Plant grafted cedars. The nut harvest will take place in 4 - 6 years, not 40.
How unfair it seems that our European part of Russia is deprived of such a magnificent coniferous tree as cedar, or rather Siberian cedar pine. That's why she's apparently "Siberian".
And sometimes I would like to climb into a cedar tree and get some cones. But we don’t have pine trees, not counting the few artificial plantings.
My neighbor's father once planted a cedar tree. The handsome man grew up and recently gave his first harvest. Only the father is no longer there, and the harvest came exactly 40 years after the seedling was planted.
Such a prospect does not add enthusiasm when you want your cones and nuts, and preferably in this life.
Several years ago I met a man who is involved in grafting cedar trees and was inspired by the fact that, it turns out, fruiting can be significantly accelerated - by grafting twigs from an adult plant onto a cedar seedling.
An acquaintance of mine lives in Siberia, and for them the fact of early fruiting of a seedling does not seem valuable in itself - the taiga is full of mature cedars. It was a surprise for me to learn that there are many “varieties” of Siberian pine, obtained through vegetative propagation of specimens, especially those that stood out for something, or even branches with some interesting mutation.
This work has been carried out for many years by Sergei Nikolaevich Goroshkevich, head of the laboratory of the Institute of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the SB RAS in Tomsk.
In Sergei Nikolaevich’s collection there are varieties with high yield and early fruiting, large-cone varieties with thin nut shells, and there are especially decorative, low-growing and tall-growing ones. Hundreds of genotypes are in the works and dozens have already confirmed their “varietal” qualities, which are preserved during vegetative propagation.
Even our president, on his fiftieth birthday, was given a seedling from Sergei Nikolaevich’s nursery, with the appropriate number of cones.
Personally, I have already planted several grafted cedars of three varieties and will expect a harvest in the coming years. In some cases, as Sergei Nikolaevich writes on his website, cedars bear fruit almost immediately after grafting. But more often we are talking about 5-6 years. Although there are generally non-fruit-bearing varieties, among the decorative ones. Some design solutions require these genotypes.
Comrade gardeners and foresters, let's work together to make Russia more “cedar-rich.”)) Work on the selection and introduction of valuable varieties of Siberian pine pine should be carried out in different regions. I know that there are some enthusiasts. It would be good if there were more of them.
If you found this publication interesting, don’t hesitate to click “thumbs up.”))
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Sergey, the information is not complete. The author writes about grafting cedar onto cedar, and I have been grafting cedar onto European pine for a long time, ours and the same result. Only the cedar shoot is left on the tree, and the pine branches are removed completely. Cones appear in 5-6 years and the tree grows quickly, not like cedar from seeds!
Answer 1 - - 5 d
Vladimir Balanin, but they say after 20-30 years such trees die, according to information from scientists involved in such grafting
Answer 1 Alexander Chernyaev 15 d
Good deal. You just need to somehow organize delivery throughout Russia...)
Answer 7 In the forests and meadows... author 15 d
Dima, the manufacturer has a website for selling seedlings http://sadik.tomsk.ru
Do you need to graft branches that have already bear fruit? Or will any of them do?
Reply Sergei sergeef 5 d
Yes. if from the wild, then from the top of an old cedar
Cedar pine is often incorrectly called cedar. Judge for yourself. In the dendrological garden of the Ural educational and experimental forestry enterprise, many cedars were grafted onto pine trees thirty years ago. Now only fifty of them have survived. And every year we cut down one or two trees, but only half of them bear fruit, and even then one tree produces only a few cones.
The fusion between cedar and pine is very poor. In the first years, pine grows larger in height and smaller in diameter. Cedar, on the contrary, being shade-tolerant, grows faster in diameter and slower in height. It turns out to be a “colossus” with feet of clay. At thirty years old, cedar has a diameter of up to 20 centimeters, and pine - up to 14. Such trees are broken by the wind. Therefore, I recommend growing cedar from seeds, first in a greenhouse up to a meter high (this is about 5 years).
After you can transplant the seedling to a permanent place. We have such cedar trees that are over a hundred years old. They bear fruit well at the age of 20-30, and from the age of 50, each tree can produce a bucket of nuts annually.
There is a shorter way However, it is more labor-intensive and... unexpected - to grow cedar planting material from green cuttings from fruit-bearing cedar trees.
Let's tell you how it's done.
Obtaining cedar seedlings, rooting method
Cedar cuttings are harvested from the best fruit-bearing trees in early spring, during the period of swelling of the buds. They are cut from the side branches of the first and second orders up to ten centimeters in length (and with long-term storage in damp moss and winter harvesting - up to 15).Before planting in the ground, the cut is renewed under water(a stalk 5-8 centimeters long remains). These cuttings are immersed in a heteroauxin solution (0.001-0.01%) and kept in it for 1 to 6 hours. After this, the cuttings are washed in water and planted in greenhouses with a special soil composition (in buckets, flower boxes or pots).
To root cedar cuttings you need:
- increased air humidity in the greenhouse!
- good soil aeration;
- introducing mycorrhiza into the moist soil substrate.
Greenhouse for growing cedar seedlings, microclimate
For rooting and growing cedar seedlings, it is recommended to build special microgreenhouses with a polyethylene coating with maximum dimensions of 120 x 400 x 210 cm, which are installed on stands up to 30 centimeters high.The greenhouse is made of bars or boards with gaps between them of one to two centimeters. It is better to make the bottom of the greenhouse from a metal mesh with a cell size of centimeter by centimeter.
The substrate is laid in three layers: below, river pebbles (10 centimeters), a mixture of humus from under the cedar tree with mycorrhiza, coarse sand and birch leaves in equal proportions, 20 centimeters high. The top layer of coarse sand, well washed and calcined, is 2 centimeters.
1-2 days before landing the soil substrate is disinfected with a half percent solution of potassium permanganate, and 2-3 hours later it is watered with warm water and humus from under the cedar trees is added.
Green shards are planted in rows in a microgreenhouse at intervals of ten centimeters, 4-5 in a row. The cuttings themselves are buried 1.5-2 centimeters into the soil, and the substrate must be pressed tightly against the cutting.
During the first growing season, systematic watering is necessary. soil - air humidity up to 100 percent, and temperature should not exceed 20 degrees Celsius. The formation of small roots under these conditions can be observed on the 20th-25th day.
The best specimens form up to 30-35 roots. However, only in the fourth year in this microgreenhouse the polyethylene covering is removed, and for one year the seedlings are still grown on an artificial substrate with watering and fertilizing (but without a plastic cover).
Transplanting cedar seedlings to a permanent place
In the tenth year the seedlings will be ready for transplantation to a permanent place. When transplanting, it is advisable to trim the root system of cedar seedlings to 15 centimeters, place them in a clay solution with cedar mycorrhiza and a solution that stimulates root formation.The soil around is mulched peat, manure, phosphate-potassium fertilizers are applied, systematic (preferably drip) irrigation, soil loosening and crown care are organized.
The best specimens of cedar with proper care, they begin to bloom 3-4 years after the cuttings begin to root. But there must be at least 3-4 cedar specimens on the site for cross-pollination.
Article by Sergei Nikolaevich Goroshkevich, head. laboratory of dendroecology of the Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the SB RAS, from whose laboratory at one time we received the mother plant and taught us the art of grafting.
The vast majority of varieties of any woody plants are propagated vegetatively. When propagating from seed even the most outstanding genotypes, their beneficial properties, if at all, are inherited, then not in full, and most importantly, the offspring are diverse, while the main characteristic of the variety is homogeneity. With vegetative propagation, such homogeneity is guaranteed: the offspring is a clone - a collection of genetically identical individuals. By and large, there are only two ways of vegetative propagation:
(1) when a whole plant develops from some vegetative organ - a shoot or a root; methods are varied - from ordinary rooting of cuttings to ultra-modern microcloning technologies;
(2) when some vegetative organ of one plant (scion) is fused with some vegetative organ of another plant (stock); this is a vaccination.
Modern science can clone anything, including humans. Moreover, from any living cell of any plant, it can “build” an entire organism. However, in practical varietal plant growing, only rooting of cuttings and grafting are still widely used. The first is simpler, so if a variety takes root easily, then there is usually no need to graft it. They graft varieties whose rooting is difficult or even impossible under normal conditions. Cuttings of Siberian cedar, as well as all varieties derived from it, practically do not take root under normal conditions. Therefore, they are propagated exclusively by grafting.
What to vaccinate on? A varietal scion is usually grafted onto a common rootstock (wildstock) of the same or a similar species. The question is what is considered a closely related species in this case. In the 60s of the last century, it was very fashionable to graft Siberian cedar onto Scots pine, which was considered a closely related species. So, there is no need to do this. Indeed, cedar takes root well and grows well on it in the first few years. However, in the end, no more than 10-15% of vaccinations turn out to be compatible. The rest gradually die over 10-15 years.
So, cedar should only be grafted onto cedar. Cuttings can be harvested at any time from October to April, i.e. during the period from the transition of the kidneys to a state of rest until their exit from it. Medium-sized branches should be cut: 20-30 cm. Cuttings should be stored at a temperature slightly below 0 o C, preferably under snow (in winter - just in a snowdrift, in spring - in a snowfield, i.e. in the same snowdrift sprinkled on top sawdust) in slightly perforated plastic bags. It is strictly forbidden to wrap them in paper and other hygroscopic materials: otherwise, instead of living cuttings, you will end up with a “herbarium”. It is not recommended to tie the branches tightly together: they may “tangle”. Cuttings from branches stored under the snow are made in the shade immediately before grafting. You need to cook as many of them as you can plant in 2-3 hours. At this time, the prepared cuttings should be kept in the shade, preferably in a small bucket on moistened cotton wool or moss.
The optimal period for grafting with winter (dormant) cuttings is the whole of May (from the swelling of the buds until the appearance of the current year's needles on the shoots). The timing should be adjusted depending on the meteorological conditions of a particular year. Vaccinations take root better if they are performed in warm (but not hot) windless weather with high relative humidity. It is not recommended to carry out grafting work in rainy weather.
The best method of grafting is to place the core of the cutting on the cambium of the rootstock. For grafting, a cutting of equal or less thickness than the rootstock at the site of intended grafting is selected. The stalk should be shortened to 4-6 cm, the needles should be removed from it (with the exception of 4-5 bunches near the bud, preferably on one side, which should be left but shortened by half). On a rootstock shoot (not necessarily 1 year old, but 2-3 years old is also possible) at the site of the intended grafting, the needles are cut off in an area 10-15 cm long. The best grafting tool is half a safety razor blade: it’s better not “Jilett”, but simple "Sputnik".
Strip of plastic film
Strip pulling
With this tool, a longitudinal cut is made on the cutting so that it begins immediately under the bud, over 3-4 mm of the length of the cutting it is deepened to the core, for most of the length of the cutting it runs parallel to the surface in the center of the core, and in the lower part for 5-6 mm ended with a one-sided wedge. On the rootstock, a strip of bark is cut along the cambial layer, without touching the wood. It's simple: you need to cut the soft tissue, and when the blade hits the wood, cut parallel to it. The central part of the cut should be dull white, slippery to the touch from damaged cambium cells. If the cut surface is green or white, but dry, then you have not reached the cambium and your graft will not take root. In this case, the cutting plane should be deepened. The length of the cut on the rootstock should correspond to the cut on the cutting. One little secret: it is better to cut the rootstock from the north side. The cutting is placed on the exposed cambium so that the cut of the cutting completely covers the cut on the rootstock.
Now the grafting site needs to be fixed very tightly, pulling the two grafting components towards each other. The best material for strapping is ordinary polyethylene film with a thickness of 120 microns. It should be cut into strips 20 cm long and 7-8 mm wide. Each of these strips must be carefully stretched by grasping the ends. As a result, the length of the strip will increase to approximately 50 cm. It should be used to wrap the cuttings very tightly and evenly along the entire length to the rootstock. When applying the strap, the components of the graft are compressed by the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, and the strap fixes the compression.
Caring for grafted seedlings includes the following work: removing the binding, trimming the tip of the rootstock, forming the crown. Removal of the strapping must be carried out 30-40 days after grafting. If the strapping is removed prematurely, a large loss of vaccinations is possible. Therefore, before mass removal of the binding, it is necessary to check the strength of the fusion of the scion with the rootstock. Late removal of the binding should also not be allowed, as strong constrictions may form, especially on a powerful rootstock, which delay the supply of nutrients to the graft and lead to its death. Pruning of the rootstock “on the thorn” should be carried out after the grafted cuttings begin to grow. This is usually done simultaneously with removing the strapping.
After pruning, the side branches of the rootstock tend to outgrow the graft and “choke” it. In this regard, the gradual removal of lateral branches of the rootstock is a mandatory measure. In the second year, it is necessary to remove shoots in the upper whorl of the rootstock that can overtake the scion. In whorls located below the grafting site, the most developed shoots should be shortened by 1-2 annual increments. Complete removal of branches from whorls located below the scion is not recommended.
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The same vaccination a year later. The grafting components have already grown together perfectly. Pay attention to the needles: the long ones were formed on the mother liquor; short last year - in the year of vaccination; the fresh one has just begun its growth and it is already clear that it will be long and complete in all respects |
The same (1-year) vaccination. In the rootstock, deprived of the main leading shoot, the growth of powerful lateral shoots sharply intensified. And the vaccination is still weak. Therefore, it is necessary to remove from the rootstock all large shoots of the current year that are ahead of the grafting. At this time (late May - early June) they are soft, succulent; break off easily. Perhaps next year the graft will firmly take its place as the leading shoot. Most likely, this will require another 1-2 years of breaking off competing shoots of the rootstock |
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2-year vaccination. If it is made on a powerful rootstock using a varietal cutting, then its fruiting is guaranteed |
8 year old vaccination. The fusion of grafting components is ideal. The crown of the rootstock has been completely removed. A few more years and the grafting site will no longer be detectable. |
In addition to spring grafting, summer grafting is also possible. It is possible during the period from the end of shoot growth to the end of cambium activity, i.e. approximately from July 10 to August 10. With summer grafting, everything is done exactly the same as with spring grafting, only the cuttings are cut either on the day of grafting or stored at a low positive temperature for no more than 2 days. The binding from summer vaccinations should be removed at the beginning of May of the following year.
Why is vaccination done? Any collective farmer knows that a grafted cedar is good, and an ungrafted one is bad. What is “grafted cedar”? From a scientific point of view, this is nonsense. We don’t say “grafted apple tree,” but we say an apple tree of such and such a variety. So it is here. Cedar, for example, can be grafted onto itself. What's the point of this? That's right, none. In the vast majority of cases, grafted cedar means grafting from an adult tree onto a young seedling. This makes some sense. Such plants differ markedly from those grown from seeds, including the relatively early onset of fruiting. However, these differences are not so significant that they should be the reason for vaccination, butIt makes sense to revive genotypes that are valuable in some respects, i.e., in essence, varieties.
Siberian cedar is a tree up to 40 m high, trunk diameter up to 1.5-2 meters. In youth, it is characterized by slow growth - by the age of 25, the height of the tree is 4-5 m. In nature, it lives up to 400 years or more.
The main and most valuable product is tasty and nutritious pine nuts. Their use for both food and industrial purposes and medical and health procedures is so widespread that it deserves a separate review.
Under natural conditions, in the taiga, a cedar tree begins to bear fruit at 40-50 years of age. Seed periods under natural conditions are repeated every 5-7 years. In adulthood, in a fruitful year, one large tree produces about 1000 or more cones. There is evidence that when artificially grown from planting material, using the grafting method, with feeding and care, it is possible to achieve stable fruiting after 15-20 years, almost halving the natural time of seed production. Pine nut harvests in such plantations occur in 2-3 years, and under good growing conditions they can bear fruit more often.
In this regard, artificial breeding and creation of nut-bearing plantations, as well as cedar grafting, have become widely popular. Grafting has been practiced for decades; today there are many examples of successful breeding of cedar using grafting, and most importantly, a significant reduction in the time it takes to produce abundant harvests.
When grafting cedar, plants aged 5-7 years are often used as rootstocks (parent plants). When grafting on young people, viable young trees up to 1.5 m high are selected as a rootstock. Shoot segments with a well-developed apical bud from the upper part of the crown are used as a scion.
Through grafting, results are achieved in which trees begin to produce yields from 20 to 25 years, relatively small at the beginning - with a further increase. This solution can be very valuable for those who want to have their own pine nut plantation, even if it is only 10-15 trees.
Grafted cedar trees 20-25 years old have a height of about 5 m, a crown diameter of up to 2 - 2.5 m. The main feature of such trees is that they bear fruit now. After planting, some time must pass for it to take root and get used to the new place, after which it will begin to produce crops regularly.
Cones on cedar ripen in the second year after flowering. As soon as the pine nuts are ripe, the cones open and the nuts fall to the ground. This feature must be taken into account when harvesting nuts and the period for harvesting is chosen when the nuts are slightly unripe. The collected cones are placed in a warm oven overnight, where the seed scales open and pine nuts fall out.
Active fruiting in closed groups creates conditions for the formation of a specific candelabra-like rise of the upper branches level with the top or even slightly higher, which creates a visual multi-vertex, giving some decorativeness to the tree. This feature is a natural adaptation to increase seed production, since cones are formed only on illuminated branches. In isolated trees and in open spaces, the multi-vertex pattern is comparatively less pronounced or absent altogether. This feature should be taken into account when choosing a place to plant grafted cedar.
It will be very effective if the grafted cedar is provided with good care, regular watering, periodic spraying of the needles with solutions of biostimulants, as well as moderate application of a small amount of nitrogen fertilizers.
Take note - in the first years of fruiting, cedar forms a large number of female cones. During this period, there is a significant shortage of male pollen for pollination, which will result in a good, abundant harvest of nuts. This situation requires artificial additional pollination of the cones with pollen collected from the male cones of the best adult pollinating cedars. Later, as the tree grows, its dioeciousness becomes more pronounced, and the need for hand pollination practically disappears.
In this regard, if you want to avoid situations with regular under-pollination and, as a result, empty productive years, you need to consider the following. An important condition for a good harvest is the presence of a group of other cedars nearby, for mutual pollination of female cones, and the formation of a large number of future cones. In other words, you need to plant cedar trees in a small group - a small curtain, alley, or other methods.
Grafting Siberian cedar not only accelerates the onset of fruiting, but also expands the use of decorative forms of cedar in green building.
If you decide to plant grafted pine trees on your site today, then in the next 2-3 years, after rooting and acclimatization in a new place, they will delight you with a harvest of pine nuts, which you can collect right in your garden. Save time and effort - order cedar planting material from the Siberian Cedar company.
Varietal grafted seedlings of Siberian cedar, European cedar and Korean cedar
The main advantage of cedars: Siberian, European, Korean is their tasty, nutritious seeds (pine nuts), which ripen in resinous cones. But cedars begin to bear fruit late (at 20-25 years), and cedar grown from seeds is not always distinguished by its decorative appearance, high yield, large cones and seeds.
During vegetative propagation (grafting) of decorative, high-yielding, large-cone, large-seeded genotypes of cedars, clone seedlings fully retain the valuable properties of the trees from which the cuttings were taken, and fruiting begins within 2-5 years after grafting.
Large-cone, large-seeded clone of Siberian pine, selected by the author
The clone is distinguished by its powerful growth, dense crown (Fig. 1), thickened long needles. Productivity is average. Cedar self-pollinates well. The main advantage of this clone is its very large cones and very large seeds - rice. 2 (reach sizes close to the maximum for Siberian cedar)!
Rice. 1 Crown of varietal large-cone large-seeded Siberian pine.
Rice. 2 Cones and seeds of varietal large-cone large-seeded Siberian pine.
A productive large-cone clone of Siberian pine, selected by the author
The clone is productive, with regular fruiting and growth rate typical for cedar (Fig. 3).
The cones are large, the seeds are medium (Fig. 4).
The needles are up to 15 cm long, the crown is dense.
On graftings of this clone, on powerful 18-year-old Siberian pine rootstocks (Fig. 5), the cones ripen in the third year after grafting.
The clone self-pollinates well.
Rice. 3 Crown of high-quality, productive large-cone Siberian cedar.
Rice. 4 Cones and seeds of high-quality, large-cone Siberian cedar.
Rice. 5 Cones on a 3-year-old grafting of large-cone varietal large-cone Siberian pine.
High-yielding decorative clone of European cedar
Cedar is distinguished by very high productivity and regularity of fruiting, and the decorativeness of the crown.
The crown is dense, dark green with a blue tint (Fig. 6, 7).
The cones are medium in size (Fig. 8), the seeds are medium.
It has a high precocity (often the rudiments of cones are formed even on 1-year-old grafts)!
On 7-year-old grafts of this clone, on powerful Siberian pine rootstocks, up to 15 cones ripen (Fig. 9)!
Cedar self-pollinates well.
Rice. 7 Crown of 6-year-old grafted high-yielding European cedar
Rice. 8 Cones on a 7-year-old graft of high-yielding European cedar
Rice. 9 Seven-year grafting of high-yielding European cedar with 15 cones
Rice. 10 Cones in the crown of a 9-year-old grafted European cedar about 2.5 m high
The tree has phenomenal productivity!
107 pieces ripen on cedar. cones, all over the crown, to the lowest branches (up to 5 pieces in a bunch)!
A productive decorative clone of Korean cedar (needles with a bluish tint - smoky)
Cedar is characterized by high productivity and decorative crown.
The crown is openwork. The needles are green with a bluish tint, smoky (Fig. 11, 12).
The cones and seeds are very large (2 times larger than those of Siberian cedar).
Cedar self-pollinates well and has a normal growth rate.
The buds of cones begin to appear on 3-5 year old grafts (Fig. 12)
Rice. 12 Five-year grafting of productive Korean cedar with cones
On 6-9 year old grafts, large cones ripen almost every year (Fig. 13 - 15)
Rice. 13 Cones on 6-year-old graftings of a productive Korean cedar.
On the tops of cedars you can see “winter” - annual cones that ripen in the fall of next year.
Rice. 14 Large cones on a 7-year-old graft.
Rice. 15 On a 9-year graft, 11 pieces mature. big shots!
A productive decorative clone of Korean cedar, selected by the author (emerald needles)
Cedar is productive, with a decorative, moderately dense crown.
The needles, up to 17 cm long, are dark green, with a blue tint (emerald) - fig. 16.
The cones and seeds are very large, close in size to the maximum size for Korean cedar (Fig. 17, 18).
Cedar self-pollinates very well and has a normal growth rate.
Rice. 16. Crown of varietal grafted Korean cedar with emerald needles
Rice. 17. Cones of varietal Korean cedar in comparison with cones of Siberian cedar (grid step - 1 cm)
Rice. 18. Seeds of varietal Korean cedar in comparison with seeds of Siberian cedar
The proposed varietal Siberian, European and Korean cedars have undergone long-term testing in the European part of the country and are promising for creating nut-bearing and landscape plantings.
These clones were grafted personally by the author onto his own selected Siberian pine rootstocks, grown in containers with a closed root system. Rootstocks, with a powerful, intact root system, provide intensive nutrition to varietal scions and ensure the full realization of their biological potential.
Varietal grafted seedlings of Siberian cedar, European cedar and Korean cedar can be purchased from the author (
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