Distinctive features of the plant, tips for caring for larch in home cultivation, breeding rules, difficulties in room cultivation and ways to overcome them, facts, types for rooms. According to the botanical classification, larch (Larix) belongs to the Pine family (Pinaceae), which includes many woody plants. She is also considered a representative of the genus, which is most common among conifers. However, unlike the latter, larch loses its needles for the winter period. This breed is the most widespread in the world, and in Russia as well. On the vast territory of Siberia and the Far East of Russia, there are areas occupied by plantations of larch, and light-coniferous larch forests from the southern lands of Primorye to the most northern borders are also not uncommon.
The plant received its scientific name in Latin long before Karl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the creator of a unified system by which it was possible to classify all representatives of the flora and fauna world known at that time. Back in the 16th century, larch was already known under the name Larix, and the origin of this term is still not clear. There are versions according to which the origins go back to the Gallic dialect - this was the name of "resin" or the progenitor is the word "lar", which meant "rich", "abundant" or "very resinous" in the Celtic language. According to another version, the basis is the words in Latin "laridum" "lardum" - translated as "fat". All these versions boil down to one thing, that the plant has increased resinousness.
If natural conditions are favorable, then larch can reach a height of 50 meters, while the diameter of its trunk will become equal to one meter. Such giant trees live up to 300-400 years, but there are specimens that have exceeded the term of 800 years. The crown of the plant is loose, and the sun's rays can shine through it. At a young age, it takes the shape of a cone, but over time, its shape changes to round or ovoid, the top is blunt. If the growing area is very windy, then the crown becomes lopsided in the form of a flag.
Larch needles are soft and changing every year with the arrival of autumn. The needles have flattening on both sides. The color is bright green, the arrangement can be either spiral or single on elongated shoots, but if their length is short, then the needles are combined in bunches of 20-40 pieces, often their number can reach 50 units.
Larch is a monoecious plant. The length of male spikelets is 5–10 mm, their shape is round-ovoid, and the color is yellowish. The stamens have a pair of anthers. The color of the female cones is green or reddish pink. As soon as the needles bloom, the process of pollination takes place. In the same year, the cones ripen. Their outlines can vary from ovoid to oblong-rounded, with a length of 1, 5–3, 5 cm. When the cone is ripe, it can open immediately, or hibernate, and this process occurs in March.
Inside the cones there are seeds of small size, ovoid, with wings tightly attached to them. Larch begins to bear fruit when its age approaches 15 years. The most abundant seed years occur at intervals of 6–7 years. The seeds are distinguished by a very low germination rate.
Of course, it is good to use larch on a personal plot, but it becomes even more interesting to cultivate it in a room. Since the growth rate of this ephedra is high, then a good mini-tree in the bonsai style can be grown from a seedling in a five-year period, if you adhere to certain rules.
Larch care when growing it indoors
- Lighting. A place on the windowsill of an east or west window will do. In the first three months, they are protected from bright sunlight.
- Content temperature. Larch will be comfortable if the temperature indicators are moderate - 18-20 degrees. It is necessary to protect the plant from the heat in the summer, and in the winter it can be moved to the glazed balcony.
- Watering for larch and air humidity. It is recommended to spray the crown daily, this will facilitate early adaptation if the tree has been dug up and moved indoors. Usually the problem is that larch can die in the 1st or 2nd year of life. Such a nuisance often occurs due to the flooding of soil in the pot. Therefore, the crown should be sprayed more often, and not moisturized. Watering is carried out only when the substrate has already dried out in the upper part.
- Top dressing. When young needles appear on the plant after the winter rest, then it's time to feed. It is recommended to select preparations with a high nitrogen content in them - this will help to build up deciduous mass. In the summer, fertilizers are no longer applied in such a large amount and it is advised to use balanced preparations. In August and autumn, larch should be fed with products in which there is little or no nitrogen at all. Top dressing is carried out until the needles begin to turn yellow. Only then will larch develop normally. With the arrival of winter, it is recommended to cut off the shoots of the previous year, without affecting those that do not violate the selected style and shape.
- Formation of bonsai from larch. It is necessary to wait for the plant to enter a period of winter dormancy and then pruning must be carried out. For this time, January or February is most suitable. Often it will be sufficient to pluck out new branches at the ends of the shoots or to remove the buds all over the tree. The same manipulations are carried out in August, if the development of Larex is very rapid, or in September.
- Larch transplant and substrate selection. Young plants will require transplanting every 3 years (if the plant is tubular). Bonsai are transplanted annually, with a strong pruning of the root system and a complete replacement of the substrate with a more fertile one. It is preferable to use “Akadama” soil with peat mixed into it, or use a soil mixture of peat and sand, keeping the native substrate only next to the root ball. The soil for larch must have good water and air permeability. When transplanting, it is recommended to use the transshipment method so that the soil near the root system is not removed, since a mycelium beneficial to the plant is being formed in it.
Reproduction of larch with indoor care
You can get a young coniferous plant by sowing seeds, rooting cuttings or cuttings.
When seed propagation, be prepared for painstaking and lengthy work. Larch cones are harvested in the fall and dried in a warm place, for example, near a battery. When the scales open, the seed can be removed. Before planting, you need to keep the planting material in very cold water for 2-3 days. Some growers put seeds on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, thus providing them with cold stratification. Sometimes they follow a different path - the seeds are placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and then planted in a container filled with sand. Then watering is carried out with warm water, and the container is placed in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment for 3 months. At the same time, it is monitored so that the sand does not dry out.
This method will make it possible to get more seedlings, since germination without such actions, it is very small. Closer to spring days, a container with seeds is taken out and placed on the windowsill under warm sunlight. At the same time, to maintain the greenhouse effect, a piece of glass is placed on top or the pot is wrapped in plastic wrap. In this case, regular ventilation will be needed. Crop care consists in maintaining moderate soil moisture - do not overdry it, but also do not flood it.
After a couple of weeks, the first shoots will appear. When a pair of needles is formed on the seedlings, then you can gradually remove the shelter, accustoming them to indoor growing conditions. As soon as such young larches get stronger over the summer and autumn, and already next spring they can be transplanted in separate pots.
Another way is to propagate with cuttings, but there is no guarantee of rooting success. For this, a healthy shoot is selected in the lower part of the larch stem and a bark cut is made in its middle. This cut is cut with a root root and nailed to the soil in another or the same pot. Then the branch is fixed with stiff wire and covered with soil. Care is carried out in the same way as for the parent specimen. Sometimes the cut is covered with a layer of sphagnum moss and wrapped in a plastic bag, but then you need to monitor so that the moss never dries out. Even after the formation of roots on the cut from the mother larch, it is not recommended to separate it until next spring. Then the branch is separated, and if it was dug in a pot with an adult plant, then it is planted in a separate pot.
For grafting, blanks are cut from young apical branches. The cut is treated with a root formation stimulator and cuttings are planted in September in sandy-peat soil. Cover with plastic wrap or place under a cut plastic bottle. Care consists in airing and moistening the soil in the pot. If all goes well, that transplant will not be possible until next spring.
Difficulties in indoor cultivation of a larch plant
If the above-mentioned care requirements for Larex are regularly violated, then it will be attacked by harmful insects such as spider mites, scale insects or mealybugs. If symptoms of a pest attack (cobwebs, whitish lumps, similar to cotton wool, sticky plaque) are detected, the plant should be treated with insecticidal preparations.
Of the problems accompanying room care, there are:
- yellowing of needles in the spring or summer is the result of an increased temperature of the content, insufficient watering, a lack of nutrients;
- pale color of needles is possible with insufficient lighting.
Larch facts for the curious
Larch has multiple medicinal properties, but for the room in which it is grown, the plant serves as a natural filter, saturating the air with phytoncides.
Larex bark, cones and needles are known for multiple medicinal products.
Types of larch for indoor cultivation
Of all the larches, only a few are applicable for cultivation in room conditions; they will be described in more detail below.
Kempfer's larch (Larex kaempferi) is often called Japanese larch (Larex japonica) or Larch larch (Larex leptolepsis). In the wild, this plant is found only on the island of Honshu. Grown in culture in Europe since 1861. Thin bark on the trunk of a reddish-brown color, with some bluish bloom. When it begins to peel off in thin stripes, red spots open. The branches are thickened and long, their arrangement is almost horizontal, with a slight spiral twist. The crown is pyramidal, and often the trunk has several peaks. When the plant is old, the crown becomes quite wide.
The color of the needles is blue-green, bluish on the underside, which is created by stomatal stripes. The needles are 5 cm long on average, and this variety turns yellow much later than other types of larch. On short twigs from the needles, neat-looking rosettes are formed.
Cones are characterized by a large number of thin leathery scales that become bent when the cone is fully ripe. This shape later resembles a pink bud when opened. The cone length is 3.5 cm.
The following varietal variations are noted by gardeners:
- Blue Rabbit has a high growth rate and a very spectacular appearance;
- Diana (Diana) has twisted shoots;
- Wolterdingen (Wolterdingen) the size of the diameter of its crown exceeds the height of the plant.
Lael larch (Larex lyallii) has been cultivated in culture since the beginning of the 20th century in England; it has not been observed in the USSR. The native habitat is in Canada and the United States, in the first case covering British Columbia and Alberta, and in the second - the states of Washington, Montana and Idaho. It can grow at an altitude of 2000-2500 meters above sea level. Lives up to 500-700 years.
The height of this tree is 25 m with a trunk diameter of about 30-50 cm, but there are specimens with a meter trunk diameter. The crown is in the form of a cone, elongated branches take on weeping outlines. There are longitudinal grooves on the cortex. The color of young shoots is grayish, with dense pubescence. The buds are also distinguished by dense pubescence, they are covered with ciliated scales. The length of the needles varies within 25–35 cm, in cross section it has a rhombus, the color is bluish-green, the needles are very tough to the touch.
The shade of male spikelets of reddish color. In female cones, the outlines are ovoid-cylindrical. They reach 35–50 mm in length and about 20 mm in diameter. The color of the seed scales is dark purple, with fringes and pubescence along the edge. Covering scales differ in purple color, their shape is elliptical-lanceolate, straight. Seed material with a pale pink wing, length with seed is about 10 mm.
European larch (Larex decidua) is also found under the name Fallen Larch. Natural distribution falls on the lands of coniferous and mixed forests in Western and Central Europe, reaching in the east to the Carpathian Mountains. Growing height is 1000–2500 meters above sea level. The life span is often 500 years or more. Some specimens can measure 50 meters or more in height, but generally the plant height ranges from 30–40 m. The trunk diameter is 80–100 cm.
The crown can be either conical or irregular in shape. On adult plants, the bark is longitudinally fissured, with a brown or grayish-brown color. The inner layers of the trunk are distinguished by a reddish-brown color and measure 2–4 cm. When the shoots are young, they are cast in a grayish-yellow color, their surface is bare.
The size of the apical buds is small, the lateral ones are hemispherical with a bare surface. The needles are collected in bunches of 20–40 pieces (sometimes up to 65 units). Its color is light green, often with a bluish bloom. The outlines of the needles are narrow-linear, they are soft to the touch. It reaches 10–40 mm in length, with a width of about 0.6–1.6 mm.
The outlines of male spikelets are ovate-spherical, yellow in color. Female cones are ovoid-cylindrical, 10–18 mm long, purple in color. Occasionally pinkish or greenish-white, green or yellow. Flowering occurs simultaneously with the blooming of the needles.
The cones have an ovoid-conical shape or they can take an oblong-ovoid shape. The color of the young is purple, and the mature is brownish. The length is 2–4 cm with diameters of about 2–2, 4 cm. They have 45–70 scales, which are arranged in 6–8 rows. Fully ripening takes place in the spring of next year. The shape of the seeds is oval-inverse, they are 3–4 mm long, the wing is thin, ovoid-semicircular in outline. The length of the seed with a wing is 9–11 mm.
