Thuja is an evergreen coniferous plant that landscape designers love. They love to use slender pyramids of thuja to place around the perimeter of the site. After all, such a living fence will always look great and will not require special care. In addition, this tree will actively highlight in environment useful phytoncides.

Ordinary gardeners love thuja no less. They know very well that to plant this plant on your property, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive cuttings from nurseries; you can grow thuja at home yourself. This article will tell novice gardeners how to grow thuja.

Selection of planting material

Before you start growing thuja you need to choose the right planting material. It must be selected taking into account the following criteria:

Variety of thuja

There are 5 types of thuja growing in nature:

• Japanese.
• Korean.
• Folded.
• Eastern.
• Western.

The greatest demand among gardeners and landscape designers enjoys western thuja. The fact is that this species has a pyramidal crown with a diameter of up to 5 m. It fits very well into any landscape design of the site. In addition, this type of thuja tolerates cold well and is therefore ideal for growing in our climatic conditions.

To date, breeders have developed many varieties of this type of thuja. The most popular are the following:

For the first planting, it is best to use seedlings bought from a nursery. You won’t have to buy them in the future, since thuja can be propagated different ways, which will be discussed below.

Thuja can be grown both in the sun and in partial shade. But this plant should not be planted in the shade. The fact is that from a lack of sunny color its crown will thin out. In addition, when planting, you should remember that this plant does not like excess moisture. Therefore, if on the site groundwater located close to the surface, you will have to do full drainage.

Regarding the ground, then this plant survives well in any soil, but feels best in black soil. It is also not recommended to plant it on clay soils. There it may develop root rot.

If there is no black soil on the site, it is recommended to enrich the soil with humus, compost and peat before planting. The latter is necessary for better air permeability of the soil. On acidic soils, it is recommended to pre-apply lime or regular ash.

The process of planting a seedling is as follows:

When planting several seedlings, a distance of at least 5 meters must be maintained between them. If a hedge is formed from seedlings, then the distance should be 1 m.

Thuja: growing from seeds

Growing thuja from seeds at home- a very profitable occupation in all respects. Firstly, you can grow a large number of seedlings at a time. Secondly, you don’t have to pay for seedlings. Thirdly, all seedlings will be the same age and size. This option is great suitable for those, who plans to create a hedge on the site. Finally, we should not forget that a plant grown from seeds takes root better in a specific area.

Growing thuja this way also has a couple of disadvantages:

• Seedlings take a long time to grow. It can take 5 years from sowing to transferring the seedling into the ground.
• Despite the same appearance, seedlings can be very different from the parent trees. This is explained by the possible loss of varietal characteristics.

Procurement of seeds

If the gardener decides to propagate this plant by seeds, then he needs to properly prepare planting material. The collection of the latter should begin in early autumn. To do this, you need to choose ripe cones. You can recognize them by their brown color.

The collected cones are dried at home for several days until they are full disclosure. After this, the seeds are removed from them by lightly tapping. Ripe seeds will fall out easily. Only those seeds that are dark brown in color should be selected.

After collecting the seeds, you can begin to stratify them. To do this, they need to be wrapped in a rag and buried in moist soil. The top of the soil can be covered with fallen leaves or a piece of insulation can be placed. In this state, the seeds are left for the winter.

After wintering seed material is removed from the soil and poured into a previously prepared container with dry sand. The latter, along with the seeds, should be placed in the refrigerator for 2 months.

By the end of the above period, you need to prepare the soil for planting seeds. They take root best in a mixture of turf soil, peat and sand.

Sowing thuja seeds

It is best to plant seeds at home. For this, wooden boxes are prepared, on the bottom of which a layer of drainage 2 cm thick is poured. A nutrient mixture is poured onto the drainage. All this is compacted well. Then, furrows are made in the soil mixture into which the seeds are sown. The distance between them should not be less than 6 cm. After this, the seeds should be sprinkled on top with a mixture of peat and sand and watered with a spray bottle.

The box with the planted seed material must be covered with film and placed in a warm place until the first shoots appear. At the same time, you must not forget to moisten the soil every day with a spray bottle. It is better not to use direct watering, as this can lead to erosion of the soil mixture and exposure of the seeds.

After the first shoots appear the film is removed from the boxes. The boxes themselves should be moved to a cool place and provided with sufficient lighting. All that remains is to monitor the seedlings and get rid of dead plants in time.

Caring for seedlings at home

First of all, they should not be allowed to grow too much. If the seedlings are very dense, they develop poorly. If young plants still grow strongly, they are not pruned, but planted. When there is no thickening, then it is better not to replant the seedlings for the first year.

In the 2nd year of life In any case, grown seedlings will have to be transplanted into separate pots, which should then be transferred from home to outdoor conditions. This is necessary for better adaptation of plants to the climate. It is better to return the plants to the house for wintering.

In the autumn of the 3rd year of life seedlings are ready for planting permanent place.

In summer, pots with seedlings should be kept in partial shade at a temperature of 17 to 23°C. For the winter, plants should be placed in a room with temperature conditions from 15 to 18°C.

After planting the seedlings in open ground For the first 2 years of their free life, they will have to be securely covered for the winter.

Seedlings in the first years of life do not tolerate direct sunlight well. Therefore, it is necessary to protect them from such influence. Experts advise storing boxes and pots with seedlings on window sills facing west or north.

Seedlings should be fed regularly. As fertilizers, you need to use those mixtures that contain potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. It is also useful to add compounds with boron and manganese to the soil.

Feeding should be given 2 times a month.

Thuja: propagation by cuttings

You can grow thuja not only from seeds, but also from cuttings. The latter are prepared from upper parts axial shoots. This allows the daughter plant to preserve the branching characteristic of the parent. It is better not to use side branches for cuttings, as they will turn into creeping form thuja.

When preparing cuttings, you do not need to cut them. It is better to tear off the planting material from the main branch along with the bark. After this, using a sharp knife, you need to trim the ends of the cuttings.

The timing of growing thuja from cuttings depends on the maturity and health of the branches that were used to obtain the cuttings. The younger they are, the faster the cuttings take root.

For better survivability planting material V last years gardeners are increasingly using growing agents, e.g. organic acids. Their use allows increasing the survival rate of seedlings.

If a gardener plans to germinate cuttings in a greenhouse, then it is best to harvest them in April. In this case, at least 75% of all seedlings survive. When rooting cuttings at home, they should be planted in pots filled with quartz sand. It is sprinkled with a thin layer of peat on top.

Cuttings should be planted to a depth of no more than 3 cm. After planting, the pots should be kept in a room with an air temperature of no more than 8°C.

It takes a year for cuttings to fully root. That is, next spring they can already be placed in open ground. However, before this they must stand in a greenhouse for 3 weeks.

Fertilizers for growing thuja

In order for this plant to grow properly, it needs to be fertilized regularly. For this purpose, it is best to use the following types of fertilizers:

• Organic. It is used in cases where it is necessary to improve the overall agricultural background. TO organic fertilizers include: manure, peat, compost.
• Mineral fertilizers. We are talking, first of all, about mineral complexes containing potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. Without them, normal cultivation of thuja in the northwestern and northern regions of our country can hardly be called effective.
• Microfertilizers. They contain microelements such as manganese, molybdenum, zinc, cobalt, etc.

Conclusion

Growing thuja– this is not a simple, but very exciting process. Yes, in order to grow mature plant It will take more than one year, but real gardeners will not be afraid of any difficulties.

Coniferous tree, belonging 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 it also improves the health of the air.

Well, since there is nothing complicated in caring for thuja, it is very often bred at home. Many people think that growing thuja is quite difficult, but this is absolutely not the case.

Moreover, thuja propagation occurs in two ways:

• cuttings and twigs;
• seeds.

Therefore, it is best to try both methods and then understand for yourself which of them will be convenient for you to propagate thuja. At home, it is best to opt for seeds.

Necessary materials

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.

Therefore, it is best to be patient, because in a year a thuja can grow no more than 8 centimeters.

If such time frames do not scare you, then to grow thuja you will need the following materials:

• boxes for planting seeds;
• soil for coniferous plants;
• pebbles;
• river sand;
• potassium permanganate solution;
• the seeds themselves.

Expert advice: potassium permanganate solution is used to disinfect the soil. The solution is made dark pink and it is advisable to use it both for ordinary soil and for peat-based soil, because thuja is a plant very sensitive to various diseases.

Preparing seeds for planting

Growing thuja from a seed is not at all difficult, the main thing is to adhere to the basic rules.

For planting, only fresh seeds should be used.

They must be collected in the fall, from September to December, from the cones that appear on the thuja in the first fruitful year.

They are brown-orange or light brown in color, so they are easy to spot against the background of green needles.

To get the seeds out of the cone itself, there is no need to make any effort, just leave the cones in a warm place, spreading them on paper in one layer, overnight so that they dry and open, and by the morning the small seeds will spill out on their own.

Then the seeds must undergo cold aging - leave them in the refrigerator for 3-4 months. This simple procedure will weed out diseased seeds and destroy diseases and all bacteria.

After this, the seeds must be soaked in warm water or wet sand for 10–12 hours and you can start planting.

How to plant

There are two different ways to plant seeds.

The first method involves having personal plot, since the seeds will be planted directly into the soil and not into tubs.

If this option suits you, then you need to wait for the snow and then spread the seeds on the ground, digging shallow holes for them at a distance of at least 10 centimeters from each other and covering them with pine needles and snow on top.

At proper care The first shoots will sprout within a few months, but it will be possible to transplant the thuja to a permanent place only in the spring.

With the second option, you will need boxes or pots, the bottom of which is laid with pebbles and covered with a thin layer river sand, and then the soil is filled in.

Seeds should be planted using a 4x4 pattern. This must be done carefully; the root collar must be flush with the soil, otherwise the seeds will most likely die.

Young plants need to be sprayed regularly and fertilized once a month. In addition, direct exposure to sunlight should be avoided.

Specialist's note: Sufficiently moist peat or clay soil is best suited for growing thuja. In addition to pebbles, you can also lay a drainage layer 2–3 centimeters high at the bottom of the tub, and water it when the top layer of soil dries out.

How to grow

You can plant seedlings in specially prepared soil a year after the seeds are planted.

During this time, the plant should become 7 centimeters tall. By this time, the thuja will already have formed a dense trunk and root system.

The new place for plants should be protected from direct sunlight and sharp gusts of wind, as otherwise the sensitive bark can dry out. Young thujas should be planted at a distance of at least three meters from each other.

If everything is done correctly and you care for the thuja properly, then over the next year it should grow by about 15 centimeters, and by the end of the third year it should reach a height of half a meter.

In the fifth year, a young thuja can be transplanted to a permanent place, where it will grow in all subsequent years, pleasing the eye.

Thuja: growing by sowing seeds. Master class, photo

The simplest and most convenient technology for propagating thuja is sowing seeds in the ground before winter. The seedlings emerge strong and develop well. You can get any number of seedlings in fairly short time. Here's how it's done:

Why is it convenient and easy to propagate thuja by seeds?

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 cm, it can be planted in a permanent place.

How to select thuja seedlings for a hedge

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, the future shape of the crown is already clearly visible in thuja seedlings. You can easily choose for yourself required amount uniform 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.

Illustrations for the material: LLC Publishing House Gastronom

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Thuja - evergreen, 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 coniferous plant: Japanese, folded, Western and Korean.

It differs in the color of its needles in two colors: green on top and green below white shade. 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 wet soil with clay in mixed forests. Crown Green colour bright colors in warm weather, and in winter it takes on a 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 unpretentious plant. It tolerates air pollution well carbon dioxide and harsh 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, you first 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:

1. Using a cutting;
2. From 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 tree 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 freshly 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 a frost-resistant evergreen tree, it is best to plant seeds in the ground in the winter. Planting takes place in open ground or wooden boxes, which is more compact and convenient. If the planting took place in boxes, then you need to replant it in open soil 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. With 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, but mature trees do not need frequent watering. 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 trim 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 for better air flow;
• Fertilize with minerals;
• Protect the tree from pets and other external irritants;
• If the barrel is damaged, use by special means for spraying.

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!

Beautiful, evergreen thuja - beautiful tree to create 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 an exit! 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 in late 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 turf or garden soil, two parts peat and a small amount of sand. 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.

Thuja from seeds - timely care

Young thujas require regular (once every two weeks) application of complex mineral fertilizers, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. 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. 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, the seedlings grow up to half a meter by the end of the third year; now they can be transplanted to a place intended for further cultivation.

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 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 become the decoration of everything.