Thuja is very similar to cypress. And this is understandable, because she is his closest relative and is often called northern cypress. It is not at all pretentious to care or the conditions where it grows, but at the same time, it has high decorative qualities. Therefore, this tree is very popular among amateur gardeners. Thuja can be easily adapted to the interior of a garden or farmstead, for example, by creating hedges from these evergreens, and various figures from the crown.
Recently, the tree can often be seen growing in city apartments and private houses. It decorates loggias and balconies. A thuja growing in a tub is a real decoration of a large living room.
Today we will talk about growing thuja from seeds at home, we will talk about how to care for garden thuja and a tree growing at home. I hope this information will help you if you decide to grow this evergreen beauty.
Growing from seeds
This process is not difficult, and if everything is done correctly and carefully, everything will definitely work out. The main thing is to select seeds of the type of thuja that takes root well and grows in your climatic conditions, otherwise all efforts will be pointless.
Take the seeds from the thuja cone. Cut off the woody cones along with the small branches on which they grow, bring them home, and place them somewhere warmer. It is necessary that the cones receive dim, diffused light. When they dry a little, they will open and you can carefully remove the seeds. Now wrap them in damp gauze and leave them there for a day.
Prepare ordinary small indoor pots with good fertile soil. Be sure to place drainage at the bottom of the pots. Now pour water well so that the soil is completely moistened. In general, seeds will germinate in any quality soil. But it will be just great if you add a little peat or humus to it.
Plant each seed in its own pot, without burying it in the soil. Just press it into the surface and cover it with 4-5 mm of soil. Instead of soil, you can sprinkle the seeds with wet sawdust. Water not very often, but as the soil dries out.
In about a month, the first shoots will appear. If you grow young plants in the garden, plant them in the ground in the spring, keeping a distance of 2-3 m from each other.
Caring for garden thuja
Seedlings need to be watered well until they form root system and the young tree will grow stronger. Water it completely, irrigating the crown. In the future, water the thuja regularly so that the soil does not dry out. Be sure to spray the crown too.
The tree will develop well and grow quickly if you plant it in fertile, well-moistened soil and protect it from the winds. The tree tolerates crown formation very well, so you can trim it to give it the desired shape. Most often they form a pyramidal crown, or in the form of a ball. But in general, using your imagination, you can give it any desired shape.
Thuja tolerates sunlight well and also lives well in partial shade. But thick shadow she doesn't like it and may start dropping leaves.
In the spring, be sure to feed the tree with a special fertilizer for thuja or a Kemiru-universal solution. During the growing season, the soil at the roots must be loosened, but carefully so as not to damage them. Periodically mulch the tree trunk circles. Thuja must be covered for the winter.
Home plant care
As we have already found out, thuja can be grown at home in a tub or ceramic pot. In a specialized store you can buy a special, long-growing variety of thuja and grow the tree at home. This plant can easily tolerate the dry air of city apartments and will also withstand hot weather.
The young plant can first be transplanted into a small pot. As they grow, transplant into larger ones. If you transplant a young tree from a store into good nutritious soil, it will grow well. When the tree becomes mature, transplant it into a tub.
Thuja will become a real decoration of the living space in a city apartment. Its crown can also be shaped to your own taste, and the evergreen branches of the plant are especially pleasing in cold, snowy winters.
Just do not place the thuja in a dark room or in the shade. As a result, the branches will begin to thin out and the crown will lose its decorative look. For the same reason, thuja needs to be watered without allowing the soil to dry out too much. In general, watering is best done 2 times a week in the summer and 1 time in the winter. Just check if the soil in the tub is dry. When it's time to water, water well and spray with a spray bottle.
It will be useful to sometimes loosen the soil at the roots, as well as dig up the surface, mixing soil with sawdust. You can use peat.
Avoid sudden changes in temperature in the room where the thuja is located. This causes small cracks to appear on the trunk, which often harbor pests. They cause diseases, particularly fungi, that can destroy the plant. Therefore, carefully inspect your thuja. If there is damage to the trunk, spray it promptly by special means, cover up scratches. You can treat the tree with a foundation solution. Dilute the drug in a ratio of 10 g per 10 l. water at the rate of 1 g per 1 liter of water.
Protect thuja from any pets, but especially from cats. If a cat even once decides that the tub contains her cat litter, the tree will quickly die. Good luck to you, dear gardeners!
Thuja is an evergreen plant; it can be a wide shrub or tree with flat shoots. It has a dense crown. It is very popular among landscape designers and gardeners. This plant is often used to decorate areas.
Planting a tree in the garden will go well with any trees, including fruit and deciduous trees. This plant is often used for hedges.
Varieties of thuja
The color range of thuja of any type is very diverse: from blue color to yellowish tints. This plant has distinctive feature: Branches grow close to the ground. The height of the tree can be adjusted by timely pruning: it can be made into a bush, or it can be allowed to grow in height.
There are five types of this conifer: Japanese, folded, western and Korean.
It is distinguished by the color of its needles in two colors: green on top and white below. It has a characteristic persistent smell of pine needles.
This type of thuja is the most frost-resistant. She is not afraid of winter down to minus 30 degrees. This tree is best grown away from urban polluted air. The height of the trees is very large: from 15 to 35 meters, and they live up to 300 years.
Thuja foldata
Oriental view, very sensitive to cold. However, frozen shoots can recover on their own with the onset of warm weather. It is best to plant the tree in moist, well-drained soil. Tree height is up to 60 centimeters. Thuja foldata has valuable and durable wood.
Thuja occidentalis
She is the favorite species of this plant. This unpretentious tree takes root everywhere. Prefers moist soil with clay in mixed forests. Crown green bright colors in warm weather, and in winter it acquires brown tint. Loves light, durable. Lives up to a hundred years, sometimes longer. The height rarely reaches two meters, and is more often found in the form of a shrub. Is an excellent air purifier.
It has an interesting color. The tree is dark green in front, and takes on a silvery tint at the back. This species is not popular in cold and rainy regions because not frost-resistant. The height can reach ten meters, but in mountainous areas it takes on the appearance of a bush.
The plant thrives in rooms with high humidity.
How to grow thuja indoors from seed?
Is it possible to grow thuja at home? Thuja is used not only for planting in open areas, but also also planted indoors in large pots. When growing thuja indoors, the pot for the plant must be doubled with each replanting.
Thuja is an unpretentious plant. It tolerates air pollution well carbon dioxide and severe winter cold. In order to propagate and grow thuja yourself, you don’t have to make any efforts. special efforts. This tree lends itself well to propagation.
In order to grow thuja at home, first of all you need to be patient. From the moment of planting until the tree appears, it will take about three to five years.
For proper cultivation and propagation of a coniferous tree, you can choose two methods:
- Using a cutting;
- From the seed.
Growing a tree from cuttings quite convenient: they quickly take root and young trees begin to grow. But unfortunately, it is not always possible to obtain the required number of cuttings. This is where the method of reproduction comes to the rescue. thuja from seed, t so-called stratification ,
you can sow them in any quantity. Germination of the first leaves takes much longer, but the result is almost one hundred percent. The number of seeds you plant, the number of trees you will get. Thuja is an expensive tree and breeding them is quite a profitable business, and in the end you will get quite a good material profit. propagate it conifer from seeds is more convenient than cuttings.
Preparing for sowing
1. Procurement of seeds.
You can prepare seeds in late summer or early autumn. Cones from trees must be collected when they have not yet had time to open. The buds need to be dried. After this, getting the seeds and germinating them will not be difficult. It is best to plant recently collected seeds. Then they will begin to grow faster. If sowing is done in autumn, the first shoots will be early.
2. Soil preparation.
Since thuja is frost-resistant evergreen tree, it is best to plant seeds in the ground for the winter. Landing takes place at open ground or wooden boxes, which is more compact and convenient. If the planting took place in boxes, then you need to replant in open ground immediately after climbing and provide proper care.
The boxes are filled with three components:
- 1/2 part peat;
- 1/2 part of turf land;
- 2 parts sand.
The soil should be compacted and the seeds should be planted at a distance of 6–8 centimeters from each other and sprinkled with soil on top. Gently water with water, avoiding soil erosion.
3. Caring for seedlings
The soil with planted seeds should be kept at a stable temperature of 15–18 degrees. Every two weeks, seedlings need to be fertilized with mineral components, which include nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. At proper care the seeds will germinate within the first month.
During the first winter, the plants should be kept in wooden boxes. During the first season, the seeds will grow approximately 8–10 centimeters.
4. Transplant
This stage of tree propagation must be approached painstakingly and responsibly. This step is stressful for the plant. They need to be replanted into separate beds in the spring. In this case, choose a place in the shade. The depth of the hole should not exceed 70 centimeters, drainage is half the depth of the hole. The width of the hole should be one and a half times the depth.
Before planting, the soil must be fertilized with humus, sand and peat. You can also use ready-made fertilizers for coniferous trees.
When seating, the acceptable distance is considered to be from one to two and a half meters, depending on how much density is required. If the thuja is tall, then the distance should increase to three meters, and in no case should the earthen ball be damaged.
Young trees should be watered twice a week, and adult trees frequent watering don't need it. Thuja tolerates drought well. It is necessary to water adult seedlings more frequently in the hottest time in the summer.
Thuja should be fertilized immediately after transplantation. It is necessary to feed with mineral fertilizers for two to two and a half years. It is necessary to loosen the soil regularly, since dry soil and a lot of shade will lead to a loss of color in the tree. You need to dig shallowly, ten centimeters maximum.
In autumn, young thuja trees must be covered with cloth. In winter, tie the branches with a rope to protect the tree from winter winds until spring.
To form a beautiful tree shape, you need to prune it with pruning shears. Dry branches must be carefully removed.
Basic rules applicable to all types of thuja:
- Sudden changes in temperature should not be allowed;
- Thuja should not be only in the light or in the shade. Change the lighting;
- The soil should be moist;
- Don’t get carried away with excessive watering;
- Loosen the soil at the roots to best entry air;
- Fertilize with minerals;
- Protect the tree from pets and other external irritants;
- If the trunk is damaged, use special spraying agents.
Thuja, like any other plant, loves care and maintenance. The tree feels love. Proper cultivation and conservation of a tree will make it beautiful and will always please the eye!
Thuja is an evergreen coniferous tree that is highly valued by gardeners. This is a great find for landscape design. Thuja is readily used as a hedge. It creates protection from winds in summer and winter time. Growing conifers at home is often done using cuttings - they take root well and young trees quickly grow. But it is not always possible to get cuttings in the right quantity, and recently the seed method has become popular, which is also more effective. It allows you to grow a large number of young seedlings in just a few years to create any composition in the garden or park. How to grow thuja from seeds - expert recommendations.
Thuja is frost-resistant and unpretentious plant. In order for the seedlings to be strong and healthy, the seeds are sown in the ground just before winter.
Soil preparation and sowing
Planting thuja at home is done in open ground beds or in boxes. For ease of planting care, experienced gardeners Thuja is planted in boxes, which can later be placed in any other place. Wooden containers are filled with nutritious soil, mixing peat and turf soil - one part each with 2 parts sand. The soil is leveled and slightly compacted. Then, deep rows are made at a distance of 6 cm, in which the seeds are evenly distributed along the entire length of the row. Thuja crops are lightly sprinkled thin layer soil - 1 cm. Then the surface is compacted with a plank. After planting, the seedlings are watered very carefully with a spray bottle to prevent them from being washed out. The washed seeds should be lightly sprinkled with earth. In wet weather, seedlings do not need to be watered.
After planting, young thuja seedlings need proper care. In spring, they are placed under trees, which will provide protection from direct sunlight.
For all coniferous trees, and thuja is no exception, sunburn very dangerous. It is recommended to cover the plantings with non-woven covering material if garden plot there are animals.
During the process of snow melting, it is very important to prevent the covering material from touching the surface of the earth.
Seedling care
After the soil warms up to a temperature of 15 degrees, after about 20 days, the first shoots will appear. Young plants bear little resemblance to adult specimens. After a few years, in seedlings with a needle-like structure, the needles develop into scales, like in adult plants. Some people will think that instead of thuja, completely different coniferous trees grow from seeds, for example, spruce or juniper. All you need is patience. Within 2 months, the plants will have scaly branches of needles.
To stimulate growth, seedlings are fed every 14 days. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, which include phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, is ideal for this. You can also use preparations Agricola, Mortar, which contain manganese, boron, chalk, molybdenum and zinc.
In one season, plants can grow up to 8 cm in height. They will spend their first winter in boxes. And if the plantings are not too thick and the plants grow in a deep container, then they are left for another year without replanting.
Experienced gardeners recommend planting seedlings after the first winter in separate beds for further growing. The site should be selected in partial shade. First, it is fertilized: 1 bucket of humus, 45 g of nitrophoska and 250 g of wood ash are added per 1 m2, then dug up well.
Transplantation to a permanent growing site
You can replant thuja on any life stage, she tolerates this procedure quite successfully.
- Seedlings are planted in rows for growing at a distance of 30 cm.
- The distance between the rows should also be about 30 cm.
- When planting, the root collar should be at soil level. If you plant the thuja deeper, it will simply freeze, turn yellow and die.
- Immediately after transplantation, the plants are mulched with peat and watered.
Subsequent care consists of regular feeding of young plants, frequent but moderate watering, loosening the soil after watering and removing weeds.
Fertilizers are applied once every 30 days, as in the previous year. Thuja is planted in a permanent area only in the 3rd year of life, when the plant reaches half a meter in height.
In order to create a dense decorative hedge, planting material of a uniform shape and size is used. Growing thuja from seeds allows you to obtain adult specimens with different structures, crown densities, and also outlines. IN three years old in seedlings you can see the shape of the future crown. Planting seeds can produce a sufficient number of uniform seedlings to create any composition in a garden plot, in a city park, in industrial zone landscaping and other places. In addition, thuja is an amazing coniferous tree that tolerates pruning quite easily. Regular trimming allows you to create a crown of the required shape or create an ideal hedge.
Thuja has long gained popularity among gardeners.
It is used to create various landscape designs, as a hedge (with the help of pruning, the plant can be given any look).
It is durable, very unpretentious (can grow on different soils, in urban conditions).
In addition to its decorative function, thuja sanitizes the air by releasing phytoncides.
Varietal and species diversity allows you to grow thuja even in northern and middle latitudes.
Thuja: cultivation. Selection of planting material
1. Appearance of the plant - the branches should be elastic, and the needles should be bright, shiny, and lively. If it is dull and crumbles when touched, then the plant has died;
Growing thuja from seeds: features of planting and care at home
The earthen lump must be preserved - bare roots of the plant are unacceptable;
3. If possible, you need to inspect the root system. It should be healthy and not dried out: the ends of the roots are white or yellowish, elastic (if they are scratched, juice will be released);
4. It is also necessary to take into account the indicators of the thuja variety: the color of the needles, the splendor of the crown, and frost resistance.
Types and varieties of thuja
IN natural conditions There are 5 main types of thuja: Japanese, Korean, folded, eastern, western. The most popular of them is the western thuja. This is a pyramidal tree, reaching a height of 15-20 m, with a crown 3-5 m in diameter. Due to its frost resistance, it is suitable for cultivation in all regions of our country. Many varieties of this species have been bred, having different shapes, needle colors, and heights. The most famous are:
.Brabant- frost-resistant fast-growing variety. The crown diameter is 1.5 m. The color of the needles is green in summer, brown in winter.
. Emerald- is a tree reaching a height of 4-4.5 meters. The crown shape is conical. It grows slowly, the dark green needles practically do not fade in winter. Tolerates haircuts well.
. Columna- a fast-growing variety in the form of a tree with a dense narrow crown. It has high winter hardiness and prefers semi-shaded areas.
. Wagnery- a variety with bluish needles that acquire a copper tint in winter. Prefers fertile soils open areas. Has increased frost resistance.
.Globoza- a slow-growing variety with a spherical crown (it reaches a height of 1 m by the 10th year of growing season), winter-hardy and drought-resistant.
. Danica- a low-growing shrub with a rounded dense crown up to 0.6 m high. It grows slowly (growth reaches only 5 cm per year). The needles are light green in color. The variety is shade-tolerant, drought-resistant and frost-resistant. Propagated only by cuttings. Ideal for landscaping small areas.
.Golden Globe- the variety has golden-green needles, grows slowly, is used in single compositions, rockeries, rock gardens and low borders.
Thuja: cultivation. Sowing and planting (timing, shelter, temperature, soil, etc.)
Suitable for growing thuja: sunny place, and penumbra. If you plant this coniferous plant in the shade, its crown will thin out and lose its decorative effect. Although thuja is moisture-loving, it does not tolerate waterlogging. Therefore, if in an area close to the surface there are groundwater, then it must be drained before planting.
Thuja can grow on different soils, but it is still better to plant it on moisture-permeable fertile soils. On heavy clay soils it is susceptible to root rot. Therefore, such areas must first be enriched with humus or compost, sand and peat must be added to improve aeration. Acidic soils are alkalized by adding wood ash or lime.
Planting thuja
Dig a hole 70-80 cm deep and 90-100 cm in diameter;
Drainage made of crushed stone and expanded clay is poured into the bottom of the pit;
Pour prepared soil onto the drainage, add complex fertilizers and 2 cups of ash;
The seedling is placed in the hole so that the root collar is level with the ground surface;
The distance between plants depends on the size of the variety. If thujas are planted in a group, then the interval between them ranges from 1 to 5 m, and when creating a single-row hedge it is one meter.
Growing thuja from seeds
The process of growing thuja from seeds is quite long in time: from sowing to planting seedlings on permanent place 3-5 years will pass. In addition, plants from seeds do not retain varietal characteristics. However, if necessary minimum costs to get a lot of strong seedlings adapted to the climatic conditions of your region, then this method is perfect.
Like everyone else coniferous plants Thuja seeds are characterized by their unpredictability in their germination rate. They can lie in the ground for more than six months before shoots appear.
Seed cones are collected in the fruiting year. They are laid out in a warm room in one layer, after a couple of days they will open and then small reddish seeds will easily fall out of them. Healthy seeds that have undergone natural or artificial stratification (exposure to cold) are suitable for planting.
In the first case, they are sown in open ground after harvesting in late autumn. In the spring, shoots similar to dill shoots will appear. The first branches of the seedlings will grow only after 6 months. To prevent the seedlings from getting lost among the weeds, they can be sown in boxes dug into the ground. In the third year, the plants dive. Young thujas can be planted in a permanent place in the fifth year of the growing season.
In the second case, the seeds are sown in a bowl with damp sand, covered with glass or film, placed in a cool room or refrigerator on a shelf with a temperature of +5ºC for 2-3 months. Periodically, crops must be ventilated and condensation removed. After stratification, the seeds are sown in boxes in February. The substrate is made from turf soil, peat, sand, taken in equal proportions. To disinfect it, it is spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate. After sowing, the soil is moistened. Seeds germinate at temperatures of +20ºС and above. As soon as sprouts appear, the boxes with seedlings are moved to a cooler place with good lighting. Twice a month the plants are fed with complex mineral fertilizers for conifers. Seedlings sprout for the second year in the spring. In summer, pots with them are taken out into the garden in partial shade. For the winter they are brought into a greenhouse or into a house. In the third spring, the grown thujas are transferred to larger pots. When the plants reach 50 cm in length (4-5 years of growing season), they are transplanted to a permanent place.
Sowing thuja seeds
Growing thuja from cuttings
With this method of propagation, plants retain their varietal characteristics. Some varieties of thuja can only be grown from cuttings (for example, the Danika variety).
Thuja cuttings are carried out in April. For cuttings, choose healthy strong branches young plant(2-3 years). If there are no such specimens, then semi-lignified branches of an adult thuja are used. The cuttings must be torn off with a “heel” - a piece of bark.
Thuja cuttings with “heel”
The lower end of the cutting is 1/3 cleared of needles, soaked for a day in a root formation stimulator and planted in a bed in a greenhouse, deepened by 2-3 cm. The substrate for planting is made from a mixture of equal proportions of leaf (turf) soil, sand and peat, which You must first spill it with a solution of potassium permanganate. Seedlings need diffused light and high humidity (about 70%). Therefore, cuttings planted in pots must be covered with jars. After planting, the plants must be sprayed and ventilated to prevent rotting. The appearance of new shoots means that rooting was successful. In autumn (September), young plants are planted in a permanent place. For the winter they need shelter. For this, spruce spruce branches, sawdust, and dry leaves are used.
Thuja: cultivation. Care, feeding
Care when growing thuja consists of watering, fertilizing, cutting and preparing for the winter.
The irrigation regime of thuja depends on weather conditions. Thuja is very sensitive to soil moisture content. With a lack of moisture, its needles become dull and acquire a yellow-brown color. This is especially noticeable after summer pruning. The minimum watering volume per plant is 10 liters. In hot weather, water every 3-4 days.
It is better to do this in the morning or evening. Good for appearance sprinkling plants. Daily spraying washes away the dust from the needles, which begin to emit their phytoncidal odor.
In spring, apply compost or mineral fertilizers for coniferous plants. If fertilizing was applied during planting, then the next time it is fertilized after 2 years.
Thuja trunk circles are mulched with sawdust, compost, crushed bark or nut shells. Mulch will retain moisture in the summer and protect the roots from overheating and freezing in the winter.
Pruning begins in the third year of the thuja growing season. The main pruning is carried out starting in April. At the same time, dry and diseased branches are removed and the selected crown shape is formed. When trimming a hedge, the shoots are cut off to no more than one-third of the length.
Preparing thuja for winter. In central and northern Russia, young thujas (even frost-resistant varieties) need shelter for the first few years. The tree trunk circles are covered with dry leaves, and the plants themselves are covered with spunbond or thick greenhouse film. On adult plants, the branches are tied with twine to the trunk to prevent them from breaking off when snow accumulates on them.
Thuja shelter for the winter
Main pests and ways to combat them
Thuja aphid- insects that live in colonies and feed on plant sap. Damaged needles turn yellow and fall off. Insecticides (for example, Fufanon) are used to kill aphids.
Spider mite spreads quickly in dry, warm weather. You can notice it by branches covered with cobwebs. The needles are covered yellow spots and crumbles. In case of severe damage, acaricides are used. The tick doesn't like high humidity, therefore, to prevent thuja, it is necessary to spray it with water more often.
moth- a small butterfly whose larvae gnaw tunnels in the needles. The shoots first turn brown and then die. To control pests, affected thujas are treated with pyrethroids twice with an interval of 8 days.
Thuja false scale- small light yellow insects. Affected plants wither and the needles partially dry out. Between May (before bud break) and mid-June, thujas are sprayed with karbofos, actellik or actara.
Click beetles (wireworms)- polyphagous pests. The larvae feed on small roots and humus, and as they grow they move on to thick roots. As a result, the thuja stops developing, the needles dry out and fall off. Most often, click beetles settle in damp areas with acidic soils. To prevent the spread of these beetles in the fall, it is necessary to dig up the soil, because adults (adult insects) overwinter shallowly in the ground. Low-lying areas should be drained and alkalized. In case of mass infestation by wireworms, thujas and surrounding vegetation are sprayed with preparations such as Fufanon, Actellik, Decis. To destroy the larvae, add to the soil chemicals with diazonin (Kapkan, Bazudin).
Bark beetles- small beetles that gnaw tunnels and lay eggs in the bark of a tree. The affected tree quickly dies. Universal remedy There is no protection against bark beetle. It is recommended to spray plants with insecticides at intervals of two weeks. Damaged branches are cut out and burned.
Schutte and rust- diseases caused by various pathogenic fungi, in which the needles darken and fall off. Mostly young thujas are affected. Affected branches should be cut off and burned to prevent the spread of fungal spores. For prevention, all conifers on the site are sprayed with Hom (40 g per bucket of water), Topsin-M (15 g per bucket of water) or Bordeaux mixture. Tree trunk circles are shed with foundation solution 2 times a season.
Root rot- one of the most dangerous fungal diseases of thuja. As a result of the destruction of young roots, the shoots become pale yellow, turn brown over time, and the plant dies. Diseased specimens must be destroyed, and the soil under neighboring plants should be shed with a fungicide solution (for example, Fitosporin).
Beautiful, evergreen thuja- An excellent tree for creating a hedge. It is distinguished by good winter hardiness and unpretentiousness. Dense needles protect the area well from cold winds at any time of the year. However, the price of thuja seedlings often forces one to abandon this option. What should those summer residents who cannot afford to buy thuja seedlings do? There is a way out! You can grow a plant from seeds. Is it difficult to do? No. The main thing in the process is patience and quality care. How to grow thuja from seeds? We will learn the answer to this question from the article.
Growing thuja from seeds
How to grow thuja - where to start?
If you think that this is too difficult and this is for you, then we hasten to assure you otherwise. Thuja can be grown from seeds yourself, in any quantity. It doesn’t matter that in the first year the seedlings grow no more than 10 centimeters. In subsequent years, when the thuja root system is finally formed, its annual growth is 25-30 centimeters.
To obtain seeds, thuja cones are collected at the end of August - early September, they ripen just by this time. You need to hurry to collect them before they are fully opened. Lay them out in one layer, the room should be dry and warm. When the dried cones open, the seeds will fall out freely. It is advisable to plant them immediately, since storage has a negative effect on seed germination. If for some reason it is not possible to plant seeds in the fall, before spring planting they must be stratified. Thuja seedlings sown before winter grow stronger and healthier than their counterparts sown in the spring, grow earlier, and winter better, which is especially important for them in the first years of life.
How to sow thuja seeds? Let's look at the most practical tips:
- You can sow thuja seeds directly in open ground, in a bed reserved for them, or you can also in boxes; it is more convenient to move them around the site. The soil for sowing thuja consists of one part of turf or garden soil, two parts peat and a small amount of sand.
Self-growing thuja seedlings
It is poured into a box, leveled and compacted so that it is at least 2 centimeters below the sides.
- Then planting grooves are laid, the seeds are evenly laid out in them and covered with soil, which is then compacted. In dry weather, crops should be watered moderately, making sure that the seeds do not float to the surface.
- The box with the crops is placed in partial shade so that in the spring the seedlings do not come under the burning sun.
- In the spring, 15-20 days after the soil is well warmed up, shoots will appear, initially similar to spruce, this is a feature of thuja, and there is no need to be afraid. Real branches with scaly needles grow in seedlings by mid-summer.
Reproduction of thuja
Thuja from seeds - timely care
Young thujas require regular (once every two weeks) application of complex mineral fertilizers, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and microelements. The first wintering of thuja seedlings takes place in the old place. In the second spring, the strongest plants can be planted in the “school”, which must be slightly shaded. The soil for planting needs to be dug up with a spade, humus, nitroammophoska, and ash added to it. Seedlings for further growth are located at a distance of at least 30 cm.
When transplanting seedlings, you need to be careful not to deepen the root collar, in which case it will begin to rot, and the thuja most often dies. The root collar must be located at ground level. After transplanting, seedlings need to be watered and mulched with peat. Water them in dry weather, while loosening the soil and removing weeds. Fertilizing is applied every 2-3 weeks. With proper care, seedlings grow up to half a meter by the end of the third year; now they can be transplanted to a designated area. further cultivation place.
If seedlings are grown for a hedge, you need to choose those whose emerging crown is as similar as possible - this way the hedge will be more uniform in density. However, if all the seedlings turn out to be “mismatched”, it’s also not a problem, since the thuja tolerates shearing very well, which allows you to form a hedge of any configuration.
So now you know how to grow thuja from seeds. We hope that everything will work out for you, and in a few years you will enjoy your own grown thuja, which will decorate your entire summer cottage.
How to easily grow thuja from seeds
Thuja is a very unpretentious plant; it is not afraid of cold weather and polluted city air. The crown of the thuja can be shaped to create a shrub of any shape, so it is perfect for building a hedge.
Thanks to its lush needles, such a hedge protects the garden from cold or dry winds. However, thuja seedlings are quite expensive, and you need a lot of them for a hedge. You can save a lot by growing shrubs yourself from seeds.
Propagation by seeds is a practical way
The advantage of propagation by seeds over cuttings is that the result is very strong plants adapted to local conditions. In the first year, the seedlings will grow only 7 cm.
But in the future they will add 30 cm per year.
Procurement of seeds
Thuja fruits - small oblong cones - ripen in early September. But in the fall it is impossible to distinguish barren flowers from fruits suitable for reproduction. The inspection should be carried out at the end of March, when the pollinated cones have already closed, unlike the unpollinated ones. Barren flowers can be cut off in advance so that they do not waste valuable plant resources.
The cones need to be carefully cut off and placed in a warm, dry place. When dry, they open and release seeds. They need to be planted immediately after harvest to allow them to overwinter under the snow. Having passed winter stratification, seedlings sprout earlier and grow much more actively in the spring.
Landing Features
Thuja, like all coniferous plants, does not like bright sun, but it is also uncomfortable in the shade. A slightly shaded place under a large tree is suitable as a “golden mean”.
You can plant the seeds directly in open ground, but it is more convenient to grow them in wooden boxes. In a box it is easier to control watering and fertilizing, and it is more convenient to plant grown young animals from it.
The boxes need to be filled with soil so that 2–3 cm remains to the edges. Make indentations in the soil at a short distance with a spatula. The soil mixture for germinating thuja seeds is peat, turf soil and sand in a ratio of 4:2:1. The recesses need to be expanded. The seeds in the recesses are distributed evenly. Then they need to be sprinkled with earth and watered a little.
Crop care
Small thujas are very similar to spruce seedlings, but after a couple of months they develop scaly needles and take on the outline of an adult plant.
Here are the basic rules for caring for young thujas:
- The boxes are installed in shaded areas of the garden.
Thuja from seeds - growing at home
Additional shelter for the winter is not required. Under the snow, the seeds in the boxes will successfully overwinter and produce the first shoots when the ground warms up in the spring.
- Once every two weeks, seedlings need to be fed with fertilizers for coniferous plants. While the plants are still very small (7–8 cm), there is no need to plant them.
- After wintering, the seedlings need to be planted in temporary beds. In the open ground they will feel free, which will accelerate their growth and development.
- The soil at the planting site should be loose and well-permeable; if necessary, a drainage layer should be placed at the bottom of the bed. Before planting, you need to add peat mixed with sand and dry rotted compost into the beds. Additionally, you can add 50 g of nitroammophoska.
- Thuja tolerates transplants well at a young age. The distance between plants should be 30 cm.
- When planting, there is no need to deepen the root collar - it should be at soil level.
- The soil around the seedlings should be sprinkled with crushed pine bark or needles.
- It is enough to water growing trees once a week and fertilize once every 2-3 weeks.
- If there is no severe drought, abundant watering is not required.
- Thujas can be transplanted to a permanent place when their height reaches 50 cm. Usually these are two to three-year-old plants.
Flaw seed growing thuja – varietal heterogeneity of seedlings. However, this problem can be easily solved if you plant more seeds - with a reserve. Three-year-old thujas already acquire a certain crown density, which will not change over the years. From a large number of seedlings, you can choose a sufficient number of identical plants for a hedge.
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Technology of growing coniferous plants
Ivan Mitrofanovich CHERKIS,
forester, nursery owner
Coniferous plants are evergreen and therefore are able to fulfill their functions, especially aesthetic ones. all year round. And conifers such as juniper are also valuable because they secrete a large amount of phytoncides (phytoncides are biologically active substances that kill or suppress the growth and development of bacteria), 6 times more than other conifers, and 15 times more than deciduous. In addition, coniferous plants successfully retain dust and absorb toxic substances. Thuja and juniper are actively used for topiary (curly haircut).
Thuja from seeds: how to grow, transplanting into open ground
You can create both individual figures and entire green hedges. Where can you get such viable planting material and how to grow it?
Seeds or cuttings, as the initial planting material for growing seedlings, must be harvested from plantings that grow naturally in these climatic conditions, or from artificially grown ones that are well acclimatized and stable in these conditions.
In our region, in gardens, parks and private landholdings, there is a lot of coniferous species: various types spruces, pines, junipers, thujas, larches, yews, etc. Many of these plants are 20 or more years old, so they have been through good natural selection, have acclimatized and can be used for preparing seeds and cuttings. It is important to choose the right time for harvesting seeds: for prickly spruce and larch - mid-August; common spruce and pine trees - from December to February; thuja - September; junipers - October, November.
Sowing of coniferous plants is carried out only in spring. From collection to sowing, seeds are stored in hermetically sealed containers, which prevents them from drying out. After collection, juniper seeds are laid for 3-3.5 months for stratification. In the spring, before sowing, the seeds of all conifers, except junipers, are soaked for 1 day in ordinary water at room temperature.
For seed beds, it is advisable to choose a place in partial shade or prepare shields for shading. For spruce trees, the soil should be loamy, well humus, for other conifers - sandy loam. Before sowing and subsequently throughout the year, no fertilizers, especially manure, should be applied to the soil. The only thing you can add is compost soil. For a small number of plants grown, it is better to use single-line sowing. Depth of seed placement: for larch and spruce 0.5-1 cm, for other conifers 1-2 cm. After sowing, the beds must be watered, small arcs placed and hermetically sealed with film. Monitor soil moisture, water additionally if necessary, but do not overwater. With the emergence of seedlings, after about 12 days, by partially opening the film, the seedlings are hardened, and then the film is completely removed. Further care care of seedlings consists of watering, weeding and loosening. Shelter is not required in winter. It takes 2 years to grow thuja and juniper seedlings 15-25 cm high, spruce and larch - 3 years. To increase growth energy and form seedlings with a beautiful symmetrical crown, seedlings are dug up in early spring with their root system exposed, the roots are shortened by 1/3 and planted, increasing the area for each plant (25-30 cm). Further care: watering once a week for 2 months, then the intervals between watering can be increased, weeding, loosening the soil, sometimes shading. To obtain seedlings 1-1.2 m high from these seedlings with a good crown and powerful root system, it will take 3-6 years. To do this, 1-2 transplants are necessary every 2 years.
So, what should you remember when planting coniferous seedlings:
- All coniferous plants up to 3 years old can be replanted with their root system exposed only in the spring.
- Plants over 3 years old should only be replanted with a natural earthen ball in spring or autumn.
- Naturally falling needles should not be removed from under the plant, as they protect the soil from overheating and drying out, and as they decompose, they provide the plant with the necessary nutrients.
Coniferous plants, especially shrubby forms, can also be propagated by cuttings. The cutting time is spring, after the start of sap flow.
Annual cuttings are torn off with the heel, that is, with part of the wood. Then they are grown using conventional technology.
And lastly, if you decide to bring or purchase seedlings from other areas, then you need to consider the following:
- the climatic conditions in which the seedlings are grown and where they will be planted must be similar in their characteristics, especially humidity and temperature;
- cultivation technology (whether the hydroponic method was used);
- seedlings older than 3 years must be delivered with a natural earthen ball in packaged form.
If you see beautiful 2-meter seedlings in flowerpots with peat, do not think that they grew in them, this is just packaging for transportation, but when and what they packed is worth thinking about.
The thuja coniferous tree, which belongs to the cypress family, tolerates low temperatures, city dust and always remains green. Thuja is widely used in landscape design, since such a tree can be given any shape, and besides, it improves the health of the air.
Propagation of thuja by seeds is a rather labor-intensive and painstaking method of breeding a tree. But at the same time, it gives almost 100% results, which is also important, because thuja is a fairly expensive tree.
Planting thuja seeds in a summer cottage
The simplest and convenient technology propagation of thuja - sowing seeds in the ground before winter. The seedlings emerge strong and develop well. You can get any number of seedlings in quite short terms. Here's how it's done:
Why is it convenient to propagate thuja by seeds?
Thuja is winter-hardy and unpretentious. This is one of the best plants for hedges: thanks to evergreen needles, it protects the garden from cold winds both in summer and winter. But for a hedge you need a large number of very expensive plants. Where can you get so many seedlings if you don’t want to incur extra expenses?
By propagating thuja by seeds, you can get any number of seedlings in 3-4 years. And don’t let it scare you that in the first year of life, seedlings reach only 7 centimeters. After 2 years of cultivation, they will already grow to 50 cm, and subsequently they will give an increase of about 30 cm per season.
How to prepare thuja seeds from cones
Thuja seeds ripen in late August - early September. You need to collect the seeds before the cones open.
Spread the collected thuja cones in a thin layer to dry in a warm, dry place. As soon as the cones dry and open, the seeds spill out freely. It’s better not to delay sowing: if you store thuja seeds at room temperature, after three months their germination rate sharply decreases. If you decide to sow in the spring, for successful germination they will need stratification (exposure to low temperatures).
The easiest way is to sow thuja with freshly harvested seeds in the fall, leaving the crops to winter outside. Natural stratification increases germination energy, seedlings sprout earlier than after spring sowing, require less care, grow faster and survive the first winter more successfully.
Sowing thuja seeds
You can sow thuja directly into the ground in a specially designated bed, but it is better to sow the seeds in a box. It’s more convenient to work this way and easier to care for the seedlings: if necessary, the box can be moved to any place.
Fill the box with a mixture of turf or garden soil, peat and sand (1:2:0.5 parts). Level the soil well over the entire surface and compact the soil so that the side of the box rises 2-3 cm above it. After this, you need to mark the grooves at a distance of 5-6 centimeters.
To make it easier to bury the seeds, widen the grooves.
Distribute the thuja seeds evenly along the entire length of the groove.
Cover the crops with about 1 cm of soil mixture on top. Compact the surface with a plank. If the weather is dry, water a little, but be careful not to let the seeds float. Those seeds that do float should be sprinkled with a small amount of soil. In wet weather, no watering is required.
How to care for thuja crops
Place the box with sowing on the street, preferably under the canopy of trees: then the seedlings will not end up under straight lines in the spring sun rays– for coniferous plants, including thuja, this is dangerous. If there are animals on your site, then the crops must be covered with film or non-woven covering material. After the snow melts, make sure that the shelter does not touch the soil surface.
2-3 weeks after the soil warms up to +10...+15°C, the thuja gives its first shoots. Thuja seedlings do not look like adult plants: their needles are needle-shaped, and not scaly, like those of adult plants.
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A hedge requires homogeneous planting material, but when growing thuja from seeds, a splitting of forms occurs: seedlings from sowing are obtained with different outlines and crown densities. There is a solution to this problem. At the age of 2-3 years, thuja seedlings are already clearly visible future form crowns You can easily select the required amount of homogeneous planting material for hedges or other purposes. In addition, thuja tolerates cutting very well, and the required form hedges can be obtained even if the seedlings are slightly different. |
It may seem that instead of the thuja, another plant grew from the seeds - for example, spruce or juniper. But don’t be alarmed: after 2-3 months, the seedlings will have their first branches with real scaly needles.
Every two weeks, feed the plants with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer(nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). You can use fertilizers that include microelements (manganese, zinc, molybdenum, copper, boron). During the season, the seedlings grow up to 7-8 cm and remain overwintering in the box.
If the crops are not very thickened, and the box is deep enough (or you sowed directly into the ground), then the crops can be left in the same place for another year. But more developed thuja seedlings are obtained if you plant them in a shkolka (bed for growing) after the first wintering.
It is best to choose a place for the school in light partial shade. Apply 1 square meter to the soil. m: humus (1 bucket), nitroammophoska (40 g) and wood ash (250-300 g), dig well onto the bayonet of a shovel.
Thuja tolerates transplantation well at any age. It is planted in a school for growing according to a 30x30 cm pattern.
When planting, make sure that the root collar remains in the soil; deepening leads to damping off. As a result, the thuja turns yellow and usually dies.
After planting, water and mulch with peat. Feed once every 2-3 weeks in the same way as in the previous season, water in dry weather, loosen the soil after watering and remove weeds at the same time as loosening. In the third year of cultivation, when the thuja grown from seeds reaches a height of 50 centimeters, it can be planted in a permanent place.
We grow thuja from seeds at home
Seeds selected for sowing must undergo stratification.
To stratify thuja seeds, they are first sorted and then placed in a container filled with wet sand or sawdust. This capacity is closed Place on the bottom shelf of a regular household refrigerator and leave for 2 - 3 months. Naturally, from time to time you need to look there and check if everything is in order - if they are moldy, dry, etc.
Prepared seeds are sown already in February, using additional illumination of the seedlings with a fluorescent lamp. First, drainage is laid at the bottom of the container or pot, in a layer of 2 - 3 cm. This can be expanded clay, crushed coal, etc. Prepared food is poured on top soil mixture, making sure to leave 2 cm to the top of the pot. It is best to take a ready-made mixture intended for conifers. 2 - 3 mm is poured on top of the soil river sand, compacting it a little.
The finished soil mixture is watered for disinfection with a warm solution of dark pink potassium permanganate. When all the moisture is completely absorbed, sow the seeds in a checkerboard pattern, at a distance of a centimeter from one another. There is no need to cover the thuja seeds with soil; they just need to be lightly pressed onto the still moist soil, sprayed with water and covered with film or glass.
Seeds should germinate in a warm place, at a temperature not lower than 20C. As soon as the sprouts appear, the pot is placed in a cooler and well-lit place. The small pubescent roots of the seedlings must be carefully sprinkled with sand and moistened with a sprayer. Crops need to be ventilated and carefully inspected every day, removing diseased plants, if any.
After about a month to a month and a half, when the seedlings have already grown up, the film cover is removed, but they continue to regularly spray with water.
In the first year, seedlings do not need to be picked. Instead, soil is added to the pots.
In the second year, in April or May, the seedlings are planted in pots or cups. Feed with fertilizers. In the summer, it is recommended to take the cups outside, placing them in partial shade. They should be watered moderately, but not allowing them to dry out.
The plants should spend the second winter under cover - in a greenhouse or in the house.
In the third year, future seedlings are transplanted into larger containers or pots using the transfer method. In May they can be safely taken out onto the balcony or directly into the garden, and in the fall they can be planted in a permanent place.
Thuja is an unpretentious and frost-resistant plant. It is often used for landscaping garden plots or country houses. However, thujas are an expensive pleasure, so it’s easier to breed them yourself. Moreover, following simple recommendations, thuja can be grown even without being an experienced gardener.
This plant can be propagated in two ways:
- Using seeds;
- Using twigs or cuttings.
The first method, which involves seeds, is very painstaking and time-consuming. It will take from two to six years. In addition, it is generally accepted that thujas grown from cuttings are more hardy. If you have a decorative type of thuja, you should also not propagate it from seeds. It is best to choose propagation by branches.
Propagation of thuja by cuttings
For those who want to grow a similar plant, there is a very simple and affordable option– propagation of thuja by cuttings. Propagation of thuja in this way should occur in the fall. When preparing to propagate a plant, you have probably read many articles on the topic of how to propagate thuja from cuttings, and you know that the shoot must be healthy and strong. You should not choose branches that are too young or too old. Pay attention to those that grow in the middle of the tree. 
Such shoots are usually already sufficiently strong, but have not yet become woody for reproduction. Tear off several shoots 50 cm long. At the end of the shoot there should be some tree bark left.
Experienced gardeners who know how to grow thuja from cuttings gave this plant the name “heel”. The longer the “heel”, the better the shoot will be rooted. In order to tear off a branch with such a “heel”, they usually use a knife or simply tear off the branch with a sharp downward movement. We remove all unnecessary twigs and leaves. It is necessary to prepare a pot with peat and leaf soil in advance (in a ratio of 1 to 1). We deepen the cutting itself two centimeters into the ground at an angle of 60 degrees. The area around the planted cuttings should be sprinkled with sand and lightly pressed with your finger.
It is necessary to ensure that the remaining leaves do not touch the peat. We water it and make a greenhouse on top of the cutting from a film or a simple jar. The more transparent the can, the better. After this, you should put the pot with the shoot in a bright and warm place. Humidity should be no higher than 70% at an air temperature of 23 degrees, otherwise the cuttings may rot. It is better to spray the cutting itself with water rather than water it at the root. 
As soon as new shoots begin to appear on the cuttings, this means that it is completely rooted.
However, it is too early to plant such a thuja in the garden. Start opening the greenhouse more often and letting the thuja “breathe some air.” Increase ventilation time, reducing greenhouse time to a minimum. As soon as the thuja gets used to the coolness, you can safely plant it in the garden.
How to grow thuja from a twig?
When deciding how to breed thuja, you can find several alternative methods. On the Internet you can find a lot of information on the question, which sounds like this: “How to grow a thuja from a branch?” The “instructions” are based on the same steps as when transplanting using cuttings. However, as with everything, there are some nuances. If you are interested in how to grow thuja from a twig, then a cut of the branch itself must first be treated with a root formation stimulator. This will help the root system develop and take root in the new soil.
The tray with sand should be treated with a three percent solution of potassium permanganate. The branches themselves should be placed in the holes made in advance at an angle of 45 degrees. You can grow several branches at once in one tray. To do this, the distance between them should be from 3 to 5 cm.
When replanting using branches, make sure that direct sunlight does not fall on the tray with the shoots.
You can moisten using the same technology as when propagating by cuttings. Rooted branches will need to be planted in the spring, or you can keep them in greenhouse conditions until summer. This will make it more likely that your thuja will get used to new conditions faster and survive the first winter more calmly.
