Growing fir in a pot will give you pleasure and delight with the result

Growing fir in a pot is very fashionable today. An evergreen coniferous tree with a pleasant aroma can be kept in an apartment or a country house and used instead of a Christmas tree. At home, it does not grow as fast as on the street. Fir in a pot grows annually by about 5 cm. It looks great both in the living room and in the office.

For home content, you need to choose dwarf specimens. It is better if these are frost-resistant varieties, then the tree can be kept on the balcony. But it should not be completely open, because the earthen lump and roots in the container freeze faster than in open ground. This must not be forgotten.

Seed propagation

An evergreen tree is not difficult to grow from seed. This process is not very difficult.

For this grain:

1. Harvested from fully ripe buds. But before planting fir seeds, they must be kept in the refrigerator for about a month (stratification is carried out).
2. Before planting, the seeds are soaked for 20-24 hours in water at room temperature.
3. They are sown in autumn or spring, but it is preferable to plant in April. There is no need to deeply bury the grains.
4. The soil with the seed is kept in a moist state in a greenhouse (under a film, a jar).
5. When shoots with the first leaves appear, the film is removed.
6. Sprouts 8-10 cm high are transplanted each into a separate container, diving.

Even if it is planned to plant specimens on the site in the future, it is better to keep them in pots for the first 3 years.

Propagation by cuttings

Before growing a fir from a twig, you should know that during vegetative propagation, cuttings take root for a very long time - from several months to a year.

The whole process consists of several stages:

1. First, woody adult shoots are selected.
2. Cut the cuttings 10-12 cm long.
3. The lower part is cleaned from the needles, dipped in a stimulant solution.
4. The seedlings are placed in a well-moistened mixture of peat and sand and covered with a film, which is removed only after rooting.

While the fir in the pot is very small, it is grown in the room. But since a tree is a real long-liver, capable of growing for more than one hundred years, you will have to buy a tub and a decorative stand with wheels for it over time. This makes it easier to move an adult plant.

Transplanting a purchased seedling

If a fir seedling was purchased in the winter months, then you should not rush to transplant it. It is necessary to hold it a little in the same conditions in which it grew earlier. If the store or nursery was cool, then the seedling should be placed on the balcony for several days. Then, in the native container, move it to the place where you plan to keep it permanently. And only then should the transplant begin.

Many are interested in how much fir grows. In a pot, it will increase by about five centimeters annually. So sooner or later it will have to be transplanted into open ground. And there she can live for over a hundred years.

Fir does not like drafts, it is better to choose a cool darkened place for it, but it will grow on a brightly lit window. Before replanting the plant, it must be watered well so that the substrate becomes moist and well saturated with water.

Pot selection

Drainage in a fir pot is required.When the earthen coma is overwetted and the water stagnant, its roots rot very quickly. For growing fir in a pot, it should be borne in mind that the new container should be 5-10 liters larger than the "native" one. Together with the earthy clod, the seedling is simply transferred into a new container and the required amount of soil is added.

A large pot has several advantages:

• the tree in it is more stable;
• the soil remains moist for a long time;
• there is no need to repot the plant often, it is enough to change the pot every 3 years.

The most favorable period for replanting fir is September or October.

Fir soil

Not all soil is suitable for indoor fir. To grow a tree in a tub, you will need a nutritious, but neutral, in extreme cases, slightly alkaline soil. In the wild, this coniferous tree prefers to grow in loamy areas. The soil should be light. It can be purchased ready-made (for conifers) or prepared from a mixture of leafy earth, river sand, clay with the addition peat.

It is important to ensure that the root collar does not go deep during planting. It should be flush with the ground.

Growing fir in a pot: watering and fertilizing

After transplanting the plant, the soil must be well moistened. You can simply put the pot in a bowl of water for 1-2 hours, and then let it drain through the holes at the bottom. Fir is watered as the soil dries up so that water does not accumulate in the pan, otherwise its roots will begin to rot. But it is also impossible to dry out the earthen lump: the tree will grow slowly, the color of the needles will be pale. Water must be poured at the very base of the fir trunk.

It is beneficial to spray the tree a couple of times a week. It is washed periodically under the shower to remove dust. To prevent moisture from evaporating so quickly, the surface of the earth can be sprinkled with a small layer of sawdust, mulch from needles.

After about 2 weeks after replanting, the plant must be fertilized. Especially for coniferous crops, fertilizing is produced in the form of granules. Young plants are rarely fertilized: until the age of two, the fir can not be fed at all, but then it will slowly increase in growth and will be more susceptible to diseases.

Pruning and shaping the crown

When growing fir in a pot, many breeders prune the plant in the spring so that its crown is neat, regular in shape. Although not necessary. The tree already has beautiful contours. The main thing is that all dried branches should be removed in a timely manner. In autumn, to make the plant more lush, it is enough to pinch the central buds on the shoots.

Diseases and pests

The fragrant evergreen tree is quite resistant to infections or insects, but it can also get sick, as evidenced, first of all, by a change in the color of the needles, its yellowing.

Due to overflow, it is affected by a fungus. To save the fir, you should treat it with a solution. copper sulfate concentration of 1%, transplant into new soil and adjust irrigation. Bordeaux liquid is also suitable for processing against rot at the rate of 200 g per 10 liters of water.

From insects on an evergreen plant settle:

• mole;
• aphid (fir hermes);
• pineal leaf rollers.

Aphids suck all the juices from the needles, which leads to a change in their color. The needles are covered with a yellowish or light green bloom. Adult insects are visible to the naked eye. With the larvae, everything is a little more complicated. An inexperienced grower may not notice them. In case of damage by any insects, the tree is treated with insecticides. For the purpose of prevention, spraying is carried out every spring. Solutions of Antio and Rogor preparations have proven themselves well: 20 g of any of them should be diluted in 10 liters of water.

Before starting a fir at home, you need to make sure that you are not allergic to its essential oils. If the body easily tolerates this coniferous smell, then an evergreen beauty should be settled in its house. Moreover, caring for a fir is not difficult.