How cedar breeds: ways and how to do it at home

Cedar is a fairly powerful and strong tree, which is considered a real symbol of the taiga. This plant is long-lived. Its age can reach 800 years. At the same time, not every person knows exactly how the cedar reproduces. This process in natural conditions largely depends on random circumstances. At the same time, you can cultivate the culture yourself by seeds, cuttings or grafting.

Natural breeding

In natural conditions, the cedar reproduces due to the distribution of cones and seeds by birds and rodents. In addition, the fruits of the tree can roll down forest slopes or spread in streams.The process is chaotic, therefore, there is a high probability of the appearance of cedar shoots in unexpected places.

Cutting

It is quite possible to propagate the cedar by cuttings. In this case, the result directly depends on the methods of harvesting planting material. To get a strong and he althy plant, it is important to take the shoots of a young cedar, which has a symmetrical crown and thick needles.

It is important to consider that cuttings that break off from shoots on the sides cannot become a slender and beautiful tree. They will have all the characteristics of offshoots.

Cuttings must be harvested from the top of the tree. To do this, it is recommended to pinch off a young shoot. The size of the branch should be 10-15 centimeters. When breaking off the shoot, it is advisable to leave the so-called heel - a small fragment of the bark that is adjacent to the branch. This will help improve the rooting of the cedar.

When to cook cuttings

The root system on the cuttings begins to grow before frost or in the spring season. Therefore, the preparation of material for planting at home should be de alt with in the second half of summer. With the advent of autumn, containers with seedlings are recommended to be placed in a greenhouse or in a greenhouse. It should be in a well lit area. At the end of spring, it is permissible to move the sprouts into the soil for growing.

Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionIt should be borne in mind that the stalk can be in the container for a long time without releasing roots. To understand whether the roots have appeared on the future seedling, it should be gently pulled up from the ground and assess the presence of the root system. This procedure will not harm the cedar. It can be carefully returned to the germination site.

How to do it

It is recommended to take cuttings from a young he althy cedar.To do this, you need to tear off a fragment of a branch that tends upward with your hand. The closer the branch is to the top of the tree, the better the trunk and crown of the future plant will form. If it is not possible to immediately move the planting material into a container for sprouting roots, you can put the branches in a bag and keep them in a cold place. It is also acceptable to use a bag made of natural material for this, which needs to be moistened from below.

Caring for planted cuttings

To plant cuttings for rooting, it is recommended to adhere to the following scheme:

Tear off the mother tree so that some wood with bark remains.
Remove needles from the lower third of the branch and treat the heel with powder or a solution of root growth stimulator for several minutes.
Take a container 5 centimeters high and fill it halfway with peat. Above it is required to place a layer of sand. Then spill it with a saturated solution of potassium permanganate.
Make holes in the substrate at a 45 degree angle. Their depth should be 2-3 centimeters. The interval between the recesses should be 5 centimeters.
Carefully press the planting material into the holes and tamp the sand around with your fingers.
Pour each cutting with a little warm water.
Cover the container with a transparent cap or use an ordinary plastic bag.
Move the container to a dark place.

When all conditions are met, the roots will appear on the plants within 2-3 months. It is recommended to open a container with cuttings every 3 days. At the same time, it is important to moisten the soil and spray the needles.

Seed propagation

Reproduction of cedar at home can be done by seed. It is best to bring grain from the low-mountain or plain regions of Western Siberia. Cultivation is recommended to be done in the spring. However, to begin with, the seed material must be stratified.

How to collect seeds

In order for seed propagation of cedar to be successful, it is important to properly collect and prepare the grains for planting. In this case, the following features should be taken into account:

In the autumn season, collect ripe cones. Of these, you should choose the largest and highest quality nuts.
Place the seeds for 3 days in a jar or cup and add water there. However, it needs to be changed every day. Swollen seeds will sink to the bottom, while empty seeds will remain on the surface.
Place high-quality nuts in a strong solution of potassium permanganate and leave for 2-3 hours.
Place the seeds in the nutrient substrate. For this, it is permissible to use sawdust, sphagnum or peat. Stratify nuts for 3 months.
Before planting seedlings, soak the seeds again in a strong solution of potassium permanganate. It is recommended to do this within a day.

Ground preparation

It is recommended to plant cedar seeds in a greenhouse or greenhouse. In this case, you need to use non-acidic nutrient soil. Before laying the seeds, the soil must be carefully prepared. It must be dug up, watered and furrowed 2-3 centimeters deep. They should add a special nutritional composition. This requires mixing superphosphate, ash and peat in a ratio of 1:2:20.

Planting instructions

Prepared seeds must be placed in the grooves. In this case, the interval between the nuts should be 5-7 centimeters. If the seeds are planted too close, the sprouted seedlings will have to be thinned out. At the same time, large gaps are considered not very rational and complicate subsequent care.

Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionAfter planting the seeds, the bed should be sprinkled with soil, leveled and covered with a mulch layer, which consists of sawdust and peat. It is important to ensure that the layer of mulch is not too thick. Its size should be 0.5-1 centimeter.

How to care

Before the sprouts come out and immediately after the first shoots appear, all care comes down to watering the plantings. Moreover, for this purpose it is required to use either water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The interval between soil moistening should be 3-5 days. Thanks to such measures, it will be possible to cope with possible parasites even before the sprouts appear.

In protected ground, it is required to grow cedar within 2 years. After that, the protection must be removed and up to 6-8 years old seedlings should be grown in open ground. Then young plants can be transplanted to a permanent site.

Tree transplant

Before planting a crop in open ground, it is important to choose the right place for this and pay attention to the preparation of the site. If you plan to move the cedar to its natural environment, no additional preparations are required. When growing a crop in a summer cottage, it is worth preparing the soil and choosing a place for planting.

Preparing the site

A young plant can withstand even slight partial shade. At the same time, an adult culture requires high-quality illumination. Therefore, only an open place that receives a sufficient amount of sun is suitable for landing.

Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionIt is important to consider that the tree needs nutrient soil. However, it can also develop in soil with a high sand content. An excellent solution for growing cedar will be a sunny hillock, which is located on the edge of the forest edge.

Primer for wood

When planting a young cedar in a park area or garden plot, attention must be paid to soil preparation. For this plant, you can use forest land. If this is not possible, it is worth reducing the acidity parameters of the substrate that is present on the site. For this purpose, you can use calcium-magnesium fertilizers. It is also permissible to use dolomite or lime. In addition, the soil needs to be fed with manure, dug up and prepare a deepening for planting.

Step by step transplant guide

Cedar is a fairly powerful plant that is difficult to damage while moving to a permanent place. In this case, planting is best done with a clod of soil from the place where the seedling was grown. Thanks to this, it is possible to avoid drying out of the root system.

When planting a cedar with open roots, you need to install it in a hole, carefully straighten it and sprinkle the tree with earth. This should be done a few centimeters above the root collar. After that, the soil needs to be compacted, watered and covered with a mulch layer of sawdust.

Propagation by grafting

Cedar is rarely propagated by grafting. This is done if rooting is impossible or problematic. In order for the vaccine to take root better, it must be done in warm weather. On rainy days, this procedure is not recommended. In this case, the manipulation will not give the desired results.

In order for the propagation of a culture by grafting to be successful, it is imperative to choose the right method. The best option for such reproduction is in the butt with the core of the cutting on the cambium of the rootstock.

Cedar is a very common conifer that can be grown in parks and gardens. To propagate the culture, it is permissible to use different methods. Most often it is bred by seeds or cuttings. Sometimes cedar is propagated by grafting. However, this method has many disadvantages and is used much less frequently.