Beautiful fluffy beauty on the site - blue spruce - the dream of almost every owner of a private house. You can buy ready-made seedlings, however, this is a rather expensive pleasure, or you can grow it yourself from seeds, cuttings or grafting.
Let's dwell in more detail on what and how to do so that the blue spruce grows, the reproduction of which will be with the help of seeds.
What should be the soil
Before breeding a tree in any way, it is necessary to choose the right site on which the blue spruce will grow. Do not use land that previously had corn, potatoes or other crops damaged by fungal diseases, as this is fraught with infection of fir trees with Fusarium fungi.
When planting, it is necessary to add soil taken from under coniferous trees in the forest to the soil, as it contains fungal hyphae, which contribute to good development. They help the roots to better absorb trace elements from the soil.
The land also needs to be fertilized with peat with fertilizers in the following proportions: for a bucket of peat - 20 g of azophoska, 35 g of limestone flour (everything carefullystir to avoid lumps). Seeds are poured on top, and on them is a mixture of peat with coniferous sawdust, it is easy for seedlings to break through such a mulch, since there is no superficial dense crust.
Place to plant a tree
When choosing a place, it is necessary to take into account that the blue spruce has a powerful root system, so over time it will oppress and obscure other crops. In addition, the soil under coniferous trees acidifies, so few plants can withstand such conditions. This is also one of the reasons why it is very rare to see any plants under the pines and firs.
Seed preparation
Before removing the seeds from the cones, they (the cones) must be dried in a cloth bag, then they open better, it will be easier to get the seeds. They are put in the same bag and gently rubbed, freeing them from the lionfish. Then they are poured into a jar, which is put in the refrigerator for storage.
In order for blue spruce to grow, planting must be in a period when the night frosts have passed and the ground is warm. It is best to do this in the period from 20 to 25 June. Before planting, the seeds are soaked for a day in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, and then slightly dried.
Planting seeds
Planted in holes five pieces and sprayed with water twice a day. Do not water abundantly, as waterlogging creates a favorable environment for the occurrence of fungal diseases. At the end of August, the seedlings are thinned out, leaving the strongest and tallest tree.
Selectseedlings by color in three to four years.
Propagation by cuttings
Blue spruce cuttings are rooted in a greenhouse or greenhouse (do not root in open ground) with high humidity. It will be better if you use a fogging installation. Blue spruce propagates by both summer and winter cuttings, but winter ones take root 3-4 times faster than summer ones. As a rule, it takes 2.5-3 months.
And finally, it will take at least 30 years to grow a fifteen-meter-high tree.
