Going through your box of Christmas tree decorations can be fun, and while it’s nice to have real trees indoors, they can make a mess. Many growers like to keep a real Christmas tree in their garden’s best site and make do with an alternative indoors. The issues come when you wish to plant a Christmas Tree. Luckily, you can use this guide to find all you need to know about growing Christmas Tree so you never need to purchase a new one again.
Can You Grow a Christmas Tree from Cuttings?
Many pine trees must endure a bit of cold in their dormant period. Once spring arrives, this signals they are to start to grow again. For a conifer tree, the cold period will last around 8-weeks. (Read How To Prune A Palm Tree)
After this, they wait for warmer temps around a root system. When you plant from a cutting, take it from one of the branches from another tree.
Here’s how to plant Christmas trees or firs from cuttings
- Use branches off freshly-cut trees and keep them within a couple of days old. Take several stems in case they don’t all develop roots.
- Cut a branch about 6 to one foot long with the same thickness as a pencil.
- Remove all the needles from the stem’s bottom half.
- Fill a decent-sized pot with good potting soil. Moisten it until it is damp to the touch.
- Make a hole inside the soil for your Christmas tree using a pencil.
- Make several vertical slits in the branch base before dipping into hormone powder.
- Gently push your seedlings stem into the hole in the soil.
- Place the pot in a sheltered location without too much sunlight.
- Lightly mist the needles with a spray bottle full of water a few times daily.
- Every couple of weeks, add water to the pot if the soil is dry to the touch.
- Make sure to spritz the needles and moisten the soil while new growth and roots develop. It will take around three or more months after planting for this to occur.
- As roots develop, move your cutting to a larger container with new potting soil enriched with a bit of fertilizer. You can move your young trees outdoors after a few months.
What is the Best Soil for Growing Christmas Trees?
Christmas trees can be grown in a range of soil types. However, growers find that well-drained, loamy soils are most suitable for planting Christmas trees. Soil fertility will improve tree quality and appearance. It can also help reduce the number of years to grow your Christmas tree. (Learn How To Kill A Stump)
How Long Does it Take to Grow a Xmas Tree?
Christmas trees are mostly grown from a cutting or seedling. They are fast-growing compared to other trees, and you can have a decent-sized tree in your tenth year or a bit sooner. For example, a Douglas fir can take ten years from seed to size for cutting.
It can take a Fraser fir between the 3- or four-year period after planting to reach around a foot to eighteen inches in height. At this stage, a farm would transplant seedlings to open fields to grow until they harvest them. (Read How To Plant A Magnolia Tree)
Is a Christmas Tree Farm Profitable?
Much like the Douglass or the Fraser, the Noble Fir pine can be grown in USDA regions 3 to 6, where conditions should be perfect every year.
While you may think it could be a going business, more work is needed to profit from a Christmas Tree farm. You first need to account for ten years before seeing any comeback on an investment. (Learn How Often Do You Water Ferns)
Here are a few other things to think about.
Nursery Stock
Christmas tree planting stock is found in many sizes and ages. Christmas trees are planted as a seedling or transplants and depending on species.
Planting Season
Bare rooted seedlings and transplants must be planted in the dormant season. Ideal weather and soil conditions occur in early fall and late spring. Spring season is the best time to plant, particularly if you are planting into heavy loam or soils that are clay heavy. (Read How Long Do Christmas Trees Last)
Trees planted in these soils during the early fall will be prone to frost heaving and winter kill. Spring planting means soils are frost-free and warming up.
Spacing
Most Christmas tree species need planting 6X6, or if you have the space, 1,200 trees for each acre. Although this can be adjusted with the final market size and potential airflow issues or if you use machinery.
Hand planting
Hand planting will be done with a shovel, dibble, or a power auger. Your holes must be large enough to fit the fir’s roots without crowding. Thus, the roots should fall in a natural uncrowded or position. Then add your soil back around the roots, tamp it down to remove air, and offer support. If you had a spare acre and wished to tie this land up for ten years, you could be looking at around $50 per tree you sell. (Read Can You Plant Trees In The Winter)
However, once you see that you would need another ten years before recouping costs, a local lot of landing for growing trees isn’t the most viable on a small scale. If your garden has ideal growing conditions, you can select a large enough site to grow fir or your desired Christmas tree species. One of the main things to look for is good needle retention, which makes your growth appear full.
Experts in the field are currently Oregon State University growing different species to see what they like at a different time of year and how they fit in local climates for the perfect growth for every first type of tree. Many growers may have the best site to root their seedlings. Once you do this and your tree begins to get its feet underneath, you can think about how you’d like to decorate it at Christmas time with the help of your family.
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