Blue Spruce is a beautiful coniferous tree native to western North America. Due to the color of the needles, it is actively used for decorating garden plots. The growth rate of an evergreen plant is not intense, so many are interested in how it can be accelerated. The article will focus on what affects the growth rate and what to do so that you can quickly admire the blue beauty.

What determines the growth of blue spruce

First of all, the growth rate of a tree is influenced by which variety it belongs to: there are fast-growing ones and not. They have different annual growth.

Did you know? Having spent 15 years researching, the Soviet breeder I.P. Kovtunenko came to the conclusion that blue spruce seedlings germinate well on the cones of an ordinary Christmas tree or pine, on which mold began to develop. For the new technique, the scientist was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1952, and the trees obtained by his method flaunt near the walls of the Kremlin.

If you do not take into account the variety of a tree, then its growth rate will be affected by the growing conditions. The soil should be fertile, slightly acidic, loamy, moderately moist. Changing one of these parameters can lead to a slowdown or even to a halt in growth, deterioration of the tree.

Pests easily appear on a weakened plant, diseases develop, which also negatively affects the intensity of spruce development. Choosing the right place for planting, you need to carefully care for the plant. Timely top dressing and watering ensure normal tree growth.

Life span

In its natural habitat, blue spruce is a long-lived: it can live 600-800 years. Outside this range, it rarely lives longer than a century. Dwarf varieties are even smaller.

Stages of development

The growth rate of spruce is different in different periods of life. The first 10-15 years, it is relatively small, then increases. Growth does not stop throughout life. An adult tree annually adds 30 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter.

A seedling with a height of not more than 4 cm. By five years, the height is already half a meter, and the diameter of the crown is 30 cm. By ten years, it grows to 2.4 m and has a width of 1 meter. At 12 years old, height is 3.5–4 m, at 20–8 m, at 40–15 m, and diameter is 3 m. At 60 years old, the spruce rises 17 m and has a crown girth of 4 m.

Rates of growth

Depending on the height, blue Christmas trees are divided into dwarf, middle-sized and ordinary. This also affects how fast they grow.

Important! At low temperatures, young blue spruce grows extremely poorly.

Dwarf

Dwarf varieties are rarely above 3-4 meters. Most of them are bush forms and do not grow more than 50-60 cm. In these varieties, if they are fast-growing, the growth is 5-6 cm per year. Otherwise, 2.5 cm.

Medium

Medium-sized varieties of blue spruce can grow up to 10–20 meters. On average, their annual growth is 10-15 cm. Some varieties may add about 30 cm per year.

Of ordinary

A newly planted ordinary spruce in the first year of its life adds 3-4 cm. Over the next 15 years, the annual annual growth will be 10–20 cm. After that, the pace will increase a little more until the tree reaches its 25–30 meters.

How to change the growth rate

The pace of development of the plant can be affected, although not significantly. If necessary, they can be slightly accelerated or slowed down.

To speed up

Acceleration is facilitated by the introduction of nutrients and growth stimulants when growing a tree. Regularly need to make spruce top-dressing. It is advisable to use complexes for conifers. Growth stimulants are also very effective. Here you need to give preference to drugs that, in addition to stimulants, contain vitamins, polysaccharides, polyamides. They not only accelerate the development of the plant, but also provide it with the necessary substances.

Slow down

The most effective way to restrain the growth of the conifer in question is pinching. Using this procedure, you can grow a dwarf from an ordinary instance. It is possible to adjust not only height, but also width, shape.

Important! Nipping should be done annually or a year later, depending on the magnitude of the growth of spruce.

You need to be able to pinch correctly. The top of the head grows the fastest, so you need to break it off, then find the adjacent lateral slow-growing shoot and direct it up. It is imperative to fix it in an upright position using a stick, peg.

How quickly conifer will develop depends on its variety, the correct planting and care of it. If desired, the speed can be changed. However, rapid growth from it is still not to be expected, since all conifers are slow-growing.