How to raise potted five-needle pine?

Five-needle pine is also known as Japanese five-needled pine, five-hairy pine, Japanese five-needle pine and so on. It is an evergreen coniferous tree of pine family. It is named because of its clumps of leaves. It is short, slow in growth, dense in short branches, elegant in posture and graceful in shape. It is often used as an excellent species for making bonsai, which has been widely planted all over China. Let's take a look at how to raise potted five-needle pines.

Growth habits of Pinus elliottii

There are many varieties of five-needle pine, among which the pine with the shortest needles (about 2 cm long leaves) and compact branches is the most valuable. Like the warm and humid environment, light-loving tree species, high requirements for light, planting soil can not accumulate water, good drainage and air permeability, poor growth in shady and wet places. Although it has strong resistance to sea breeze, it is not suitable for sand growth. Organic fertilizer is the best way to apply fertilizer.

Propagation method of Pinus elliottii

1. Sowing: the five-needle pine is sown from March to April, and the seed coat is thick and hard, so it is not easy to germinate. 40 days before sowing, it should be treated with warm water of about 50 degrees for 3-4 hours, then mixed with 2 times of wet sand, and then sowed on the seedling bed. After 20-30 days, it can germinate. In China, the fruiting of Pinus elliottii is rare and the seed germination rate is low, so it is often propagated by grafting.

2. Grafting: either five-needle loose grafting or abdominal grafting, mostly abdominal grafting, is usually carried out before sap flow to bud, usually from late February to the first and middle of March. The rootstock is 2-year-old black pine, the scion is 1-2-year-old strong branches or buds, and the incision of grafting should be as close to the root as possible. It is appropriate to place semi-shade after grafting, such as the buds of the scion gradually turn green and sprout, indicating that the scion has healed.

3. Cutting: the cutting propagation of five-needle pine is usually carried out in spring and autumn, and the annual branches are selected and cut into cuttings with heel. After cutting under the condition of shading and keeping high air relative humidity, it can take root after 70-80 days. After the cuttings take root, the light transmission intensity and ventilation time should be gradually increased to make it gradually adapt to the external environment.

How to raise potted five-needle pine?

1. Soil: the five-needle pine pot soil requires drainage, good ventilation and slightly acidic sandy soil rich in organic matter, especially black mountain mud, peat soil and artificial medium. Rotten leaf soil is commonly used to mix with yellow soil (or black mountain mud) and sandy soil, the proportion is 6:3:1. The basin soil should not be alkaline, otherwise it is disadvantageous to growth, and the five-needle pine will yellowing and falling off.

2. Lighting: five-needle pine is a strong positive plant, usually the flowerpot should be kept in a dry, ventilated and sunny place, too wet and too shady are disadvantageous to its growth. Usually the seedlings of five-needle pine planted in pot for 1 ~ 2 years should be properly shaded to prevent the needles from being scorched by excessive sun at noon in summer, and should be placed in the open air at other times to fully accept the sun.

3. Watering: five-needle pine likes to dry and avoid dampness, watering should be appropriate, do not water more, and often spray water on the leaf surface. The soil moisture should be 15-30%. Generally, water is watered once every 2-3 days in spring and 1-2 days in autumn. In summer, water is watered once in the morning and once on the leaves in the evening. Water is watered once a week in winter, and foliage is often sprayed with clean water.

4. Fertilization: five-needle pine should be applied with thin fertilizer and less fertilizer, and fully mature cake fertilizer should be applied. Fertilization for mature plants should be carried out in spring and autumn. Spring fertilizer is applied every 10 days 2-3 months before germination, with a concentration of about 15%, in order to promote germination and branch growth. The weather is hot from July to August, 10% dilute fertilizer and water should be applied once every half a month, and the application should be carried out in the morning and evening.

5. Pruning: five-needle pine needs continuous pruning to make its posture more and more perfect. Pruning should be carried out during the dormant period from December to January of the second year, mainly cutting off overgrown branches, messy branches and branches of diseases and insect pests. After cutting, the wound is sealed with lanolin or adhesive tape to prevent the flow of fat. Buds are usually picked between April and May, and it is appropriate to pick buds when the buds sprout is 2cm or 3cm. The long buds on the top of the branches can be removed from the top of the branches, so as to avoid growing branches, making the needles compact and short, and the branches stout.

6, change the basin: the five-needle pine at the beginning of the basin is appropriate to use the plain burning mud basin, because of its good ventilation, easy to survive. Wait for the basin, and then change the form of simple, deep color purple sand pottery basin. The potted soil should be changed every 3 to 4 years, and the time of soil change should be from the end of February to the beginning of April or from September to mid-October. When changing the basin, cut off some old roots properly and water them thoroughly.

7. Diseases and insect pests: five-needle pine is vulnerable to diseases and insect pests such as leaf blight, pine larch, pine tip borer, shell insects and so on if not maintained properly. Once found, the diseased leaves should be removed in time, and 50% methyl topiramate wettable powder 800 times solution should be sprayed. When shell insects and pine tip borer are found, 80% pyrethroid insecticides can be sprayed with 1000 times water solution to control them.