Sea buckthorn - this is the name of the plant for rich fruiting. Its branches are covered with berries. Sea buckthorn, planting and caring for which does not require much effort and does not cause trouble, is popular with gardeners. It annually pleases with a high yield of berries, from which amazing jam is cooked, delicious compotes and make sea buckthorn oil, which has valuable properties. The berries of the plant contain almost all vitamins, organic acids, tannins.
Description of sea buckthorn
This is a deciduous shrub or tree, sometimes reaching 13 meters in height. The occurrence of weakly branching roots is shallow, but they go far to the sides, this fact should be taken into account when caring for sea buckthorn. The trunk is clumsy, uneven crown, grayish-green leaves, long and narrow, are located close to each other. The flowers have a nondescript appearance, small size, are divided into male and female. Flowering begins in the first half of May, pollinated by the wind. Spherical fruits dot the stem, inside the berry there is a bone, the pulp is juicy and fleshy. Color changes from light yellow to orange. Fruits in the fourth year after planting. A plant loves light. It grows well on light, loose and fertile soils. Sea buckthorn tolerates frosts, but freezes with a sharp change in temperature.
Seedlings planting time
To successfully grow sea buckthorn, you should know when to plant seedlings. It must be remembered that the plant has a short winter rest time and after prolonged thaws, buds may appear. The fragile young seedlings of autumn planting die.
In central Russia, sea buckthorn is preferable to plant in the spring. Moreover, the most favorable dates are early spring. First of all, they plant seedlings with an open root system. From the containers can be planted a little later. Planting sea buckthorn in the fall is also acceptable. Acceptable deadlines are from September to mid-October. But there is no guarantee that the seedlings will survive until spring.
Site selection and soil preparation
When choosing a place to plant sea buckthorn, preference should be given to patches of land that are heated by the sun most of the day. Culture loves rich in organic, loose and well-moistened soils. It is great if the groundwater is shallow. They will provide moisture to the superficial root system of the shrub. Cultivated peat bogs are well suited. When preparing the soil for planting sea buckthorn, pits are made fifty centimeters deep, the dug up soil is mixed with humus or peat, superphosphate and potassium sulfate are added and they are poured back. Sand is added to improve soil permeability.
The roots of sea buckthorn can branch outside the crown for several meters, so they do not dig up the soil, but only loosen it by 10 cm. When loosening in spring, humus or compost with the addition of mineral fertilizers is added: 3 tablespoons of nitrophoska, humus bucket per square meter. On loamy soils, when loosening, add half a bucket of sand and sawdust.
Selection of planting material
Features of growing sea buckthorn and caring for it are determined by its biological development. It is a dioecious plant and is pollinated by the wind. When purchasing seedlings, it should be remembered that male and female are needed in a ratio of 1: 4. The best male varieties: Gnome and Alei. When buying seedlings, you should choose only those that are grown from cuttings. Seedlings from seeds do not preserve the properties of plants, and it turns out wild game with prickly needles. And in the dug out growth it is impossible to distinguish between a male and a fruiting female plant. Determine the sex of the seedling in spring and late autumn by the kidneys:
- male - large and contain 5-7 scales;
- female - small with two scales.
Nodules appear on the roots of sea buckthorn, which promote the assimilation of nitrogen from the air, so they should not be removed.
Planting seedlings
Planting of sea buckthorn occurs in the usual way, as well as other fruit plants. You can use the 3 x 2.5 m scheme. For fertilizer, do not use fresh organics and abuse mineral fertilizers. It is enough to take a bucket of rotted compost, a glass of wood ash, a handful of superphosphate for each plant.
When transplanting sea buckthorn, it is advisable to dig a significant part of its roots. In the case when the roots happened to be very pruned, the branches of the plant should be cut. It is better to remove a significant part of them than to leave too much. Transplanting an adult plant, you need to leave only one main trunk, remove all side branches. It is preferable to plant sea buckthorn in spring than in autumn. In this case, she takes root better. Its long roots quickly grow far to the sides and themselves produce nutrients, so feeding is of little importance. It must be remembered that varieties that are resistant to disease should be selected specifically for a particular area. The presence of a small number of thorns indicates that the plant is cultivated, not wild.
Sea buckthorn: care, cultivation and pruning
During active growth, the plant needs moderate top dressing with phosphorus and potassium. Do not make a lot of organic matter and nitrogen fertilizers. But when the plant became an adult, it makes no sense to feed it. It itself is provided with everything necessary, thanks to the special structure of the root system. Sea buckthorn is a water-loving plant, so the entire vegetative period is watered, avoiding stagnation of water.
Fruits in the fourth year after planting. Until this time, care and pruning of sea buckthorn, forming a bush of the correct form, are necessary. Spend it in the early spring, when the buds have not yet blossomed. Remove diseased shoots and young growth from the roots. Anti-aging pruning is done no earlier than eight years later. Only shoots of three years are left. Sea buckthorn can be affected by pests and diseases. It is better to deal with them by mechanical and biological methods. Use chemical preparations as a last resort, so as not to have a harmful effect on the healing properties of the fruit.
Propagation of sea buckthorn with lignified cuttings
Amateur gardeners propagate this plant in a vegetative way. Reproduction by cuttings is done as follows:
- Cut off annual shoots with a thickness of about six millimeters from a five-year bush in late November or early December.
- Store before planting in the cellar or directly under the snow.
- In spring, cut shoots into cuttings 15β20 cm long.
- Put before landing in water for three days.
- Plant in a prepared soil vertically 10 cm apart, leaving 2β3 buds on top.
- Tamp the soil, water the seedlings and sprinkle with peat.
- Water the young plants every three days, in addition, loosen and weed the weeds.
- With proper planting and care, sea buckthorn will take root by the fall.
Propagation using green cuttings
This method of reproduction is considered the best. It is used in industrial production. After mid-June, cuttings are cut into a length of 15 cm, preferably in the morning. To do this:
- take a sharp garden knife and make a cut from above under the kidney;
- remove 3-4 lower leaflets;
- tie not tight cuttings with a rope and put in water for several hours;
- choose a flat area with fertile land, without direct sunlight;
- mix the top layer of earth with river sand, water well;
- dig vertically 3 cm into the ground;
- water again the planted cuttings, make a wire frame and stretch the film, which should be 3 cm higher than the tops of the cuttings;
- rooting will depend on humidity and air temperature, so timely watering and a temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius are needed;
- adventitious roots appear in two weeks, the cuttings are abundantly watered 1-2 times a day;
- remove the film a month after the appearance of the roots;
- every week, fertilizing with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers is carried out;
- they cover with needles after freezing the soil, and then they throw it with snow;
- spring cuttings transplanted to a permanent place.
Planting sea buckthorn in open ground and caring for it provide rapid growth of the root system.
Propagation of the plant by root offspring
This method of propagation of sea buckthorn is the easiest. In an adult plant at the age of five, root shoots appear. To grow a seedling from the main plant, the offspring is cut off with a shovel and sprinkled with earth. Periodically it is watered and wait until the roots appear. After rooting, it is dug up and transplanted to a permanent place, having previously learned the sex of the plant. It may turn out that the offspring from the female bush will be masculine.
Varieties of sea buckthorn
Sea buckthorn is a frost-resistant crop; therefore, it is grown throughout Russia. For the first time, the cultural forms of this plant appeared in Siberia. While working on breeding new varieties, scientists are directing their efforts to developing new methods to increase yield, increase taste, size of fruits, and eliminate prickly thorns. The best varieties of sea buckthorn for central Russia:
- Naran is early ripe, has large orange fruits that have a good taste and aroma, there are few thorns on the branches;
- Moscow beauty - mid-season, medium-sized berries with sourness, red-orange color, high yield, few thorns;
- Chuiskaya - mid-season, fruits of orange color, large, of good taste, spikes small and a little;
- The giant is late-ripening, very large orange fruits, the purpose is universal, there are no thorns.
Sea buckthorn planting and care requires carrying out, taking into account all the features of this climate zone. In the ideal case, the variety should be bred in the area where it will grow. These species are quite suitable for growing in a country garden.
Sea buckthorn diseases
Until some time, it was believed that garden buckthorn was not affected by pests and diseases. In fact this is not true. The most dangerous fungal disease for sea buckthorn is mycotic wilt. Its pathogenic fungi cause. Their vultures penetrate plant tissues and clog channels. As a result, the plantβs nutrition ceases and it dies. Most often, such a disease occurs on soils that are well fertilized with organic matter. It is transmitted through damage to the roots, trunk, branches and leaves. Signs of the disease:
- the leaves of the plant turn yellow, curl and dry;
- the fruits prematurely stained;
- the bark becomes brown-red, swellings appear, which crack.
The disease is not treatable. The plant is dug up and burned. Sea buckthorn has not been planted in this place for several years.
Nutritional value and medicinal properties of berries
Sea buckthorn, the cultivation and care in the country of which does not cause much trouble, is the record holder for the content of trace elements and vitamins necessary for the normal functioning of the body. The constant use of fruits has a rejuvenating and healing effect. The content of sea buckthorn oil in them contributes to the excellent assimilation of vitamins. This powerful restorative agent is used for preventive and therapeutic purposes in winter, spring and various diseases. The main properties of sea buckthorn berries:
- antioxidant - in case of poisoning;
- biostimulating - increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood, positively affects cell growth;
- bactericidal - healing effect in purulent wounds;
- choleretic - normalizes digestion, improves appetite;
- painkiller and wound healing - the use of lotions for burns and cuts.
This plant has valuable healing properties of bark and leaves. They are used in the treatment of skin diseases, inflammation in the oral cavity, throat. They are also used for diabetes, conjunctivitis, high blood pressure, heart and vascular diseases.
Harvesting and Processing
Four years after planting and care, sea buckthorn begins to bear fruit. Her crop reaches its maximum volume quickly. Some varieties from one bush give up to 30 kilograms. A feature of sea buckthorn berries is a short stalk. They fit snugly to the branch, which greatly complicates the harvest, which is carried out in the fall after ripening, and then when the first frosts pass. Frozen berries just shake off the bush.
In the early period of collection, special tweezers made of wire are used. Harvested berries are stored no more than three days before processing in a cool place. Frozen fruits retain their beneficial properties for up to six months. Berries are dried in the oven or sprinkled with sugar and stored in the refrigerator. Jelly, juice, jam, jam are also very fragrant and tasty. In addition to berries, you can prepare leaves and dry them to brew wellness tea.
Conclusion
Sea buckthorn is one of the few plants that is desirable to have in the garden. Both fresh and processed berries, in addition to excellent taste, have valuable medicinal properties, provided that the care of sea buckthorn is quite simple, not counting some features. However, far from every site near gardeners this plant is grown. After reading this article, you might want to plant sea buckthorn in your country house.