Content
The presence of evergreen coniferous trees in a house or apartment not only has a positive effect on air quality, but also creates a special warm and cozy atmosphere in the home. There are a large number of ornamental coniferous plants that are small in size and suitable for home growing. Fir in a pot is an ideal plant that can decorate any room. Caring for such fir at home is quite simple and can be done even by those who do not have extensive experience in growing ornamental plants.
Is it possible to grow fir in an apartment?
There are no particular difficulties when growing fir at home, since these trees take root well in almost any natural environment.
There is no need to worry that the fir in the house will be too hot.Having a southern or even subtropical origin (fir is native to the Caucasus and Central America), plants generally have good tolerance to a wide range of temperatures (from - 30 ° C to + 35 ° C). They are able to go without water for quite a long time, and they can tolerate drought much easier than excessive waterlogging.
Fir varieties in a pot
Currently, there are several dozen varieties of decorative fir, suitable for home cultivation. At the same time, there are also ordinary varieties that, at home, change their usual life cycle; their growth slows down significantly. So for trees in open ground, the average growth rate is 30-50 cm per year, in indoor conditions they drop to 4-6 cm per year.
Photos of various types of indoor fir are presented below:
Currently, the most popular varieties for growing in apartment conditions are the following breeds:
Nordmann fir
Its dwarf variety, Golden Spreader, reaches a height of no more than 1 m in 10 years. Moreover, its crown is very thick and dense. The diameter of the crown at this age is also about 1 m. The needles have a shiny golden-green color on top and matte white below.
Fraser fir
It has a conical dense crown. The shoots extend upward from the trunk at a slight angle. In natural conditions, the height of trees reaches 15-20 m, in domestic conditions - about 10 times less.
upright fir
It is a variety of Nordmann fir, which has a longer trunk and a more graceful crown. At home, it reaches 1.5-2 m. Growing such a fir in a pot is quite problematic, since you will have to literally fight its growth.
golden fir
Sometimes it is called Korean, although this is not entirely true. In general, the term “golden” can mean several species of this plant, both having a constant golden hue and changing the color of the needles during the changing seasons. In an apartment, such a change in the color of needles can rarely be noticed, since the conditions under which the plant is kept, as a rule, do not change.
The original golden fir has a permanent green-yellow or gold color. It belongs to the dwarf breeds, the height of which rarely exceeds 1 m.
Gray fir
Another name for the plant is decorative single-color fir. Usually its height does not exceed 1.25 m. The tree has an asymmetrical crown. The needles are thin, relatively long and dense. Often, due to its external similarity, this plant is confused with decorative spruce.
Optimal conditions for growing fir in an apartment
First of all, it should be remembered that the growth of fir at home in a pot is to some extent not entirely natural for this plant, so for a long and lasting life it will require compliance with certain conditions.
First of all, this concerns the composition of the soil for the plant. Unlike pines and spruces, which can grow on almost any soil (and they prefer acidic soils), fir and thuja are calciphiles. That is, for them the norm is slightly alkaline, or, in extreme cases, neutral soil. And if the first years of life the plant can grow in soils in which peat predominates (rich in nutrients, however, a very “acidic” component), then in the future its amount should be reduced.
The soil itself should be moderately moist, without stagnant water. Excessive moisture can very quickly lead to rotting of the roots and death of the tree.
Room temperature, as well as air humidity, can, in principle, be anything. Excessive constant air humidification is undesirable for the plant. The optimal temperature for indoor growing is from + 20 °C to + 25 °C.
How to transplant a fir into a pot
It is advisable to immediately transplant the purchased tree into a new container. But this does not apply to plants purchased in winter. They require an acclimatization period of about 1 month.
Choosing a flowerpot
It is advisable to choose the volume of a pot for fir within 5-10 liters. A smaller volume will not be enough for the plant; a larger plant will direct most of its energy to the growth of the root system, which, naturally, will affect not only its growth, but also its attractiveness.
On the other hand, larger pots contain more nutrients and the plant will recover its appearance after some time. In addition, a larger amount of soil can retain moisture for a long time.
At ¼ of the height of the flowerpot it is necessary to lay drainage made of expanded clay or small pebbles. A tray with a height of about 7-10 cm will also be required.
Every 2-3 years it is necessary to replant the plant. They do this in mid-autumn. In this case, the diameter of the pot should be increased by 2 cm. The plant is transplanted together with a lump of earth. The old soil is not washed out or cleaned, so as not to injure the root system.15-20 days after transplanting, fertilizers are applied under the tree.
Soil preparation
Slightly alkaline soil can be obtained in various ways. It is best to take loam or leaf soil as a basis. The use of peat-containing substrates is allowed, but their quantity in the total volume should be small. An approximate soil composition could be:
- humus - 2 parts;
- turf soil - 2 parts;
- river sand – 2 parts;
- peat – 1 part.
It is advisable to sprinkle the soil in the pot with a 1 cm thick layer of river sand or mulch made from sawdust or pine needles.
Planting fir in a pot
There are two ways to plant home decorative fir in a pot: by cuttings or using seeds. The seed method is more preferable, since cultivation by vegetative propagation takes too long - from several months to a year, and the rooting result for some plant varieties may be questionable.
The seed planting method is divided into several stages:
- It is necessary to collect seeds from fully ripened cones.
- Before planting, the seeds are stratified - they are kept in the refrigerator at temperatures of + 2-5 ° C for about a month.
- Immediately before planting in a pot, the seeds are soaked in water at a temperature of + 20-25 ° C.
- Seeds are planted in the spring (best in April). Planting seeds in the ground should not be done too deep; 1-2 cm is enough.
- Immediately after planting and watering the seeds, cover the pot with film and place it in a warm and shaded place. When shoots appear, the film is removed and the pot itself is exposed to sunlight.
- If the seed was planted in a special “seedling box”, it should be picked, that is, transplanted to a permanent place in a pot. This can only be done when the height of the young plants reaches 8-10 cm.
If the choice is made in favor of growing using cuttings, the algorithm for planting decorative fir in a pot will be as follows:
- The preparation of the material begins with the selection of lignified shoots on an adult plant. They must be without flaws, various injuries, traces of rot and other damage on the shoots must be absent.
- Cuttings are cut from selected shoots; their length should be no more than 12 cm.
- The lower part of the cutting is cleared of needles and moistened in a solution of a root growth stimulator.
- The cutting is placed in a mixture of peat and sand (in a ratio of 1 to 1), and then covered with film. Remove the film only after rooting.
Over time, you will have to change the composition of the soil, since peat is an acidic environment, and fir prefers slightly alkaline soils. This is a rather complicated procedure, as it involves the risk of damage to the root system. Therefore, planting is carried out in a separate small container, which is only necessary for rooting the cuttings.
Subsequently, the entire plant with a lump of earth is transplanted to a permanent place in soil of the appropriate composition. This is also one of the reasons why seed growing of fir is more preferable.
How to care for fir at home
Caring for indoor fir at home involves the usual activities of watering, fertilizing and pruning the plant.Moreover, the latter is used quite rarely for most ornamental varieties, since the plant has a low growth rate and, as a rule, its crown, formed naturally, does not need special treatment.
How to water a fir in a pot
Watering the plant is carried out according to the usual scheme for ornamental plants. The soil is watered with warm water (2-3 °C above room temperature) until it is moderately moist. Typically watering is done once a week. A 5-10 liter pot will require no more than 0.5-1 liter of water per watering.
Watering is done at the root. It is better not to use a watering tray; Moreover, all water from the pan should be removed 30 minutes after the end of watering. In winter, the frequency of watering does not change, but the amount of water decreases by 1.5-2 times.
An alternative to watering would be to spray the plant every 3-4 days with water from a spray bottle.
How to feed
Since the plant has a small volume of soil, caring for indoor fir involves fertilizing. Feeding is done several times a season. Typically, a plant needs 3-4 feedings with a complex preparation for ornamental conifers (for example, Kemira universal).
Trimming
In most cases, caring for fir at home does not involve intensive pruning of the plant. Most decorative varieties were selected on the basis of independent crown formation.
However, sanitary pruning, as well as pruning of excessively fast-growing shoots, must be present (and in some varieties, for example, Nordman or Upright, it is mandatory). The optimal time for pruning is mid-spring.
Rules for caring for fir in a pot in winter
Typically, the conditions for keeping fir in winter are not much different from those in summer. You just shouldn’t place a pot with a tree near heating appliances or in places of high humidity (for example, in the kitchen). In addition, in winter the plant should be watered with less intensity, and fertilizing should be abandoned altogether.
In some cases, it is possible to take the fir outside the premises in winter in order to bring the conditions of its maintenance closer to natural ones. This is done for different purposes. For example, to stimulate a change in the color of the needles or increase the number of cones next season.
The plant tolerates such procedures normally, however, the basic rules for their implementation should be followed to avoid its death.
It is necessary to understand that in a limited volume of a pot the soil freezes much faster than in natural conditions. We can say that if you expose a plant to frost for a long time, the soil will freeze completely, which will lead to the death of the plant. Therefore, such procedures should not last too long.
If you want to let the plant “enjoy” the frost, this should be done for short periods of time. In this case, for most of the winter, the fir can stand in some place in the house where the temperature will be quite low, but not below zero. This way, it will be possible to keep the fir in the pot until spring.
Diseases and pests of indoor fir
Fir has high resistance to most diseases and pests.The only serious problem in terms of disease is fungus caused by excessive soil moisture.
If the plant is attacked by a fungus, it should be treated with any fungicide. The best solution in this case would be treatment with a 1% solution of copper sulfate, followed by transplanting the plant into another soil. In the future, to avoid recurrence of such cases, watering the tree should be reduced.
Among the pests, the pine leaf roller and shoot moth should be noted. These pests will have to be treated with insecticides or acaricides (for example, Aktara, Caesar, Commander, etc.).
Conclusion
Decorative fir in a pot is one of the best solutions in modern floristry. It can fit perfectly into almost any interior. Caring for fir in a pot at home is simple and can be done with a minimum of time and material costs.
