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Conifers that produce edible seeds include Italian Pine or Pinia. It grows throughout the Mediterranean, in Our Country – only on the Black Sea coast. In culture, species plants and the Silver crest variety (Silver Cross) are used. Growing and caring for Silvercrest pine is only possible in hardiness zone 7, and according to the American Conifer Society – 8. In Germany, small specimens are planted in botanical gardens in greenhouses.
Interestingly, the fairy-tale hero Pinocchio was made from a log of Italian Pine. And it was to the trunk of this tree that the beard of Karabas Barabas stuck.
Description of Silver crest pine
Unlike the species Italian pine, the Silvercrest cultivar increases in size more slowly. But it still belongs to the fast-growing conifers, adding about 30 cm annually. The height of the Silvercrest pine at 10 years old is about 3 m, the maximum is 15 m.
Small plants about 20 cm high, which are sometimes commercially available, have a crown of indistinct configuration. Later, the tree becomes like a spherical shrub. But the description and photo of Silvercrest pine of mature age show a plant of the original form. In addition to Pinia, this is typical only for Nelson’s pine.
The trunk of Silvercrest is short, often curved. The branches are horizontal, long branches rise at an angle of 30-60 °, the tips are directed strictly vertically. They form a very wide, flat, umbrella-like crown.
The bark of the Silvercrest pine is thick, young – smooth, first gray-green, then yellow-brown. The old one is covered with deep longitudinal cracks, with a color ranging from reddish-gray to gray-brown. The edges of the exfoliated plates are almost black.
The kidneys are ovoid, with a sharp tip, covered with red-brown scales with a silver fringe-like edge, ranging in size from 6 to 12 mm. The hard needles of the Silvercrest pine are collected by 2, have a length of 10-12 cm, a width of up to 2 mm. The needles are painted silver-green and live 1-3 years.
Cones are often solitary, very rarely collected in 2 or 3, large, ovoid with a rounded top, 8-15 cm long, 5-11 cm in diameter at the thickest point. They ripen in the third year. At first, Silvercrest buds are green. Then they turn brown, with strongly convex growths on the scales. At the end of the third season, the seeds fall off, and the cones can hang on the tree for another 2-3 years.
The largest seeds among the pines are in Italian: there are only 1 pieces per 1500 kg. They are edible and are in high demand. It tastes better than pine nuts, which are actually pine seeds too.
The color of the shell is light brown, often with whitish spots. The seeds can be up to 2 cm long, the wing is absent or rudimentary.
Where does the Silvercrest pine grow?
Descriptions and photos of the Silver crest pine show that this is a very beautiful tree. But it will winter without shelter only at a temperature not lower than -12 ° C. Some sources claim that the culture is able to endure -16 ° C for a short time. But, for example, pine pine cannot be grown in the Moscow region.
Even if the culture successfully survives several mild winters, it will still die at the first frost usual for the Middle Strip.
So the cultivation of Silvercrest pine in the garden is possible in the countries of the former Soviet Union only on the Black Sea coast, and even then not everywhere. In other regions, it will die at the first weather cataclysm.
Silvercrest pine loves warm, dry and loose soil. It grows on sandy loam and calcareous soils. Loves the sun and does not tolerate waterlogging. It is resistant to wind blowing, but strong gusts can make the crown asymmetric.
Planting and caring for Silver crest pine
Actually, growing and caring for Italian pine pine is not particularly difficult. It’s just that in our country it can exist only in a limited area. Northerners and residents of regions with a temperate climate will not be able to plant it.
Seedling and planting preparation
Silvercrest pine should not be planted in interlocking areas. Even a large drainage layer may not be enough, it is better to make a rocky or sandy embankment, arrange a terrace.
The pit is dug the same as for other conifers – the depth should be equal to the height of the earthen coma plus at least 20 cm for drainage. Diameter – 1,5-2 times the width of the root system.
If the soil is rocky, it is not necessary to remove foreign inclusions. If necessary, add sand, soddy soil and lime. Under seedlings sheathed with burlap, an earthen root is applied with starting fertilizer.
But Silvercrest pine is better to buy in a container. Moreover, the tree should already acquire the shape inherent in the species and be at least 50 cm tall.
The 20 cm trees sold in pallets are usually culled, which is why they are cheap. Here, first of all, you need to make sure that the Silver crest pine is alive. She should have flexible, living needles, it is advisable to pull the tree out of the pot and inspect the root. But it’s not worth it to especially hope that a tree from a pallet will take root.
Rules of landing
Drainage is poured into the prepared planting pit, which can be:
- expanded clay;
- sand;
- crushed stone;
- screening out;
- broken red brick;
- stones.
Fill it 2/3 with a substrate, fill it with water. They let it rest. Not earlier than after 2 weeks, you can start landing:
- A part of the earth is taken out of the pit.
- The seedling is placed in the center. The root neck should be at the same level with the soil surface.
- Gradually fall asleep substrate. At the same time, it is carefully, but not too tightly packed.
- A roller is formed along the perimeter of the landing pit.
- Abundantly watered.
- The soil is mulched.
Watering and top dressing
At first, the Italian Silvercrest pine is often watered so that the soil does not dry out under it. But excess water can cause root rot. When the tree takes root, watering is reduced to meager. Humidification should be rare, but very plentiful. About once a month (if there was no rain at all), about 50 liters of water are poured under each tree.
Unlike soil, the air must be moist. Therefore, pine grows, for the most part, in coastal regions. So sprinkling of the crown should be the more often, the drier the air. You may have to do them daily in the summer.
It is only necessary to feed the pine regularly until the age of 10. In the spring, she is given a complex fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, in the fall – potassium-phosphorus.
Foliar top dressing, especially a chelate complex, is always useful for Silvercrest pine. Only you need to do them no more than 1 time in 2 weeks.
Mulching and loosening
It is necessary to loosen the soil under the Silvercrest pine only in the first and second year after planting. Then it is enough to mulch the trunk circle with coniferous bark, peat, and rotted wood chips.
Trimming
Pruning of the Italian Silvercrest pine is needed in a complex of sanitary measures, when all dry, broken and diseased branches are removed. The variety does not need forming pruning. But for greater decorativeness in the spring, young shoots are pinched to 1/3 or 1/2 of their length.
Preparation for winter
Covering a small tree is easy. And how to protect a 10-year-old pine tree that has reached 3 meters from frost. The tree will become of such growth quite quickly, especially considering that high-quality seedlings should not be younger than 5 years. And what will happen to the mature Silvercrest pine when it reaches 12 meters? How to hide? No, of course, if there is a desire and money, it is possible. But isn’t it better to plant a crop on the site, in which winter hardiness will correspond to the climate?
So Italian pine is for the southern coastal regions, corresponding to frost resistance zone 7, and if the temperature “jumps”, then 8. And there it is not necessary to cover it. If there are still negative temperatures in winter, protection is needed in the year of planting, in the subsequent ones they simply increase the layer of mulch.
Features of caring for Silvercrest pine at home
Growing a Silvercrest pine in a pot is a business doomed to failure. Despite the fact that pine is often mentioned in books on indoor floriculture, it is unsuitable for keeping indoors. Absolutely. True, in the south, culture is grown on glazed cool loggias.
Although bonsai can be made from it, even specialists rarely contact the Italian Silvercrest pine. And not because it is difficult to create a miniature with a flat root from it. The difficulty is in the content of the tree.
Very cool (4-6 °C) bright wintering, no temperature fluctuations, to which the pine in captivity is even more sensitive than in the ground – all this can be provided only in a specially equipped room.
So, if the house does not have a climate-controlled winter garden, you can forget about growing Silvercrest pine at home.
Reproduction of the Italian pine
Growing pine pines from seeds and grafting is the only way the culture propagates. Layering is impossible, since the branches are directed upwards and located high, and the cuttings practically do not take root.
But the seeds germinate well, without stratification. But in the next 5 years, which must pass before planting in the ground, young pines gradually die. When picking, during multiple transplants, from overflows and overdrying, rust and black legs.
Self-propagation of Italian pine by amateurs usually ends in failure.
Diseases and pests
In general, the Italian Silvercrest pine, planted in the south, is a healthy crop. Of course, it can be affected by diseases or pests, but this rarely happens. Common troubles include:
- A mealybug that usually appears when an infected tree appears on the site. Or because of the sprinkling of the crown late in the evening, when the needles remain wet at night.
- Spider mite, the appearance of which is associated with dry air.
- Rots arising from overflows.
- Resin cancer or blister rust, which is a real scourge of the Pine genus.
In order for the Silvercrest pine to be healthy, you need to plant it in the “right” place, regularly sprinkle the crown in the early evening, avoid overflows, and do preventive treatments. And also inspect the crown to identify problems at an early stage.
Conclusion
Growing and caring for Silvercrest pine will not be difficult even for beginner gardeners. But you can plant a crop only in the southern regions. Perhaps someday pine varieties will be developed for the temperate climate and the North, but so far they do not exist.