How to grow cedars from nuts.

18.10.22 0 Comments Posted by admin

For organic gardeners, permaculturists and light-workers

The germinating capacity of Siberian cedar nut (Pinus Sibirica) is preserved for up to four years. After sowing, the nuts are loosely covered with soil. The nut germinate in the year they are sown or in the following year, more rarely in the third year, after germination the young shoots must be kept in the shade and watered, in the second year the seedlings develop only the top shoot, in the third year they form the first whorl of lateral shoots. The young plant acquires a crown usually by the time it is 5 to 7 years old, and by 15 to 25 years of age is covered with branches almost to the ground. At 20 to 30 years of age, the lower branches begin to die off, and the crown acquires an oval shape.

How to germinate cedar nuts.

1. Put the seeds in a bowl with water for 1,5 – 2 hours (better for 9 hours). Those having sunk show they are best for planting. Don't throw away the floating ones, you can plant them separately and some may also germinate.

2. Before planting, you may accomplish all Anastasia’s recommendations, if you feel like that (see below * ).
3. For better germination, slightly scratch the narrow end of each nut by abrasive material (sand paper).
4. Mix cedar nuts with two to three times their volume of sterile wet (50%) substratum (sand, sawdust, peat, moss) and put them into the cold place with temperature range -4 to +4 for at least 12 weeks for stratification. Check the seeds every two weeks for they can start earlier. As soon as they started go to the next step below.
5. The started nuts should be planted in a box with specially prepared mix (not the earth). The mix should be made of sand (70%) and small size coniferous wood chipping (30%). As opposed to earth, this mix is free of putrid bacteria and is moisture-retentive and considering that cedar germ is very weak and is prone to decay and desiccation, the germination and survival rate in this mix is very high, if you strictly follow the instruction, upto 99%.
6. A nut should be planted narrow end down to the mix. This is where the germ comes out, this way it will easily push the shell up to the surface, and see the light straight away. To plant a nut means namely just to stick it slightly narrow end down to the mix, so that you can see the top. Water it with care. Alternatively you can plant each nut in a separate pot.
7. Finally, pour some dry mix over it, no more than 3-5 mm in layer.
8. Cover the box with polyethylene to create a greenhouse effect and place it under the sun.
9. If you made everything right, the nuts will germinate in 9 days!

How to grow cedar sprouts.

1. Take the polyethylene out. For regions with warm climate - leave the box in a shadow, protect it from direct sun rays.
2. In about 1 or 2 months you should plant each sprout in a separate pot (if you did not plant them in separate pots from the beginning).
3. Fill in the pot with the same mix of sand and coniferous wood chipping*.
4. The mix in the box with cedars should be well moistened (to gummy state – better to take out sprouts)
5. Take a scoop and dip it with care under the sprout to the root depth (3-5 cm). Pick up the sprout and replant it to the prepared pot with mix.
6. Put the pots in sunny place and make sure you water them often. Grow the seedlings in pots for 2-3 years.
7. According to Anastasia's recommendations, at dry weather you may wash your feet in a basin and pour this water under the sprout. Be careful! Don’t pour the water directly on the sprout needles, only on the root.
* - Coniferous wood chipping is important, because it contains special kind of mycosis benefitial for well-being of young cedar sprouts.

How to transplant cedar seedlings in open ground.

1. Dig a 50x50 hole, fill it with a mixture of humus, peat, and fallen needles (if possible). If the ground is clayey, then add 1/3 sand to the hole.
2. When thransplanting ensure that the root system is kept intact. In the hole, the roots are spread out, soil is poured in, packed down, the root neck should be level with the soil.
3. Water the plant, and in the first two to three months, make sure that the soil does not dry out.
4. In the regions with warm climate protect the seedlings from direct sun rays, using lots of grass, or some cloth stretched on the sticks surrounding the seedling.
5. In cold regions cedars grow well only on sunny side. For example, for 5 year in a shadow it grow up to 20 cm, whereas for 5 years under the sun - up to 80 cm.

* Anastasia from "The Ringing Cedars of Russia" book series suggests:

"Let each inhabitant of a large city take a tiny nut from a resinous cedar cone, hold it in his mouth, bathe it in his saliva, plant it at home in earth in a small pot, and water the earth each day. Before watering, let him dip his fingers into the water, his mood should be good, and let him wish himself, and, most importantly, his descendants, his children, good and the consciousness of God. And do this every day.

When the shoot emerges, he can mentally converse with it about what is secret. On a summer, frostless day, at night, the pot with the small shoot should be placed outside among other plants. Let it begin to communicate with the stars, moon, and sun, let it know the rain, the breeze, and the spirit of the grass growing nearby, and it will come back inside again to its friends, its parents. This should be done on many occasions, when you have the desire and the time. This shoot is growing for the ages, after all, a cedar will live for more than five hundred years, it will give descendants, and tell new cedars about the spirits of those who grew them.

When it has grown to thirty centimeters inside, in the early spring the shoot may be planted in the earth. Let the municipal authorities allot at least one square metre to all those who do not own land. And the shoots will be planted from the edge of the city to the riverbank and along the roads, among the houses and in the centre of crowded squares, let the people each look after their shoot, and let them help each other. From all corners of the earth people will come to this city for centuries to look, to touch these sacred objects, to exchange even a word with its happy people."

(From the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" book series)

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