Pine trees have long been not uncommon in suburban areas: conifers perfectly set off deciduous shrubs and vibrant floral arrangements. It is not difficult to grow and propagate the plant yourself, if you know some of the subtleties of the process. This article is devoted to.
How does pine grow in nature?
Pine belongs to coniferous plants with characteristic needle leaves. The reproductive organ of such trees is cones - shoots modified during evolution. They consist of a thin stem with attached scales, on which seeds develop. Green cones contain bags with pollen, a reddish hue - ovules. Thus, on one tree there are both male and female reproductive organs.When the pollen ripens and spills out of the bag, the wind will pick it up and bring it onto the ovules. The flakes immediately close with emitted resin. After fertilization, seeds are formed that ripen for about 1.5 years, and spill out of the cones after 2 years, at the end of January or in March. They are spread by the wind, which picks up the winged seed, spreading over a large area.
Did you know? Nthe Yenets, representatives of one of peoples of the Far North, believe that the spirit of the wind lives in a pine spherical crown.
Best breeding time at home
Planting seeds is carried out in the winter, if planted at home in boxes. This allows you to control the process, caring for seedlings. In the spring, at the end of March, they plant in the open ground, but there are drawbacks: rodents often eat seeds. Cuttings - the process is not fast, but more often used by gardeners. Material for propagation is collected in late June or early July.Branches by this time are already formed, easily adapt and have time to take root before winter, thanks to a long summer daylight. Winter planting of cuttings will be successful only if artificial lighting is used. Inoculate pine need during the period of active movement of juices in the shoots. The best time for this breeding method is the first decade of July.
Soil preparation
Coniferous plants perfectly develop on sandy or sandy loamy soils. The earth should be loose, light and fertile.
An ideal mixture consists of components taken in equal proportions:
- peat;
- coarse sand;
- fallen needles.
Soil acidity desirable neutral. If it is increased in the area, you need to add lime when planting - 200-400 g / m². If seedlings are planted, not seeds, add nitrogen (more details below). Young trees must be laid at the bottom of the pit drainage from fragments of brick or expanded clay.No matter how it is planted, in a pot at home or immediately in open ground, the peat substrate needs to be disinfected. It is either calcined or spilled with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Selection of planting material
To grow a pine from the shoot, you need to choose the right planting material. You need to cut a young tree by cutting material from the shoot of the current year up to 10 cm long. Pine cones that have fallen from the tree are harvested in January - during this period the seeds are already formed. You can propagate and material collected in the fall, but germination in this case will be lower.
Cones are heated on the heating battery for several days, after which their scales open, the seed spills out. When growing with vaccination, young trees are used both as a scion and as a stock. In the first case, a seedling is needed up to a year, in the second - a plant up to 5 years. Spring vaccination is preferably done on the shoots of last year, and summer - on the branches of the current season.
Breeding methods
If in the natural environment ordinary pine multiplies perfectly without human help, then when grown in culture, you need to control the process.
It is important not to make mistakes at any stage:
- Properly choose healthy material.
- Take into account the terms favorable for the procedure.
- Disinfect the substrate, prepare a container or well.
- Root a seedling.
From seed cones
In nature, pine seeds undergo natural stratification by cold. At home, this process simulates placing material in wet sand, then in a bag and in the freezer for 2-3 months. After freezing, the seeds are washed and again placed in a sandy shell, but already in the heat of germination. If the seedlings hatch in the refrigerator, they do not need to be kept there for the due time.
Important! During stratification in the cold, be sure to check the package for condensation. Droplets of moisture are removed so as not to provoke rot.
Sprouts are placed in heat for further growth. It is best to germinate on a light windowsill, isolated from drafts. The sand should always be slightly damp. Transplantation into the open ground is carried out when the sprouts have 2 pairs of needles. Planting in an open area is carried out in the fall, after soaking the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 days. The method is suitable for regions with mild winters: under severe conditions, seedlings will not survive.
Landing pattern:
- The seeds are buried by 3 cm, at a distance of 12-15 cm from each other.
- The bed is covered with a layer of mulch 10–12 cm thick. You can use tree bark or sawdust, needles.
- In spring, hatching sprouts are covered with a film to protect against pests. As soon as the young green leaves the remains of the seed coat, the film is removed.
- Seedlings will gain strength for about 3 years, after which they can be planted, increasing the distance to 80 cm.
- When the plants are 5 years old, they can be moved to a permanent place of growth.
Cuttings
In spring, cut the cuttings from the cultivated tree along with a piece of bark. It is advisable to choose a shoot growing upward. About 3 hours, the sprig is soaked in clean warm water, then the end, which will be placed on the substrate, is treated with “Kornevin”. In the stimulator, the stalk is kept for 12 hours.
Did you know? In traditional Chinese and Japanese painting, pine is one of the most frequent images.
Landing technology:
- In containers with substrate and drainage, the material is deepened by 5 cm, 10 cm apart.
- A container with seedlings is placed in an illuminated warm place.
- If the process is carried out in an open area, then a layer of half-rotted organics is placed on the drainage in the garden. In the process of its decomposition, additional heat will be generated for the cuttings.
- Plants are covered with a greenhouse from the film. It is removed daily for ventilation and condensate removal.
- During spring planting, seedlings will take root in a year, and already in the fall they can be planted in a permanent place.
Video: propagate conifers cuttings
Vaccinated
The highest percentage of survival of pine after vaccination was noted with the method - cambium to cambium. These are sections of the trunk between the bark and wood that have an educational function. In the spring, cells of this tissue divide, creating new areas of wood and bast.
Important! On the rootstock, remove the upper whorl within 3 years after vaccination.
Sequencing:
- On a pine tree no older than 5 years, a piece of up to 10 cm of annual shoot is cleaned from needles.
- On this stock and scion, cut up to 6 cm of bark.
- Connect both branches with the place of cut, tightly wrapped with a film or tape.
- After a month, the vaccine should heal, the film is removed.
- After that, for better survival, the top of the first whorl and stock and scion are cut off with a sharp secateurs.
Vaccination with cambium on cambium: a - stock; b - graft; c - vaccination.
Follow-up care
Young trees need constant hydration. With a normal amount of rain, it is enough to water once a week, spending 10 liters of water under a tree, in other situations - 30 liters. Adult specimens older than 7 years old are watered 3-4 times a season, introducing 60–80 liters of water under the plant. Pine trees respond well to spraying needles from a sprayer, but the procedure must be performed in the evening, so that when the moisture evaporates under the sun, the greens do not get burned. 2-3 years after planting, the plant needs to be fertilized.
In the spring, organics are usually used - rotted compost or manure. Before application, you need to water and loosen the soil in the near-stem circle. 300 g of fertilizer is applied per 1 m² of the plot, which is embedded directly in the ground. Mineral top dressing is applied dry in the middle of the season, scattering on the ground around the trunk. Pine responds well to nitroammophoska in the amount of 40 g per tree. Be sure to clean the soil in the near-stem circle from weeds.Uncontrolled parasite grasses create the conditions for the development of diseases, and in addition, they attract insects and draw the lion's share of moisture and nutrition from the cultivated plant. It perfectly inhibits the growth of weeds mulch: sawdust, compost. A rooted plant needs formative pruning. At the request of the gardener, the crown is trimmed in the form of a hemisphere, or conical, pyramidal. Next, you will only need to adjust the growth, removing shoots that are knocked out of the general contour.
Be sure to remove frozen or wind-broken branches every year in the spring. Young trees need to be covered for the winter. The trunk circle is mulched with a layer of 15 cm, overlaid with spruce branches. If the site is too open, you can install a circular support of stakes and wire to protect the bush from gusts of wind. It is useful to tighten such a structure with tarpaulin or agrospan. So, it is not difficult to grow pine on your own: the care procedures are standard, not requiring special skills from the gardener. For successful plant propagation, it is not recommended to deviate from the described schemes.