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Evergreen conifers, including thuja, are widely used in landscape design. During a long winter, they take on a sloppy look, partially losing their decorative effect. Therefore, it is very important to feed the thuja in the spring, this will provide the trees with good nutrition for the whole season, as well as quickly restore strength after the cold season.
Why you need to feed thuja
Thuja prefers loose fertile soils, but not all suburban areas can boast of it. Over time, the composition and structure of the soil near the trunk zone of a tree changes quite a lot, part of the nutrients is absorbed by the plant, while undigested minerals, on the contrary, accumulate. It negatively affects soil fertility and spring snowmelt. At this time, a significant part of useful substances and minerals is simply washed out by water into lower horizons.
You can restore the balance of trace elements and enrich the composition of the soil with the help of root and foliar top dressings, which are an important part of the thuja care in the spring.
What top dressing is suitable for thuja
To feed the thuja, you can use both organic and mineral fertilizers. Some gardeners use special complex fertilizers produced specifically for feeding conifers. Their price, as a rule, differs upwards from conventional fertilizers, but the effect of the application is much higher.
Mineral
The basis of mineral fertilizers for thuja in the spring is preparations containing potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. This is the main difference between feeding coniferous trees and deciduous trees, the main element of which in spring is nitrogen. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of shoots, a rapid set of green mass. In early spring, this is very important for the growth of young leaves, but for needles, the presence of nitrogen does not have any significant effect. Moreover, conifers perfectly absorb this element from the air.
Nevertheless, it is still possible to feed thuja in the spring for growth with nitrogen-containing fertilizers. However, this must be done very carefully. Most often, urea, ammonium nitrate, and nitroammophoska are used as such fertilizers in early spring. They are introduced into the near-stem circle, often in dissolved form. Some gardeners plant the granules into the soil, combining top dressing and loosening the tree trunks. Dry fertilizer dissolves and is absorbed much more slowly, so re-feeding is no longer done.
From the beginning of summer, the introduction of all nitrogen-containing dressings should be stopped. Excessive shoot formation at this time of the year is no longer necessary and will only weaken the plant. Non-lignified shoots will simply freeze in winter.
Organic
Organic fertilizers are best used to feed the thuja in the spring in a dry form. In this capacity, you can use humus, compost, old rotted manure. All these fertilizers are simply embedded in the soil at a shallow depth in the root zone of trees.
Complex
You can fertilize thuja in the spring for growth with complex fertilizers. Such formulations are sold in concentrated form in gardening stores. These fertilizers include:
- Needle.
- Green needle.
- Aquarin.
- Fertika-Lux.
- Hello for conifers.
Complex dressings contain in their composition a large number of elements necessary for thuja. The concentration of such fertilizers allows them to be used with a frequency of 1 time in 3-5 years.
Method of application
Most gardeners apply root bait by planting granules or pouring liquid fertilizer around the trunk circle. However, this is not the only way to feed the thuja. The foliar method, which consists in spraying the crown with special compounds, has also proven itself well. The needles absorb nutrients much faster and more completely than the roots, therefore, with this method, the decorative appearance of the thuja is restored much faster. It is estimated that foliar top dressings are absorbed by 80%, while the effectiveness of root fertilizers does not exceed 20%.
There are quite a few foliar top dressings for thuja. Chelates are most actively used for this purpose – complex compounds that include metals in ionic form. Here are some of the drugs:
- Quantum.
- Aminomax-N.
- Coffee Mg.
- Brexil Combi.
Chelates are used for foliar top dressing of thuja in spring and summer with a frequency of about 1 time in 2 weeks. It is better to start spraying in early May and finish at the end of August.
How to feed thuja for growth after planting
For several years after planting, there is no need to feed the thuja, since the nutrient soil that fills the planting pit contains all the necessary nutrients. However, after 2-3 years, a significant part of them is either washed out of the soil or absorbed by the plant. You can quickly restore the nutritional value of the soil with the help of humus, which must be embedded in the soil of the trunk circle. It is very easy to do this. 1-2 buckets of old humus must be scattered in an even layer around the trunk of the arborvitae, and then carefully dig the near-trunk circle to a depth of 5-10 cm.
How to fertilize thuja in spring
Spring is the main time of the season, during which most thuja feeding and other care activities are carried out. At this time, you can use any top dressing with any method of application, however, you should strictly follow the recommendations of the fertilizer manufacturer in everything related to the order of application and the recommended dosage.
How to feed thuja after winter
Winter is a rather difficult time for coniferous trees and for arborvitae in particular. All processes at this time are greatly slowed down, although they do not stop at all. In most regions, arborvitae overwinter under cover, and after removing it, the appearance of the tree often leaves much to be desired. You can quickly restore the decorative effect with the help of special multi-component preparations, for example, Pro Bio Tech Reanimator. This drug can be used not only in the spring for an accelerated restoration of appearance, but also for the rehabilitation of thuja after a disease or transplant.
In the first year after planting, problems may arise with the rooting of thuja seedlings. If there were violations, the root system of a young tree may be damaged and unable to fully ensure normal growth. After winter, this will be clearly visible in the color and condition of the crown. To help the root system, root stimulants such as Agrekol or Kornevin can be used in the spring.
How to feed thuja in spring for rapid growth
Nitrogen is a growth stimulant. Therefore, the use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers in spring is fully justified, but only in small doses. An excessive amount of nitrogen will lead to a loss of decorativeness of the thuja, the crown will be more loose. You can also feed thuja in the spring for active growth with the help of multicomponent preparations, such as, for example, Megafol.
Features of summer top dressing of thuja
Most gardeners do not feed thuja in summer, limiting themselves only to fertilizing in the spring. If, however, no work was carried out in the spring, in the summer it is necessary to confine ourselves to foliar top dressing that does not contain nitrogen. Spraying the crown should be done on a cloudy, but not rainy day, in the early morning or late evening. This is due to the fact that sunlight can be focused by water droplets, which will lead to crown burns.
How to feed thuja in the fall in preparation for winter
In autumn, thuja can be fed only in the southern regions. In September, you can add a little superphosphate in the root way or treat the crown with preparations from the Fitosporin series.
The subtleties and nuances of fertilizing thuja and other coniferous plants – in the video:
How to fertilize correctly
All root dressings are applied directly to the trunk circle of the thuja. If the fertilizer is granular, then it is evenly scattered over the surface of the soil, and then gently rake the ground with a small chopper or rake. So the granules are embedded in the soil at a shallow depth. It is not recommended to use a shovel, since there is a high probability of damaging the thuja roots located close to the surface. In the same way, organic matter is embedded in the soil: humus, compost. If the fertilizer is applied in dissolved form, then it is dissolved in water to the desired concentration, and then the root zone is evenly irrigated with the composition. In this case, you need to try so that the mixture does not get on the needles.
After the application of dissolved fertilizers, it is desirable to mulch the near-stem circles. As mulch, you can use peat, dry needles or bark, painted sawdust. Mulching prevents the rapid evaporation of moisture from the soil, helps maintain the breathability of the topsoil, and also serves as a protective barrier against weeds.
Foliar top dressing is done by crown irrigation. To do this, you can use a spray gun or a sprayer. The required amount of the drug is dissolved in water to the desired concentration, and then the crown is evenly irrigated with the resulting composition from all sides.
Some gardeners believe that it is not necessary to feed the thuja. Indeed, fertilization is not always necessary. If the thuja grows well and does not lose its decorative effect from year to year, then there is no point in further stimulating its growth. However, if there are negative changes, such as changes in the color of the needles, shedding, weak annual growth, diseases, then in this case, feeding is necessary, since they can have a significant impact on the quality of the recovery process.
Conclusion
In most cases, if you feed the thuja in the spring, then you can refuse any top dressing at other times of the year. Especially if you use modern complex preparations for this purpose, specially designed to stimulate coniferous plants. Their use in most cases is justified, since such compositions allow you to quickly restore the decorativeness of the thuja, give it a healthy appearance, and strengthen the immunity of the tree.