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The Canadian Konica Spruce is not intended to be grown as a houseplant. Ephedra generally make such demands on the conditions of detention that are easy to provide on the street, but in the house it is almost impossible. There are a few exceptions, such as araucaria. You can take care of the Konik spruce in a pot carefully and regularly, but in the house it will die sooner or later anyway.
But it is quite possible to reach the plant purchased as a New Year’s tree before planting in the ground. True, only if the Konik spruce was originally viable.
How to choose Konika
Before the New Year, spruces are sold everywhere. Attractive potted trees with a peat substrate are even in supermarkets. When buying such a spruce, most people expect to plant it later on a personal plot, or leave it as a houseplant.
Why Konika often dies after the New Year
Most often, the tree dies shortly after the holiday, and the new owners are not to blame for this. Why?
Most Canadian Konik firs, which are 15-20 cm tall and sold in pots, come from abroad. During transportation, they are placed on pallets and wrapped with a film to preserve moisture. But the container may be delayed at the border or on the road, no one will water it, especially if the plants are on racks wrapped in cellophane.
As a result, glauca spruce in a pot will die – after all, the culture does not tolerate drying out of the substrate. But this will not become noticeable immediately – even dead conifers retain their inherent color for a long time. Then the Canadian spruce Konik will be unpacked and watered. Not everyone will be able to determine by eye that the plant is already dead.
In especially “neglected” cases, when Konika has already begun to dry, the trees are treated with sparkles, silver or gold. No one will paint a living plant – from this it will surely die.
In addition, in ordinary supermarkets, the premises are not provided for keeping plants, there are no specially trained people who will take care of the conifers. Even if there is a competent amateur there, he simply will not have time for this. And no one will hire an individual or release an employee from the main duties.
Of course, you can go to the garden center for Konika, but even there, by the New Year, they are trying to sell all the illiquid assets. And is it worth it to torture a good plant in order to enjoy its presence in the house for several days, and then earn yourself a headache until spring?
How to choose a viable Koniku spruce
It is impossible to guarantee that Konika purchased as a New Year’s tree will survive to land in the ground. How can one be sure that the plant was not overdried on the eve of purchase, and then put in order. However, the choice of spruce must be taken seriously.
The spruce will definitely not survive until spring:
- Painted. With a probability of 100%, any plant will die if all the pores are blocked. Yes, no one will paint a living spruce – this is how dry needles are masked.
- Dry. Even a single drying of the substrate can cause the death of Konika.
- With signs of damage by diseases or pests. It’s already difficult to fight them on Konik’s ate, and even more so at home.
- When at least part of the needles withered.
- If some branches of the Konik spruce are cut off, this is a clear sign that the tree was put in order after being hit by drought or overflow.
This does not mean that such a conifer cannot be bought. Of course, you can, but after the holiday it will have to be thrown away or turned into a dust collector.
When choosing a Konik spruce, you should pay attention to the following points:
- Needles and branches. They should be elastic, not break when bent, without signs of drying and injury. If at least the tips of the needles have changed color, you can’t buy spruce.
- Smell. First you should smell Konika – the distinct aroma of pine needles only means that the seller wants to hide something and used a fragrance. An undamaged spruce in a pot does not smell of anything. Then you need to gently rub the needle and smell your fingers. The aroma of blackcurrant will show that the pot is indeed Canadian spruce, and at least its needles are alive.
- Earth com. It will have to be considered carefully, and it is better to ask the seller for permission. If they refuse, it’s better not to take Konika. The “correct” spruce is easily removed from the container along with the substrate braided with roots. It should smell like fresh earth, and nothing else. Foreign odors, signs of decay, and many dried roots signal that Konika is best left in the store.
- Naturally, spruce should be skirts, not to have signs of diseases and pests.
Features of growing spruce Glauconica in a pot
Spruce Konik is absolutely not suitable for growing in an apartment, but it can live there for several months. In winter, this requires low temperatures, high humidity and plenty of sun.
Potted Canadian Spruce suffers from heat and dry air, especially near radiators or other heating appliances. For normal life, a tree needs a dormant period with negative temperatures, so it will not survive more than one winter in a room.
Uncomfortably homemade spruce Konik in a pot on the windowsill feels in the summer. Of course, you can take it out into the garden during the warm season, and put it in an unheated room in winter, where it can be illuminated with a phytolamp. But we are talking about a houseplant, not a container plant. It should decorate a living space, not a barn.
It only makes sense to do this in winter. Even if Konika got to the site in a hot summer, and it’s impossible to immediately plant it in the ground, it’s better to dig the pot under a sprawling bush or tree with a dense crown. There, the spruce will feel much better than indoors.
Optimal conditions for growing glauka spruce at home
It is impossible to create optimal conditions for spruce prickly glauca at home. This tree must grow outside. Even with perfect care for the Glauconika spruce in a pot, the ephedra will die, but not quickly, but slowly.
However, what optimal conditions can we talk about if the culture needs negative temperatures in winter?
How to Care for a Potted Canadian Spruce
Glauka spruce care at home is rather inconvenient than difficult. It is impossible to provide ideal conditions for Konike there, and it is difficult to provide acceptable conditions.
Transplant rules
Canadian spruce does not like transplants, but at a young age it tolerates them better than an adult tree. But if you disturb the roots of Konika, it will take a long time to recover. And is it necessary to injure the plant if it is transplanted into the ground anyway in the spring?
To answer this question, you should carefully examine the earthen room. After the spruce was brought home, the pot is placed in a place protected from the sun for several days separately from other plants for adaptation. At this time, it is moderately watered so as to only moisten the substrate.
Then they prepare the workplace, for example, cover the table with old newspapers. They take Konika out of the pot so as not to disturb the earthen clod. Carefully examine it, sniff it. If the smell is fresh, the roots are well wrapped around the substrate, but the pot is not completely filled, Canadian spruce is simply returned to the pot.
If signs of root rot are found that were not noticed when buying, Konik needs to be saved. It’s unlikely to work, but it’s worth a try:
- The root is freed from the substrate, washed under running water, all rotten shoots are cut off.
- Soak for 30 minutes in a solution of foundationol, powder the sections with crushed activated carbon.
- Prepare a larger container with drainage holes and special soil for conifers. It is recommended to add charcoal to it, you can break it into 2-4 parts of an activated tablet for these purposes.
- They plant Konika at the same depth, after filling ¼ of the volume of the pot with expanded clay. In this case, the substrate is compacted, gently kneading with your fingers.
- Watered with a solution of root or heteroauxin.
If everything is in order with the root, but it has filled the entire volume of the container, transshipment is done. It practically does not injure the Canadian spruce, and will allow it to reach the spring – in a pot, almost devoid of substrate, Konik is easy to overflow or dry out.
To do this, take a larger container, pour drainage on the bottom, and a thin layer of substrate for conifers on top. Canadian spruce is taken out of the old pot so as not to destroy the earthen clod, installed in a new container, and the voids are filled with soil, gently compacting it.
The planting depth of Konika should be the same as in the previous container.
Temperature and lighting
In order for Konika to feel good in winter, she needs a negative temperature. When caring for Canadian spruce at home, this cannot be ensured. It should be placed at least in the coolest possible place.
Konika can be placed on a bright balcony, loggia or, if possible, between window frames. But the branches should not touch the glass – it quickly heats up and cools down, and the temperature difference will negatively affect the tree, which is already experiencing discomfort.
Canadian spruce needs to be provided with sufficient lighting. Any window will do, but south Konik should be shaded on a sunny afternoon. If necessary, the tree is illuminated for at least 6 hours a day, and it is better to use a phytolamp.
Watering mode
It is impossible to allow the earthen clod of Konika grown in the room to dry out, otherwise she will die. Overflows are also undesirable – the root can rot. Between moistening, the top layer of the substrate should dry out a little.
To check the need for watering, the index finger is immersed in the soil away from the root. It should dry on top, but no more than to the depth of the first phalanx.
The pot must be placed on a pallet where excess water will drain. It is drained 15 minutes after watering Koniki so that the liquid does not stagnate.
Air humidity
Canadian spruce should be sprayed with a household spray bottle several times a day. Overdrying the needles can lead to the death of Konika. It is useful to place pebbles or sphagnum moss in the pan, and moisten them periodically.
To facilitate care, Canadian spruce is placed in a large pot, and the space between its walls and the pot is filled with wet sphagnum or sour peat. Their fibrous structure retains moisture well.
Feeding domestic spruce Konik
In winter, Canadian spruce is not fed. Untimely application of fertilizer can cause Konika to leave the dormant period prematurely. At best, this will cause the tree to weaken, and it will take root worse after transplantation, at worst, it will die.
Protection against diseases and pests
If a healthy Canadian spruce is brought into the house, and the rest of the plants are not affected by diseases or pests, there should be no problems. Otherwise, it will be difficult to correct the situation – Konika is already suffering indoors, she does not need extra stress.
At home, Canadian spruce is treated with Aktelik from pests, and a fungicide that does not contain metal oxides for diseases. Konika is taken out to a non-residential premises, sprayed, put in a large bag together with a pot, tied up, and removed after 30-40 minutes. Canadian spruce is returned to the house, and quarantined, reducing lighting, for at least a week.
Tips from experienced gardeners
You can’t put Konika next to heating appliances, but what if there is a battery under each window? You can at least protect the Canadian spruce a little by putting foil on the radiator.
At night, the glass is very cool, and at noon it heats up. If you place a newspaper between him and Konika, this will help protect the plant from temperature changes.
To increase humidity, you can place saucers of water next to the Canadian spruce.
Spraying every 10-14 days with epin will have a beneficial effect not only on Konika, but will be useful to all houseplants.
Conclusion
Caring for a Konik spruce in a pot is a thankless task. Even if you do not make a single mistake, the tree can still die, it is simply not intended for growing in the house.