Distinctive features of cryptomeria, creating conditions for indoor cultivation, reproduction of a Japanese tree, difficulties in cultivation, interesting facts. Cryptomeria, or as it is also called Japanese Cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica), is an evergreen tree-like plant that goes into the Cypress family (Cupressaceae). There is only one variety in the genus and is popularly called the Japanese cedar. In Japan, this representative of the handicap is considered the national tree.
In China, this plant is called Shan, and in the Japanese lands, Sugi, these two terms have almost everywhere supplanted the old aforementioned name, since cryptomeria itself has nothing to do with the genus Cedrus (Cedrus) and its name is considered erroneous.
From all of the above, we can conclude that the plant is endemic to the territories of Japan and China, that is, it does not germinate in the wild anywhere else on the planet. And in those areas in the mountainous regions of Sugi, it successfully forms clean plantations. On the Russian lands, only on the island of Kunashir, cryptomeria is represented by one single specimen. And that is why botanical scientists put forward the assumption about the introduction of this tree, that is, that it was intentionally or accidentally transferred from its native territories.
In terms of height, Japanese Cryptomeria can reach 50 meters, it has a dense and narrowed crown, almost pyramidal. The trunk is covered with a bark of a reddish-brown color, fibrous, which can slide in stripes. The contours of the barrel are cylindrical. Gnarled branches are spaced from the trunk. There are small-sized buds, their appearance is not scaly. The arrangement of the leaf plates is spiral in five rows, while they are directed forward with a bend inward. The leaf takes a linear-subulate or needle-like shape, with a curvature at the base, there is compression on the sides, the leaf is obtuse in section, with three or four edges, monoecious, their color is from light greenish to dark green. The size of the needles fluctuates around 2.5 cm. In winter, in some forms, the needles can take on a reddish or yellowish color. A needle can function on a knot for up to 7 years.
During flowering, female and male flowers are formed. In females, the shape is rounded, the arrangement is single, such buds crown the ends of young shoots. Male ones are also formed singly, on young branches, while bundles are collected from them. They are covered with covering scales, which start from the bottom and go to the middle, growing together with the seed scales.
The contours of the seed cones are almost spherical, they can reach 2 cm in diameter, their color is brownish, they are located singly, ripening in the first year, and can remain on the branches even after the seeds are scattered. They have scales, the number of which varies in the range of 20-30 units, their shape is wedge-shaped, they are woody, they have three cotyledons (sometimes x-11).
Shan is used for landscape gardening. Despite the rather impressive type of cryptomeria, dwarf forms have already been bred, which are successfully grown in indoor conditions. This plant has been in cultivation since 1842.
How to keep cryptomeria at home, landing
- Lighting and site selection. Most of all, for growing Japanese cedar, bright lighting is suitable, but with diffused sunlight. This can be achieved by placing a pot of cryptomeria on the sills of east or west windows. If there is no way out, and the plant is on the south window, then it is imperative to shade the direct streams of midday ultraviolet radiation with curtains made of light fabrics. On the north - you will need to carry out illumination with phytolamps.
- Content temperature. In summer, it is recommended to carry out frequent airing for cryptomeria and it is desirable that the heat indicators do not rise above 25 degrees, but with the arrival of winter it is important for the plant to lower the temperature to 5-12 units, since without such cool conditions the Japanese cedar will be tight. In the summer, you can take the plant out into the open air; for this, a balcony or terrace, where the windows will be open, or a place in the garden, are suitable.
- Air humidity. The humidity indicators in the room where the plant is located should be in the range of 60-80%. When cultivating cryptomeria, it is required to spray the crown of the tree 1-2 times a day, since the Japanese cedar is very sensitive to dry air. You will need to increase the humidity level by various methods: by installing air humidifiers next to the pot, you can put the flowerpot in a pallet with a small amount of water poured and poured with expanded clay or pebbles, the simplest method is to install a vessel with water next to the cryptomeria. Regular ventilation is also recommended.
- Watering cryptomeria. Moisten the soil in a pot with Japanese cedar often, but in small portions. Water is used only soft, heated to 20-25 degrees. In the spring-summer period, such watering is daily, but with the arrival of winter, this operation is carried out as needed, and depends on the wintering conditions. It is important not to allow both liquid stagnation (this will lead to decay of the root system) and the complete drying of the earthy coma (the needles will begin to turn yellow and fall off). If the plant hibernates in cool conditions, then watering can be halved.
- Fertilizers for Japanese cedar it is applied every 3-4 weeks, from May days to early autumn. It is important not to overfeed cryptomeria, as there will be an explosion of its growth. The main thing is that the dressings do not contain a large amount of nitrogen in their composition. It is recommended to use liquid formulations of mineral fertilizers. However, if a transplant has been carried out, then in the next year it is not necessary to fertilize such a plant.
- Cryptomeria transplant. While the plant is young (up to five years old), it needs annual changes of the pot to a larger one, and the soil in it also changes. The time is selected in March-April, until the Japanese cedar began to actively develop. But it must be remembered that frequent transplants and too much increase in the size of the pot will lead to an increase in the growth rate and soon cryptomeria can turn into a real tree. When transplanting, it is better to use the transshipment method when the earthen lump is not destroyed, since the root system is quite sensitive. If the tree is already large, then you can transplant every 3-4 years, and the rest of the time you can change the top layer of soil (4-5 cm) to a fresh one. A layer of drainage material is necessarily placed on the bottom of the new pot (medium-sized expanded clay or pebbles, you can take broken ceramic or clay shards or crushed brick).
The substrate should be loose, cryptomeria grows well on acidic soils, the reaction to lime is negative. Usually the soil is composed of leafy soil, compost and coarse sand, everything is taken in equal parts.
After the plant has been transplanted, its crown is abundantly sprayed during the first few days, 2–4 times.
Tips for self-propagating cryptomeria
You can get a new young Japanese cedar plant by sowing seeds or using cuttings and layering.
Freshly harvested seed material must be placed one unit at a time in cups with peat-sandy substrate (proportion 1: 1). Covering the container with a plastic bag, it is placed in a warm place with shade from direct sunlight. It is necessary to carry out daily ventilation and, if necessary, spraying the soil. The seeds will hatch in 2-3 weeks.
But the most successful method is considered to be cuttings. A non-lignified branch (young shoot) is selected and a workpiece is cut from it with a sharpened and disinfected knife into a cutting of at least 10 cm in length. It is recommended to treat the cut with a root formation stimulant (for example, heteroauxin or "Kornevin") and the branch is placed in a vessel with water.
When root shoots appear on the handle, planting can be carried out in separate pots. A dredge mixture of leaf and sod soil, river sand and peat (proportion 2: 1: 1: 2) is used, or a substrate based on sod, leafy soil and coarse-grain sand is used (parts are equal). A drainage layer is needed at the bottom of the pot so that the water does not stagnate.
If reproduction is carried out with the help of layering, then the lower shoot should be bent to the ground, having previously cut it a little. At the ground, such a branch is pressed and fixed, it is covered with soil so that only the tip of the shoot sticks out of it. After a month, such a layer gives roots and successfully takes root, forming its own shoots. Then a separation from the mother plant of cryptomeria is carried out.
Both seedlings and rooted cuttings and cuttings grow at high speed and begin to bush, so crown molding can be carried out even on a small tree. The first five years, transplants are needed in the spring in a larger pot, and then such an operation will be required with regularity after 3-4 years.
Pest and Disease Control in Cryptomeria Care
Since Japanese cedar, like all coniferous representatives of the flora, has the ability to release phytoncides, many pests avoid it. However, if the above rules of keeping (low air humidity) are violated, then cryptomeria can become a target for the red spider mite. Such a pest manifests itself in the formation of a thin, almost transparent cobweb on the shoots and needles. It is possible to get rid of the harmful insect and its waste products by washing the crown of Suga and performing the treatment with systemic insecticidal preparations.
If the needles begin to yellow and fall off, then this is also evidence of dry air in the room. Here, daily spraying of the crown will become prevention, as well as increasing the humidity level in all possible ways.
Interesting facts about cryptomeria
Cryptomeria is considered a fairly ancient representative of the flora, and by the age of 150, its height parameters can reach 60 meters with a trunk diameter of up to two meters.
According to some Japanese data, there are up to 337 forms and cultural variants of Sugi, but with more thorough research this number can be reduced to two hundred. But, for example, if in Japan there are many forms that no one in Europe has ever heard of, then in Germany you can find varieties that are not at all attracted to the gardeners of the land of the rising sun - such as “Vilmoriniana”. It is also known that up to 20 garden varieties are cultivated on German lands, and the rest can be found only in private collections.
Cryptomeria is also a frequent visitor to gardens or park zones in Russia, for example, if you take the region of the Black Sea coast.
The wood of the Shan plant is soft, light, possessing properties of resistance to decay and ease of processing, sometimes there is a beautiful pattern on the cut. Since cryptomeria, like all its "coniferous relatives", has the ability to release phytoncides, the plant will fill the room in which it is located with negative oxygen ions, and the aroma of the needles will help prevent viral diseases, serving as a natural bactericidal agent, therefore, the development of pathogenic microbes will discontinued.
Types of cryptomeria
Here are just some of the more popular cultural options:
- "Araucarioides" is an uneven and wide plant with one or two trunks. At first, they have broad-shaped outlines, and branches cover them to the very bottom. The branches are quite long, hanging to the soil, at their ends bunches of shoots are formed, varying in length. Needle leaves are shorter and thicker than the base species, and have a large bend, the color is very dark green or emerald green. It was taken to Holland in 1859 by Philip Franz von Siebold (1796–1866), a German physician who was also a naturalist and studied Japan.
- "Bandai-sugi" from the very beginning it has a more rounded shape, over time it takes on almost straight and uneven bushy outlines. The plant reaches 2 m in height, differs in shoots of different lengths. If the branch is long, then it ends in a bunch of twigs, connected in shaggy bunches. The needles differ in various parameters in length, if the shoot is young, then such "leaves" vary in the range of 12-15 mm, on all other branches their length is about 3 cm. Often they are hard and thick, colored in a bluish-green color. winter, acquiring a beautiful bloom. It was exported from Japanese territory until 1934 and is widespread in Germany.
- Compressa It is a dwarf form, with rounded or broad-shaped outlines, rather strongly resembles the “Vilmoriniana” variant. However, this plant differs from it in multiple prominent leading branches of small sizes. At their ends there are bent needles with rosette-like contours. The length of such leaves-needles reaches 5-10 mm, their color is dark green, the surface is shiny, deep in the crown of the needles take on a bluish-brown tone, in winter the general color becomes reddish-brown. Boscope was brought to the city and province of South Holland from Japan in 1942.
- "Cristata". The form has narrow, straight outlines, height parameters do not exceed 6–8 m. It has raised short branches. The contours of the short and rigid branches are bent, often they have wide ridge-like "bandages", which after a while acquire a brown color and die off. In the period 1900, such a plant was exported from Japan to Germany by Unger.
- Elegans compacta has dwarf outlines, can reach a height of 2 m. The type of plant is flat-round, rather squat, lateral shoots differ in various lengths, can sometimes die off. The length of the needle-leaves is measured 20 mm, they are located at a distance from each other, their surface is soft, in the summer, the color is bluish-green, which acquires a purple tint in winter.
- Globosa nana. Dwarf form, with a compressed and wide-rounded crown, sometimes numerous nodules (pineal formations) are present. The height of the representative growing in the Isola Madre park reaches 2-3 meters. The branches are quite dense, the size is one-dimensional, they grow upright. The twigs have a bend. The needles are short, their surface is dense, varied in length, have a compressed appearance and a light green color, in winter they can take on a bluish-green hue. The form is quite spectacular and winter-hardy.
- Globosa. This form has smaller parameters in height than in width, its crown is round to flat-rounded. The plant does not exceed one and a half meters in height. The branches have elongated contours, the ends are bent down. The length of the thin needles is 1–1, 5 cm. Their color is bluish-green, becoming rusty-red in winter. The form is winter-hardy, but less decorative than the winter "Globosa nana". In 1942 it was already on sale in Holland.
For more on Cryptomeria care, see below:
