How to grow a cedar from a nut at home, planting and caring for a garden plot

Cedars are one of the most beautiful coniferous trees, symbolizing he alth and strength. And they are also recognized centenarians. Often they live up to 500 years. These evergreen trees are often used to decorate garden and park landscapes. Many purchase annual seedlings and plant them in the plots. But experienced gardeners know how to plant cedars at home and care for them properly.

Which varieties are recommended to grow

Cultivated varieties of cedars have a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and lengths of needles. Before choosing one or another variety for cultivation, it is worth getting acquainted with the types of tall cedars.

Lebanese - powerful and sprawling trees with branches growing in a horizontal direction. They grow slowly, so that by the age of 10 they reach a height of 2 meters.
Himalayan - plants with drooping crowns, protruding tops and drooping branches. Growth is slow, no more than 3 meters in 10 years.
Atlas trees are powerful trees that need a large territory. They require garters after landing in the ground.
Cypriot - plants from the island of Cyprus, reaching in nature 40 meters in height.

At home

There are types of cedar that can be grown at home. For example, they are great for creating bonsai. These include the valuable Himalayan cedar, as well as its Japanese "relatives".

The difference between the Himalayan cedar is the curved branches and needles of a light green hue. In indoor conditions, they grow very slowly, have a small needle size, but can take on a sophisticated appearance.

The size of the Japanese cedar in the wild is such that the diameter of its trunk reaches 2 meters. Home-grown specimens are much more modest in size, but are not inferior in attractiveness.

Outdoor

Siberian and Far Eastern cedar are suitable for outdoor cultivation. Breeders have bred varieties that are intended for planting in the garden.

Siberian cedar is common in the eastern and western regions of Siberia, as well as in China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Now varieties of Siberian cedar have been bred, which differ in the size and shape of the crown, the presence of edible fruits.
Far Eastern cedars are frost-resistant evergreens with a lifespan of up to 600 years. Within 3-4 years, seedlings grow quite slowly and need special care, they can be planted in the country.

Methods of sprouting and reproduction

Gardeners have been cultivating various types of cedars for a long time. They reproduce in several ways: by seeds and cuttings.

Seeds

Growing a cedar from a walnut is a matter that takes time and effort. The result depends on the quality of the planting material. Pine nuts bought in a regular store are not suitable for these purposes - they are shelled and fried.

The germination of cedar seeds remains high for one year. Then it decreases: for two-year-olds, the figure is 50%.

The reasons why gardeners prefer seed propagation when buying ready-made seedlings are the higher price of seedlings and the likelihood that they will not take root. For breeding cedars, cones with the largest nuts are selected, which are soaked, disinfected and stratified before planting.

Shanks

Propagation of cedars by cuttings is a faster, but also laborious way. Green cuttings taken from fruit-bearing plants during bud swelling are used as planting material. The length of the branches is no more than 10 centimeters, they are cut from the side branches of the first or second order.

Technology for planting cedar at home

To grow cedar at home, high-quality seeds are selected. They are purchased in a specialized store or collected independently from a tree. The collection period for ripe cedar cones is from late October to November.

Date of planting

Not all gardeners know exactly when to plant cedar seeds when grown indoors. It is believed that the most successful time for planting is April and May.In this case, the seeds must first be stratified, otherwise the germination period may be delayed for a whole year.

Preparation of natural material

Before sowing cedar seeds, they must be prepared. This procedure includes several steps.

Soaking. Seeds are placed in hot water and soaked in it for 2-3 days.
Cold stratification - immersion in wet fine sand and storage for 3 months in the cellar or on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Every 15 days, ventilation and moistening of the mixture, elimination of rotten or moldy seeds are required.

Blackleg and pest treatment

To protect against fungal disease, the black leg and other pests, the seeds are treated with a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate and a fungicide. You can do this 2 times a month.

Soil composition and container volume

You can plant cedar seeds in the substrate. The most suitable are loamy and sandy soils, as well as mixtures of sand and peat. The pots should be about 300 milliliters in volume and about 8 centimeters high.

Planting and sprouting a young tree

Pine nuts are deepened into the soil by 3 centimeters so that developing sprouts can more easily be released from the shell. Young crops are recommended to be placed in well-lit places, while protecting them from direct sunlight.

The soil should be mulched and watered regularly. In the room where the seedlings are located, the temperature should be maintained at 20-22 С.

Rules for caring for home needles

Home coniferous plants have strict requirements for the level of illumination. If it is insufficient, it is necessary to provide cedars with additional illumination.In the warm season, they can be taken out to the balcony or garden, but this should be done gradually so that tender young trees do not suffer from overheating or, on the contrary, from hypothermia.

Water Regularity

Cedars should be watered moderately. With an excess of moisture, there is a risk of root rot. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the soil does not dry out.

Fertilizer

Top dressing has a good effect on the condition and growth of young conifers. To do this, special fertilizers for coniferous trees are used - once in the spring and twice during the summer.

Crown formation

Shaping the crown of a cedar is a simple procedure. In plants no older than 10 years, it is enough just to remove the lower branches. And in young seedlings, you can simply remove the buds.

Wintering plants

Balconies or closed terraces are suitable for wintering cedars grown at home. Sometimes pots with plants are taken out into the garden, at low temperatures they are added dropwise.

How to plant outdoors

It is quite possible to grow a handsome cedar on a personal plot. There are varieties adapted to growing away from their natural range. Young seedlings require a lot of attention and careful care.

Which areas can grow a tree

Cedars have long been successfully grown in Central Russia, for example, in the Moscow region, Vladimir and Ivanovo regions, as well as in Siberia, the Urals and Altai. Spreading coniferous trees can be seen in household plots, groves and parks. The climatic conditions in our country meet the requirements of the breed. Siberian cedar feels especially good in open ground.

Sprouting seeds and preparing cuttings

Seeds for growing plants in the open field are prepared in the same way as those intended for breeding at home. They are selected, soaked, stratified, treated with fungicides.

Sapling for planting can be grown on your own or purchased from a specialized store. Experienced gardeners prefer to buy cedars that are at least 5-6 years old. However, two-year-old conifers can also be planted.

Choosing a seat

Determining, where it is better to plant a seedling in a personal plot, it must be taken into account that this plant loves heat and light. Therefore, it is recommended to allocate well-lit, wind-protected places for it.

Soil preparation

The soil where the conifer is planted should be fresh, well-drained, nutrient-rich, rich in organic matter. Cedars prefer clay and loamy substrates.

Period and landing pattern

The best time to plant a plant outdoors is spring. In the summer, this should not be done, and in the fall the period again begins when you can plant a conifer on the site. It is enough just to wait until the leaf fall of the deciduous representatives of the flora ends.

The planting scheme should take into account that the crown diameter of an adult tree is about 6 meters. This distance should be left free around the planting hole. The nearest buildings must be at least 3 meters away, otherwise the roots may destroy the foundation over time.

Caring for a planted tree

Young trees are demanding on growing conditions. They grow slowly, so you need to ensure that they are not in the shade of tall plants and do not suffer from a lack of light.

Irrigation

Cedars equally suffer from both drought and excess moisture. Therefore, seedlings should be watered regularly, but moderately. In hot weather, needles need to be watered to keep them fresh.

Feeding

It is recommended to fertilize seedlings three times during one growing season - in May, June and July. For this, a solution of potassium sulfate is used. A year after planting a tree in open ground, you can use nitrogen fertilizers as top dressing.

Insect and pest control

Young seedlings are very vulnerable to diseases and pests, such as seryanka or resin cancer, bark beetle, scale insects, aphids. To protect green pets, it is necessary to clean the near-trunk circle from weeds and apply special insecticides.

Is it possible to transplant an adult tree from the forest to the site

You can try to transplant an adult plant into a garden plot. However, for this, a number of conditions must be met, which determine whether the tree will take root in a new place:

its height should not exceed 3 meters, and the diameter of the trunk - 7 centimeters;
the earth ball must be large and must be preserved when digging and transporting it;
practice shows that it is not easy to fulfill the last condition, since at the slightest shedding of an earthen clod, the supply roots are damaged.

How to care for an adult cedar

Care for an adult plant is to ensure soil breathability, sufficient light levels, seasonal top dressing, moderate infrequent watering, soil mulching and annual pruning.

These simple procedures will allow you to grow a long-lived tree on the site and plant healing, saturated with phytoncides and biologically active substances, air.