Japan and China are the birthplace of an evergreen tree called Japanese cryptomeria. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun consider it their national tree. Under natural conditions, it grows on the northern slopes of mountains and plains. It is planted in forest plantations, park alleys are decorated with it.
Description of the plant
Japanese Cryptomeria - a plant known since ancient times.
The age of the tree reaches 150 years, its height can be 60 meters or more. The trunk in girth can have two or more meters. Cryptomeria japonica is distinguished by a very dense crown of light or dark green color.
Male and female spikelets grow on the tree.
The crown is formed in the form of a regular pyramid. The bark is brown with a reddish tinge. As it grows, the bark peels off in long, narrow strips.
Cultural forms of the tree may have a green crown with a yellowish or reddish tint. The shoots on the branches are flexible, covered with small stiff needles with pointed tips and very small spherical fruits-cones with a brown tint. Their diameter does not exceed 2 cm, the fruits are located at the end of the shoot. They ripenin the first year and are released from seeds with the onset of autumn.
The tree, as already mentioned, has female and male spikelets growing at the ends of the shoots of the tree. Male spikelets with stamens in the form of scales are oval in shape, they are arranged in a spiral. There are dust bags on the underside of the spikelet.
Female spikelets at the base are pubescent with leaves in the form of scales. They are almost completely fused at the base. Covering and seed scales have up to five ovules.
Japanese cryptomeria propagates by seeds, cuttings, grafting, shoots. Under natural conditions, trees grow very quickly, which contributes to their popularity not only in China and Japan.
Regions of cultivation of cryptomeria
Cryptomeria of the fireweed family attracts attention with its natural beauty. In the middle of the 19th century, it began to be cultivated in Europe.
Today, Japanese cryptomeria has given birth to many varieties. There are cultures for greenhouses, various indoors, including for growing in a room.
Japanese cryptomeria bred by breeders (its photo is often found in gardening magazines) is also used to decorate the house.
Garden forms of evergreen beauty are especially common in areas with a mild subtropical climate. In Russia, the plant is popular in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Fluffy trees of a beautiful pyramidal shape adorn parks, gardens, greenhouses in these regions.
German growersgrown over 20 varieties of this unique plant. Among them are winter-hardy varieties. However, the temperature of 10-12 degrees below 0 for these forms of cryptomeria evergreen presents a rather difficult test.
Dwarf varieties of plants do not exceed two meters in height, there are domestic species no more than 1.5 m high. Such crops are grown mainly as tub crops.
Evergreen cryptomeria in home collections
For such an exotic evergreen as Japanese cryptomeria, care at home needs careful care. It requires the following conditions:
- Good lighting. You need a bright room without access to direct sunlight.
- The temperature in summer should not exceed 15 oC, and in winter - about 8-10 oC. The room in which Japanese cryptomeria grows should be regularly ventilated, avoiding drafts.
- Evergreen home plant needs frequent watering during its active growing season - from spring to late autumn. In winter, watering is reduced. With the onset of frost, cryptomeria is not watered at all. Excess water that the roots have not absorbed is harmful to the plant. After watering, remove excess water.
- Japanese Cryptomeria is a moisture-loving culture, in case of drought the plant begins to shed its needles. If the air in the room is dry, the cryptometry should be sprayed frequently using a spray bottle.
- During the period of active spring and summer vegetation, the plant needs to be fed. For this, fertilizers for indoor plants are used,diluted in water intended for irrigation. You should alternate top dressing with conventional fertilizers with the addition of organic matter.
- Dwarf trees growing indoors should be repotted every five years. Proceed to transplant in the spring, before the start of active vegetation. The soil for planting cryptomeria is a mixture of equal parts of compost, leafy soil and river sand. Good drainage required.
- At home, cryptomeria is propagated by cuttings and seeds. A cutting taken from a young, non-lignified shoot of a plant must be treated with heteroauxin or preparations based on it and planted in prepared soil. Having covered the stalk with a film, it is watered, keeping the surface of the top layer moist until rooting.
The seed method of reproduction is also used. Seeds are planted in a box, sprinkled with soil, moistened its surface and covered with glass. Planted seeds are regularly watered. The ambient temperature in the greenhouse is maintained somewhat elevated.
Features of growing plants
Young shoots grown from cuttings and seeds need to be pinched. Perform this procedure regularly, shaping the plant in such a way that shoots growing from the trunk and skeletal branches are removed.
With the onset of spring, heavily bare areas should be cut off. During the period of its growth, the branches of cryptomeria should be tied with twine in order to form the direction of growth. Japanese cryptomeria requires care from the first days of growth. Only thenyou can get a truly beautiful dwarf likeness of an ancient giant.
Diseases and plant pests
Japanese cryptomeria at home can get sick, so a thorough examination of the tree is necessary.
It can be damaged by a red spider mite, scale insect. The affected plant begins to dry out, lose needles. It is weakening greatly.
Basic measures to save cryptoremia: removal and destruction of the affected parts of the plant, followed by fungicide treatment.
