Cultivation Of Sea Buckthorn In The Northwest Region

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Sea buckthorn is a dioecious plant: there are male specimens, which, of course, do not give berries, and there are female specimens, from which we harvest. Male plants can be distinguished from female plants only at the age of 3-5 years, when flower buds begin to form in them for the first time. This happens at the end of summer.

Vegetative buds (those from which leaves are formed) are small, covered with two scales, tightly pressed to the branches. The flower buds of female specimens look exactly the same, and it is difficult to distinguish them from each other. But male flower buds differ sharply from vegetative buds. They are much larger, protrude from the branches and are very similar to small pine cones, because they are covered with 7-8 scales.

Sometimes unscrupulous sellers deceive inexperienced gardeners, assuring them that they are selling a new hybrid of monoecious sea buckthorn, pointing to the supposedly flower buds of two species on the same branch. It usually turns out that this is just a male specimen with flower and vegetative buds. There is no monoecious sea buckthorn.

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Usually no one sees the flowering of this plant. First, she has no flowers in the usual sense. In male specimens, a bunch of stamens sticks out, which "dusts" in a radius of up to 50 m! If you shake this plant at the time of flowering, then a cloud of golden pollen will literally envelop it. There is a lot of it and it is small, so it easily flies over a long distance. If you do not have a male specimen, but the neighbors do, then it quite successfully pollinates your sea buckthorn.

One male specimen is enough to pollinate 5-6 females. You can simply cut one small twig from the male specimen and place it in a jar of water in the crown of the female plant. It is not difficult to graft a stalk from a male specimen into the crown of a female, and pollination is ensured for several years.

Unfortunately, male plants are more likely to die than more resistant female plants. Female plants from the axils of each leaf release only a small black inconspicuous pistil (in a week it grows up to 1 cm long). All flowering lasts about 10 days, so it is important that male and female plants are of the same variety or the same ripening period, otherwise they may bloom at different times and fertilization will not occur.

Budding (beginning of the growing season) begins at a temperature of +5 degrees and lasts about five days (in the North-West from May 1 to May 5). Flowering occurs at a temperature of 10-15 degrees Celsius and lasts about 10 days (in the Northwest from May 15 to 25).

Ripening of berries mainly takes place in August. In warm weather, an increased amount of sugar and oil accumulates at this time. During cool weather, the accumulation of vitamin C takes place. The berries become ready for consumption 7-10 days after the start of their coloring, from about August 15 to September 15. You should not be late in picking berries, because in an overripe state they have a wet separation.

The sea buckthorn vegetation ends early, from 10 to 15 October, and often the leaves fall green. Shoots grow from early May to late July. The dormant period for this culture is very short; already at the end of November it can wake up during a thaw. Therefore, the climate of the North-West is not suitable for her, and the life span of sea buckthorn is short. Plants older than 10-15 years old do not make any sense to keep on the site. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a replacement for an aging tree in a timely manner, the easiest way is to use root shoots for this.

The sea buckthorn bears fruit so abundantly that all the branches are literally covered with berries. The very name of the plant speaks about this. Berries on short stalks sit tightly on the branches, like corn on the cob. Sea buckthorn roots can spread 8-12 meters in all directions in search of better living conditions. This should not be allowed. Therefore, the place reserved for sea buckthorn is either enclosed with slate dug into the soil to a depth of 20-25 cm, or simply every year in the fall the plant is dug in, chopping off the roots that go beyond the space allotted to it. Then they should be pulled out and removed.

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Sea buckthorn roots are located in the surface layer of the soil, at a depth of only 12-15 cm, therefore, no digging or loosening under the sea buckthorn plantings is carried out. Weeds growing under the plants should not be weeded, but only mown.

The soil under the sea buckthorn needs to be mulched, or even better - to cover it. For this, the bent bent and Potentilla goose are suitable, in which the root system is located at a depth of only 2 cm and does not compete with the sea buckthorn roots. The root shoots of plants should not be dug out, but must also be mowed. In general, as few wounds as possible should be inflicted not only on the roots, but also on the trunks. You can only remove drying branches, especially the lower ones, by cutting them into a ring.

All pruning is done before the beginning of the growing season (before the start of sap flow). This plant is winter-hardy, tolerates frosts up to 40 degrees, but in male plants pollen can die already at -35 ° C. Sea buckthorn loves light sandy and sandy loam, moisture and air permeable soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction (pH 5-6).

This is one of the most demanding garden crops for lighting conditions. With insufficient lighting, the sea buckthorn weakens, the yield falls. The plant gradually dies.

Sea buckthorn does not tolerate drought well in June - July and may even shed its leaves, therefore, in dry weather, it requires abundant watering. Sea buckthorn does not like dense soils, especially clayey. It does not grow on peat bogs, as it does not tolerate the close standing of groundwater. It dies quickly on acidic soils.

Does not like sea buckthorn and winter thaws, because it easily wakes up when the temperature rises. And he absolutely cannot stand the shadow. To soil fertility, as mentioned above, it is not demanding, since nodule bacteria live on its roots, like in legumes. They saturate the soil with nitrogen from the air, so sea buckthorn does not need nitrogen fertilization. She needs little potassium, but she has a great need for phosphorus, since it is necessary not only for the sea buckthorn itself, but also for nodule bacteria.

Read the second part of the article: Planting and reproduction of sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn varieties and its beneficial properties