

Super Blue Seedling spruce is a result of the work of breeders from Canadian nurseries. The plant was bred by seed, not by grafting. Due to this, it was possible to reduce the cost of the culture compared to other types of spruces.

Features of the variety

Distinctive features of prickly spruce are slenderness and a dense crown of rich color. The variety takes pride of place among conifers. This is due to its attractive appearance.

This plant has a small stem covered with thin light brown bark. The crown has a tiered structure. It is achieved due to the horizontal placement of branches. As the trees grow, the shape of the crown becomes cylindrical and acquires a richer and deeper color.

The needles of the plant are presented in the form of sharp hard needles, which are distinguished by a diamond shape. Their length reaches 3 centimeters. Hue depends on growing conditions. It can be green, bright blue or bluish.

Resinous cones up to 10 centimeters in size are typical for spruce of this variety. Young fruits have a reddish tinge. At maturity, they turn brown. Under the lamellar scales are seeds. Their size is 3-4 millimeters.

The lifespan of a plant depends on where it grows. In North America, a culture can live up to 700 years. In Russia, her maximum age is 50-70 years old.

Sizes

Spruce Super Blue is growing very fast. During the year, it increases by more than 30 centimeters in height and 15 centimeters in width. By the age of 30, the plant grows to 15 meters.

Weather dependent

An important condition for full development is the cultivation of crops in an open and sunny area. Also, for planting blue spruce, you can choose a slightly shaded place. The crown of culture comes in different colors.Due to the lack of sun, it loses its bright blue color and turns green.

Super Blue spruce should not be planted in areas where potatoes or corn were previously grown. Otherwise, there is a risk of increasing the likelihood of fungal pathologies. The plant is considered unpretentious and can grow in almost any soil. However, the best option would be loam or sandy-gravel soil. Spruce feels great in light and loose soil. At the same time, its acidity should be 4.5-5.8.

Spruce of this variety is characterized by a high degree of resistance to low temperatures. It can withstand temperatures as low as -35 degrees.

Threats to the plant

If the plant is not properly cared for, there is a risk of it being affected by diseases and parasites. To save the culture, it is necessary to detect the problem in time and take measures to solve it.

Common pathologies that Super Blue spruce encounters include the following:

1. Rust - in this case, the branches of the affected plant are covered with swellings and spots of a red color. Bordeaux liquid helps to cure a tree. For 1 bucket of water, you need to take 10 grams of the substance. Branches affected by the disease need to be pruned.
2. Schütte is a fungal disease in which brown spots appear on the plant. For preventive treatments, Bordeaux liquid should be used. It should be used in spring and summer.

From pests, spruce suffers from such insects:

1. Spruce hermes - is a variety of aphids. She settles in the lower part of the culture. In appearance, pests resemble white cotton wool.
2. Spider mites - when the culture is damaged, the needles turn yellow.
3. Spruce sawfly - in this case, spots resembling burns appear on young shoots.

To cope with diseases and pests, Super Blue spruce needs to be treated with fungicides and insecticides.

How to plant a spruce

In order for the Super Blue spruce to better adapt to a new place after planting, it is recommended to follow the following instructions:

1. Planting work should be carried out in April and May.
2. First you need to prepare a recess for planting. Its size can be 50-80 centimeters - specific parameters are determined by the size of the root system.
3. When planting several seedlings, the minimum distance between them should be 2 meters.
4. A drainage layer should be placed at the bottom of the pit. For this, crushed stone or crushed brick is suitable.
5. Fill the recess with soil mix. To prepare it, you need to mix sand, soddy soil and peat.
6. Set the seedling in the center of the hole and gently spread its root system.
7. Fill the recess with soil in such a way as to avoid the formation of voids.
8. Make a deepening around the seedling and water the plant abundantly.

To avoid rapid evaporation of moisture, it is recommended to cover the surface with a mulch layer. To do this, use peat.

How to care for her

Spruce Super Blue is considered an unpretentious plant. In this case, you still need to adhere to certain recommendations:

1. Water the crop on time. An adult tree needs to be moistened no more than 1 time per month. During periods of drought, the frequency of watering is increased. The seasonal factor is of no small importance. Do not start watering the spruce immediately after the snow melts. For some time, the soil will remain quite wet. At the same time, frequent watering should be stopped at the end of August. The tree must adapt to the onset of winter. The last time the tree needs to be watered abundantly in October.
2. Loosen and mulch the soil. Thanks to the use of mulch, it is possible to retain moisture in the soil and limit its evaporation. In addition, this procedure prevents the development of weeds.
3. Prepare the plant for the ground. To begin with, the tree needs to be watered abundantly in October. With a lack of moisture, the needles will dry and partially fall off. So that the branches of a young seedling do not break, a cone-shaped crate is required around the tree. From above it is worth pulling agrofibre. Mature trees do not require such protection. If there are many rodents in the area that eat the bark of trees, you need to make a fence.
4. Trim the plant. In winter, sanitary pruning is required. To do this, remove dry and broken branches. Form pruning is usually not performed. Spruce itself maintains a conical shape.

Reproduction

Spruce can be propagated in many ways - by seeds, cuttings or by grafting. Each of the methods has certain features.

Through seeds

When growing Picea Pungens spruce with seeds, it should be borne in mind that about half of them will not germinate. At the same time, 8 out of 10 seedlings will not have blue needles.

To propagate spruce seeds after drying the cones, you need to pull out the seed material from them. It is recommended to do this a few months before planting. Seeds must be disinfected before sowing. After that, they need to be planted in small pots and cover the surface of the substrate with a thick layer of peat and sawdust.

The first sprouts will appear in about 1.5 weeks. From seedlings, you need to choose those that have a blue color. They must be systematically sprayed from a spray bottle. This should be done twice a day. Seedlings are planted in open ground after they reach the age of three.

Through cuttings

Cuttings should be harvested in April and May. In this case, you should choose a tree aged 5 years. The maximum size of the cuttings reaches 12 centimeters. At the same time, they are taken with a piece of bark.

Through vaccinations

This method is used extremely rarely, as it requires certain skills from the gardener. To carry out the procedure, you need to take a seedling of conifer, to which the desired variety will be grafted.

Spruce Super Blue is a fairly common plant that has excellent decorative properties. In order for a culture to grow and develop normally, it needs to provide quality care.

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