Horticulture knows dozens of various ornamental plants that are used for landscaping and decorating personal plots. Among them, thuja occupies a special place, due to its unpretentiousness, high drought and frost resistance, as well as the ability to withstand any smoke. The article describes in detail all the subtleties of planting a thuja from a pot, and also describes how to properly grow a plant.
Pot Transplant Benefits
Species grown in pots, it is customary to combine the common name - "plants of the closed root system." They can be all plant organisms germinated in special containers and other containers, and then transplanted into new pots or the natural environment. This principle of growing agricultural and ornamental plants has been known for more than one decade and is considered more preferable than cultivation in the traditional way.
This is explained, first of all, by the following set of advantages:
- transplantation into open ground can be carried out at any time during the vegetative period (in autumn, spring and even in summer);
- subject to the necessary conditions, the survival rate of plants from the pot is more than 90%;
- the species grown in the pot during transplantation is minimally exposed to the negative effects of the environment;
- planting out of the pot does not damage the root system;
- a plant from an artificial capacity is not characterized by infection by infection during survival in the ground.
Important! The transplant thuja from the pot has its drawbacks. First of all, this is the high cost of seedlings: growing in closed containers is a rather time-consuming process that requires at least several years.
Best time to transplant
It is believed that during the landing of a thuja from a pot, the timing of the procedure can be neglected. In this case, it is enough to transplant the plant on a moderately sunny day, with an average daily air temperature of at least + 5 ° C. This makes it possible to perform the procedure both in autumn and spring. You can plant this plant in the summer, however, in order to get an aesthetic and healthy tree, you need to do this before or after the summer drought. In this summer, it is better to plant thuja in early August, otherwise it may dry out.
Training
To get a healthy and full-fledged plant that can please the eye on the site for more than one year, you will definitely need to thoroughly prepare. To do this, you need to determine the best place for planting a seedling, as well as properly fertilize and process the soil. Otherwise, the probability of rooting of the arborvitae will be significantly reduced, especially if the procedure is carried out in the summer or in areas with poor soil.
Choosing a place to land
Despite the fact that the thuja in the natural environment is an inhabitant of America and East Asia, it is not difficult to choose the best place for transplanting for it. For this, open and well-lit areas are suitable. However, constant exposure to the sun leads to drying out of the tree, and constant drafts reduce growth activity and immunity.
To avoid this, the thuja should periodically shade throughout the day: To do this, they plant it near garden buildings or tall vegetation. The species is unpretentious to the soil, however, a fertile sandy loamy or loamy substrate with moderate moisture capacity is best suited for cultivation.
Soil preparation
Preparation of the substrate begins on the day of planting the tree. To do this, the site is cleaned of weeds, residues of vegetation and other pollutants. After you need to prepare a nutrient mixture, which will be used to fill the landing hole. To do this, you should mix garden soil, peat, humus and sand in equal parts so that all components are evenly mixed together.
Step-by-step transplant instructions
To plant the thaw grown in the pot correctly, it is enough to observe all the conditions of the traditional method of planting tree-like plants.
The procedure includes the following steps:
- Dig a hole for the plant, it should be about 20-30 cm larger than the diameter and height of the pot.
- Prepare a pit for transplantation, put a layer of 5-10 cm of fine gravel, gravel or expanded clay (for drainage) on the bottom, and on top of another 10-20 cm of a nutrient substrate made from sand, garden soil, peat and humus (1: 1: 1 :1).
- Remove the thaw from the pot, you need to do this carefully so as not to damage its root system. If the plant is difficult to separate from the pot, the soil should be slightly tucked up with any flat and wide object or strongly pressed on the walls of the tank several times.
- Place the tree along with the basal soil in the pit, and then tightly fill all the cracks with previously prepared soil.
- Create a trunk circle around the thuja with a diameter of about 50 cm, and then water the soil well with clean water at room temperature.
Important! The plant outside the pot should be no more than 20-30 minutes, otherwise the root system will begin to dry out, which will negatively affect rooting.
Follow-up care
Agrotechnics for the care of transplanted thuja is quite simple and consists in the implementation of standard agronomic procedures. This decorative look requires, first of all, regular watering and saturation of the soil with oxygen. Without this, the tree will not be able to form a magnificent crown, and its growth will be significantly slowed down.
Watering
The first month planted stalk watered 1-3 times a week. The rooted plant is moistened as the soil dries, in autumn and spring it is enough to carry out the procedure 2-3 times a month. During periods of summer drought, the rate of moistening is increased by at least 2 times. Depending on the size of the plant, 10 to 50 liters of water per procedure are used for irrigation. When the temperature drops to + 5 ° C, irrigation is stopped.
Important for thuja is sprinkling: periodically, the crown of the tree must be irrigated with slightly warm water. This allows you to wash dust and other contaminants from the surface of the needle foliage, as well as increase the intensity of opening of the mouths of leaves. Sprinkling is done no more often than 1-2 times a month, only during active vegetation.
Loosening and mulching
Loosening of the soil is carried out the day after watering a tree or intense rain. To do this, it is enough to weave the near-stem circle to a depth of about 10 cm. Deeper loosening is detrimental to thuja, especially for young forms, as it often leads to damage to the root system.
To grow a healthy thaw, it is recommended to mulch the tree after rooting, and then periodically update the mulch layer throughout the growing season.
This agrotechnical method is widely used and makes it possible to preserve moisture in the soil, as well as to achieve a special microclimate that promotes the active growth of shoots. To perform this procedure, the tree trunk should be densely covered with sawdust, needles, chopped straw or hay, husk of seeds, etc. In this case, the covered layer should be at least 10-15 cm thick.
Winter preparations
The preparation of the thuja for wintering is quite simple: they perform the procedure around the end of November, after the first significant cold snap. First, the plant needs to be covered, since the procedure is mandatory especially in the first few years after planting a seedling. To do this, use any specialized porous material (spanbond, lutrasil, agroterm, etc.), it can be replaced with a dense burlap. The entire aerial part is completely covered with an insulating cloth, after which it is loosely fixed with twine or twine.
After you need to warm the root system, do this by mulching the trunk circle. To achieve the desired effect, the covering layer should be at least 20 cm. For winter mulching, the same materials are used that are used in the summer.
Thuja is a truly unique plant that can grow and develop in almost any environment. Her bright and elegant crown will decorate almost any site and landscape for many years. However, for this it is necessary to plant the plant correctly and surround it with daily care, only in this case you can get a healthy plant, with full immunity against infections.