El Konyka

Konika is one of the most famous and most beautiful varieties of Canadian spruce. Or rather, its natural mutation.

Canadian spruce, it also gray spruce (Picea glauca) native to North America. There it occupies a vast territory from Labrador to Alaska and grows in very harsh conditions, sometimes even on permafrost in spring. This is a very massive tree, 25 – 35 m high. And one of these spruces has a mutation – a dwarf tree has grown, which was discovered on the shores of Canadian Lake Ligan in 1904. Its height does not exceed 3 – 4 m – this is 10 times less than that of its relatives. And it reaches such a height only by the age of 60. The crown diameter is not more than 2 m (1). Gardeners liked the unusual plant and began to propagate it.

Konika grows very slowly – it adds only 3 – 6 cm per year. The peak of active growth is observed at the age of 6 – 7 years – at this time it annually increases by 10 cm. And from the age of 12 – 15 years, its growth slows down greatly and does not exceed 2 – 3 cm per season.

By the way, Konik spruce has its own mutations, which have become separate varieties.

Alberta Globe. The mutation was discovered in 1967 in Holland. This is a dwarf plant with a spherical crown. At the age of 10 years, it has a diameter of only 30 cm. In adult plants, the crown reaches a height of 90 cm, and a width of up to 120 cm. The needles are green.

Blue Wonder (Blue Wonder). This mutation was discovered in 1984 in Germany (2). It is distinguished from the original Konika by a more compact crown – by the age of 10 it is no higher than 70 cm, the height of adult trees is about 2 m, the crown diameter is 75 cm. But the main difference is the color of the needles: it has a bluish tint.

Daisy’s White. The mutation was found in Belgium in 1979. The crown of this variety is pyramidal, at the age of 10 it does not exceed 80 cm. The main advantage of this spruce is the color of young shoots: at first they are yellow, then turn white, and then turn green.

Dwarf (Gnom). Slow-growing mutation of Konik spruce – gives 3-5 cm of growth per year. The color of the needles is gray-green.

Laurin. Discovered in 1950 in Germany. Dwarf mutation, grows very slowly, gives an increase of only 1,5 – 2,5 cm per year. The crown is prostrate. The needles are green.

Planting a locust tree

The main problem of Konik spruce is that its crown burns badly in early spring. The reason is that this variety has very delicate needles and a superficial root system. At the end of February – March, the sun becomes active, heats the needles, and it begins to actively evaporate moisture. And the roots cannot get water, because they are in the frozen soil layer. As a result, the needles dry up. This problem occurs in many conifers, for example, in thuja and junipers, but only the first 2-3 years. And Konika can burn up to 4 – 5 years. And if not planted there, then longer.

That is why Konika cannot be planted in open areas – even shelter in the winter sometimes does not save her from burnout. The ideal place for her is under the crowns of large coniferous trees, for example, under pines. Or from the north side of the house, outbuildings or a high blank fence. It is pointless to plant it under deciduous trees – in winter they stand without leaves and let in enough sun to destroy the delicate Christmas tree.

Since Koniks are usually sold in containers, there is no need to dig a large hole for a seedling – it should be slightly larger than an earthen clod. It is possible to plant seedlings with a closed root system (ZKS) from mid-April to mid-October.

After planting, the seedling should be well watered – 1 – 2 buckets, depending on the size of the plant. And in the future, water at least 1 time per week in a bucket.

Caring for the Konik spruce

Since the variety Konika belongs to Canadian spruce, it has retained the main feature of the species – high frost resistance (up to -40 ° C) and can grow in all regions where our common spruce grows.

Ground

Spruce Konik prefers loamy moisture-intensive soils. If the soil is sandy, a larger planting hole should be dug and soddy soil, clay and humus should be added to it in a ratio of 1: 1: 1.

Lighting

We have already mentioned that Konik spruce does not tolerate direct sun, so choose shaded areas for it.

Watering

In nature, Canadian spruces grow on moist soils, often along the shores of lakes, near marshes, and Konica spruce inherited a love of moisture from its ancestors. It needs to be watered often – ideally once a week, a bucket of water per tree. And in extreme heat – 1 times a week. If this is not possible, the trunk circle should be mulched with pine or larch bark, or with coniferous sawdust with a layer of 2-7 cm – they reduce the evaporation of moisture from the soil.

In addition to watering, it is useful to pour a hose over the tree crown once a week.

fertilizers

On fertile soils when planting fertilizer can not be applied. For the poor, it is useful to add a bucket of humus to the planting pit.

Feeding

Konik spruce can grow without top dressing. But in order for the crown to be brighter and more magnificent, especially if it burns in the spring, in mid-April, special fertilizer for conifers can be applied under it. Or humus – half a bucket per tree.

Shelter in winter

In the first 5 years after planting, Konik spruce should be covered for the winter from burning out. It is often advised to wrap it in burlap, but this is a bad way – in early spring, when the sun begins to bake, the temperature rises sharply under the burlap, a greenhouse effect is created and the needles, just like in the sun, begin to actively evaporate moisture and dry. In addition, under the burlap, it also rots.

It is best to cover Konika with coniferous branches: pine or spruce. To do this, you need to put strong sticks like a hut around the tree and attach coniferous branches to them so that they cover the plant completely, to the very ground.

Reproduction of spruce Konik

In order to preserve the signs of the variety, Konik spruce should be propagated by cuttings. But this process is complicated, to be honest, it’s easier to buy a seedling. But if you have the desire and time, you can try.

It is better to take cuttings for rooting in early spring: at the end of March – the first half of April. They must be torn off together with the heel – a piece of the bark of the trunk. And preferably on a cloudy day. The ideal cutting length is 7-10 cm.

Harvested cuttings must be kept for a day in Heteroauxin, a root formation stimulator. After that, they are planted in light fertile soil at an angle of 30 °, deepening by 2 – 3 cm. Each cutting is in a separate pot.

Pots with cuttings should be placed in a greenhouse or covered with a jar or plastic pact. Once a day of planting you need to ventilate.

Konik spruce cuttings take root for a very long time – from 6 months to 1 year. All this time you need to water them in a timely manner – the soil should be moist all the time. Once every 2 weeks, heteroauxin should be added to the water for irrigation.

Rooted cuttings are planted in the garden in the spring – at the end of April. First, to school – a secluded place in the shade. There they must spend another year. And only then they can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Diseases of spruce Konik

Tracheomycosis (fusarium). The first sign of this disease is a red coating on the needles. Then it turns brown and begins to crumble. The disease is caused by a fungus that infects the root system of the tree.

Unfortunately, this pathology is incurable. At the same time, it is very dangerous – the disease quickly infects neighboring plants: spruce, pine, fir and larch. The only way to stop it is to dig up the tree with its roots and burn it. And treat the soil with Fundazol (3).

Rust (spruce spinner). It is caused by a pathogenic fungus. The disease can be recognized by small, 0,5 cm in diameter, orange swellings on the bark. The needles turn yellow and fall off.

At the first manifestations of the disease, it is necessary to cut and burn the affected branches, and then treat the plants with Hom (copper oxychloride) (3) or Rakurs.

Brown Shutte (brown snow mold). There are several varieties of schütte, they mainly affect pine trees, but brown schütte is also found on spruce trees. The pathogenic fungus settles on needles in autumn and actively develops in winter, on shoots that are under the snow. Signs of the disease are brown needles with a white coating.

For the treatment of the disease, drugs Hom or Racurs are used (3).

Pests ate the Grasshopper

Spruce leaflet-needleworm. This is a small moth. Adults are harmless, but their larvae can cause serious damage to trees. Caterpillars live inside the needles – they bite at their base and make mines inside. Over time, the needles become covered with cobwebs and crumble with gusts of wind.

To combat the pest, systemic drugs are used – Calypso, Confidor or Engio.

Spruce spider mite. The first signs of damage can be recognized by yellow spots on the needles. With a strong infection, the plants become covered with cobwebs, the needles turn brown and crumble. Spider mite actively breeds in dry years. Over the summer, the tick gives an average of about 5 generations, so the peak of infection occurs at the end of summer.

Actellik or Fitoverm drugs will help get rid of the pest.

Spruce false shield. These small sucking insects, similar to brown balls, usually settle on young plants – bark and needles. You can recognize them by their sticky coating. In affected plants, the needles turn brown and fall off, the branches bend and dry out.

You can get rid of the pest only with systemic drugs. The most effective of them are Aktara and Konfidor.

Coniferous bugs. These sucking insects are unmistakable with any other – they have white bristles on their backs. In dry years, they multiply so actively that the shoots become as if covered with frost. On affected plants, the needles turn yellow and curl.

Get rid of the worms will help the drug Pinocid.

Spruce sawfly. It is a small insect that looks like a fly. Its larvae harm – they eat needles. It is not easy to see them – they disguise themselves as pins and needles. You can recognize the infection by the color of the young needles – it becomes red-brown, but at the same time it does not crumble for a long time.

To combat the spruce sawfly, you can use the drug Pinocid. However, they need to process not only the crown of the tree, but also the soil around it, because the larvae hibernate in the ground.

Popular questions and answers

We asked about Konik agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mykhaylova – she answered the most popular questions of summer residents.

Sources of

1. Stupakova O.M., Aksyanova T.Yu. Compositions of perennial herbaceous, woody coniferous and deciduous plants in urban landscaping // Conifers of the boreal zone, 2013 https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/kompozitsii-iz-mnogoletnih-travyanistyh-drevesnyh-hvoynyh-i-listvennyh-rasteniy- v-ozelenenii-gorodov
2. Kordes G. Picea glauca plant named Blue Wonder: pat. PP10933 USA. – 1999 https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP10933?oq=Picea+glauca+%27Sanders+Blue%27
3. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii-i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry- information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/