Content
- 1 Is it possible to grow thuja from a branch
- 2 When can thuja be grown from a twig
- 3 How to plant thuja from a twig
- 4 Cutting and preparing thuja twigs
- 5 Preparation of containers and soil
- 6 How to root a thuja twig at home
- 7 Planting rooted twigs
- 8 How to plant thuja from a branch without roots
- 9 How to grow thuja from a twig at home
- 10 How to grow a tree from a thuja branch
- 11 Conclusion
Experienced gardeners know how to grow thuja from a twig. In order for a tiny shoot to turn into a beautiful coniferous tree, patience and simple agronomic requirements are required.
Is it possible to grow thuja from a branch
The easiest way is to buy the thuja seedling you like in the garden center, and plant it on your site. For those who want to save money on decorating landscape design with conifers, there are other ways, for example, to find an adult thuja of a suitable variety in the garden with friends and try to propagate it.
Reproduction using seeds is rarely used - it is a long and laborious process. It is more effective to root the twig, the seedling will completely repeat the shape of the crown and the color of the needles of the parent plant.
The advantage of vegetative propagation is the ability to obtain a large number of hedge seedlings. Other conifers are less rooted with twigs than thuja. To do this, you need to break off the shoot with the "heel".
There is only one drawback of self-growing thuja from a twig - it takes a lot of patience to get a new adult plant to decorate the garden.
When can thuja be grown from a twig
You can harvest twigs at any time of the year. They cannot be stored for a long time, it is advisable to immediately put them in water or plant them in the ground. In indoor conditions, it is possible to carry out rooting even in winter. If you maintain the required air temperature and humidity, your efforts will be crowned with success.
According to experienced gardeners, the best time to root thuja branches is late spring or June. At this time, the regrowth of roots occurs more amicably, the percentage of survival of seedlings increases.
When rooting shoots in spring and summer, roots form quickly. In autumn or winter, the process can take up to three months. Therefore, you should not rush and throw out the twig if it does not start growing for a long time.
How to plant thuja from a twig
To propagate thuja from twigs, they must be properly prepared. For this, 2-3 year old shoots are suitable, fully ripe, about 15-20 cm long. The harvested branches are prepared for planting, a suitable container and soil are selected. Rooting can be carried out in the garden by building a small greenhouse. When the branches take root, they are transplanted into the school.
Cutting and preparing thuja twigs
Having chosen a beautiful adult thuja, and armed with sharp scissors, you can start harvesting the future planting material.
You will need scissors if a broken branch has pulled a too long piece of bark behind it. It must be carefully cut off. It is advisable to immediately put the harvested shoots in a plastic bag so that they do not dry out.
Before rooting, thuja branches are prepared:
- Cut off all small needles at the bottom.
- Carefully round off the heel of the bark at the base using scissors.
- Shorten the needles at the top to reduce the evaporation area.
When planting thuja with twigs, not all seedlings take root, so it is better to prepare a few pieces.
Preparation of containers and soil
Any plastic container with holes in the bottom is suitable for rooting.One seedling is planted in small pots with a diameter of 8 cm, several pieces can be placed in a large tray at once.
To grow a thuja from a branch yourself, it is best to take good quality purchased land. When using garden soil, you need to add peat and sand to it in a 1: 1: 1 ratio. You can mix vermiculite into the soil, it gives good loosening. The soil mixture should be loose so that the resulting roots can easily spread in it.
How to root a thuja twig at home
If there is no experience in growing flower seedlings and caring for seedlings at home, the thuja can be rooted in water:
- A little water is poured into the jar so that the needles do not get wet.
- The water is changed several times a day. It should be clean, preferably boiled, then rotting of the shoots will not occur.
- No more than four branches are put together in one half-liter jar.
- When the roots appear, they are planted in containers with loose, fertile soil.
Having prepared the soil mixture and suitable containers, proceed to planting:
- The needles are cut from the bottom of the branches so that it does not come into contact with soil or water during rooting.
- The upper needles are also cut to half the length with scissors.
- A twig of thuja is stuck into the soil mixture to a depth of 4-5 cm.
- Moisten with a spray bottle, and cover with a plastic wrap, plastic bag, jar or cut-off plastic bottle.
- Placed in diffused sunlight.
In order for the plant to take root and take root, it needs to be provided with normal care:
- every day for 10 minutes the shelter (film, bag or jar) is removed to air the branches,
- moisten as needed, the humidity inside the greenhouse should be 100%;
- maintain the temperature in the room with seedlings above + 20 ° C;
- make sure that mold does not form, this often happens if it is too cold and damp.
You can plant thuja from a branch at home in winter, but it will take longer to root than in summer.
Planting rooted twigs
In the spring, rooted thuja twigs can be planted on a garden bed in a school for subsequent growing. And after a year, a young coniferous tree can be transplanted to a permanent place.
How to plant thuja from a branch without roots
You can propagate it with twigs right in the garden. Freshly cut shoots are planted in a bed with good soil, sticking into the prepared soil at an angle of 45 °. The branch is buried 4-5 cm, the stem is squeezed, compacting the soil around it, and covered with a film or jar on top. If many branches are rooted at once, they make a greenhouse - a small tunnel of wire arcs, covered with a film or spunbond.
Rooting is carried out in the shade, because under the cover of the film on a hot day, all the shoots will burn. For additional protection from the sun, a two-layer greenhouse cover is made - the film is also covered with spunbond on top.
How to grow thuja from a twig at home
At home, it is convenient to grow thuja from a branch in a plastic bottle with a cut off top. In the lower part, holes are made for draining water, soil is poured, compacted a little, a depression is made in the center, and a shoot is planted.
The seedling is watered, sprinkled with dry earth so that there is no excess evaporation, and covered with the top of a plastic bottle with a cork. High humidity must be maintained inside for the twig to take root.
Without watering, such a shoot in a bottle can last a month. The optimum air temperature for rooting is + 22 ... + 25 ° C. The seedling is placed in a place with diffused light, since a lot of condensation will form in direct sunlight, and the trunk may rot.
How to grow a tree from a thuja branch
A two-year-old thuja seedling is transplanted to a permanent place, choosing a suitable site for it in the garden, without stagnant water. If the groundwater is high, it is planted on an embankment. The place for planting thuja should not also be arid, because its root system is superficial, and with a lack of moisture it quickly dries up, you will have to do frequent watering.
Thuja is a sun-loving culture, so an open area of the garden is chosen for it, where direct sunlight will be at least 6 hours a day. If you plant a tree in a shaded place, it will lose its decorative properties - the crown will become loose, the branches will elongate, the shape will fall apart, the decorative coloring of the needles will disappear.
The planting hole is dug twice as wide and deeper than the size of the root system of the seedling. In order for the plant to develop as best as possible in the first two years after planting in a permanent place, a large hole is made. It is filled with a fertile and loose earthy mixture of the following composition:
- 2 hours of fertile land;
- 1 tsp sand;
- 1 tsp peat.
Such land is quite fertile, light and loose, it will pass moisture and air well.
Watering is especially important during the first month. Once a week, at least one bucket of water is poured under the seedling. During dry periods, the amount of moisture can be doubled by watering twice a week or pouring two buckets under one tree at a time.
The trunk circle must be mulched. Peat, compost, wood chips, pine needles are used as mulch. The mulch will cover the root system of the thuja, it will not allow weeds to grow, and the moisture will not quickly evaporate. The mulch layer should be thick, at least 8-10 cm, this is the only way to provide good conditions for rooting and growth of a young plant.
For the first five years, until the thuja seedling has matured, it is provided with special care. The tree is periodically checked and inspected. This allows you to identify diseases, pests or care errors in time, and help the plant. Young thuja prepare for winter:
- multi-barreled specimens are tied with twine so that the branches do not break under the snow;
- the needles are covered from the winter sunlight, which leaves burns on the plant;
- corrugated cardboard, white coarse calico, burlap are used for protection from the sun.
To maintain decorativeness, some varieties require regular haircuts. This is done in dry weather twice a year - at the beginning and at the end of summer, using a sharp and clean pruner.
Additional information on how to grow thuja seedlings from cut branches is shown in the video.
Conclusion
It is free and easy to grow a thuja from a twig. Root them in water and soil, at home, and in the garden. At the age of two, the thuja is transplanted to a permanent place, and is carefully looked after. Thanks to this method, a large number of thuja seedlings are grown.
