We planted several sea buckthorn trees in the garden, but we can’t figure out how to separate male and female sea buckthorn? What if both trees are the same? Tatiana, Tula.
Since sea buckthorn is a dioecious shrub, to obtain berries, it is necessary that both male and female plants grow in the garden. Therefore, the question arises of how to distinguish them from each other. Take advantage of expert advice and tips from experienced gardeners to learn to distinguish between male and female sea buckthorn bushes.

Features of sea buckthorn

The concept of dioecious plant means that some sea buckthorn bushes are female, their flowers have only a pistil, while others are male, their flowers have only stamens. To produce berries, pollen from male bushes must pollinate flowers from female ones. Pollination of female bushes occurs with the help of wind. The flowering period of male bushes lasts from 6 to 12 days. Berries, naturally, are formed only on female bushes.

Sea buckthorn is a dioecious plant, so two bushes are needed to produce berries.

Attention! One male sea buckthorn bush is enough to pollinate 5 female bushes growing within 5 m. In general, female sea buckthorn bushes can be pollinated by male ones even at a distance of 50 m, but the closer the male bushes grow to the female ones, the better the pollination process goes and the more berry yield.

Male and female bushes are very similar to each other, the only way to distinguish them is to consider the vegetative-generative ones, that is, flower buds both plants. It is possible to determine the gender of sea buckthorn bushes only on adult plants in the fall, when the process of bud formation has completed or in early spring when their swelling begins. In young shrubs it is impossible to distinguish gender, since they only have vegetative buds, that is, those from which leaves later grow.

Attention! In nurseries, when breeding sea buckthorn vegetatively, specialists strictly monitor the gender of seedlings, and in some nurseries, female seedlings are grafted onto a male branch to make sea buckthorn bushes universal.

How to find differences?

The following signs will help you distinguish between bushes:

1. At first, young seedlings of male bushes are larger in size than female ones, and over time, female ones catch up and outgrow, becoming larger than male ones.

1 - buds of a female plant, 2 - male

2. The generative buds of female seedlings are small and covered with two large scales, the buds of male seedlings are much larger - almost 3 times, covered with 5-10 fleshy scales of various sizes, visually resembling small cones.

3. In female bushes, the flowers are yellow and collected in bunches of 3-11 pieces in one bosom. In male bushes, the flowers have a greenish-silver tint.

Attention! It is impossible to determine the sex of seedlings before they enter the fruiting period (age of seedlings - 3-4 years) by buds.

4. Late spring and summer period When the leaves have blossomed on the bushes, sea buckthorn bushes can be distinguished by carefully examining the leaves. Female sea buckthorn bushes have greener foliage, while male bushes have grayer leaves.

5. There is more bluish bloom on the foliage of male bushes than on the foliage of female bushes.

6. The leaves of male plants are smooth, with the central vein turned outward; when cross-sectioned, they look like birds.

7. The leaves of female plants have a concave shape, similar to a trough; when cut across, the leaf looks like a bowl.

Advice! If only female sea buckthorn bushes are planted in the garden, you can correct the situation by grafting male branches onto the female bush. It is better to vaccinate in March, when the buds have not yet opened.

Knowledge of the biological characteristics of male and female bushes makes it easy to distinguish them. Use the tips presented to distinguish male sea buckthorn bushes from female ones.

How to distinguish male and female sea buckthorn trees - video

They say that only girl plants are suitable for planting strawberries, and it is imperative to remove all the “boys” from a bed that has already produced fruit.

How to distinguish “girls” from “guys”, says Olga Syritso, researcher at the Moscow State Agrarian University MCHA. K. A. Timiryazeva

Modern garden strawberries- a relatively young culture. Before her, gardeners grew a similar crop - real strawberries, in which the plants actually come in male and female,

To get a harvest, one had to reluctantly give at least a quarter of the plantation to “men” who were not capable of producing berries. This problem was one of the reasons why the bisexual garden strawberry quickly won the competition and reigned in gardens all over the world.

However, despite the fact that the gender issue has long been resolved, in our time some plants still live up to the expectations of a harvest, while others do not.

Complaisant "girls"

Choose for your garden strong strawberry seedlings with 5-6 leaves and a rounded-flattened heart (central bud) with a diameter of at least 1 cm. Such plants are sometimes called “girls”. When they land in optimal time- from the end of July to the end of August - they give a full harvest the next year. Plant plants immediately permanent place at a distance of 25–35 cm from each other.

Problematic boys

If the quality planting material use small rosettes with no more than 3–4 leaves, and a heart no wider than 3–5 mm in diameter, light green in color and with elongated shape narrow cone, then with normal planting the harvest for the next season is unlikely to be significant.

Plants develop, but are mainly engaged in the production of new numerous tendrils.

Why are they different

The first and, with favorable conditions growth, the second rosette on the mustache (if you count from the mother bush). These plants had enough time for the full development of leaves, root systems and flower buds.

In addition, such kids are under the pressure of fierce competition: on the one hand, they are under pressure from their “mother,” and on the other, from numerous “brothers.” How can they leave offspring in conditions where there is not enough light, moisture and nutrition even now? The only way is through the seeds. This means that these bushes rely on fruits from the very beginning of their lives.

The rosettes that form later at the ends of the whiskers - the third and subsequent ones (under favorable conditions there can be up to 8 pieces) - find themselves in a completely different position. There are open spaces all around that attract freedom, which can be conquered in a simple “masculine” way: by throwing new mustaches with rosettes around you. Even after separation from the mother bush, such plants continue to behave like conquerors of space: the entire next season they do nothing but form new tendrils. It is these very overgrown, fluffy and very “mustachioed” bushes without berries that are popularly called “male” strawberries.

Change gender

“Boys” can be re-educated! Plant them not in a permanent place, but in a separate bed in a denser pattern - 10–15 cm between the bushes. The resulting mustache, if it is not needed for further reproduction, delete. Whiskers of valuable and rare varieties can be left for propagation. At the end of summer, after a season spent surrounded by competitors, plants reprogram. They lay flower stalks and are ready to be transplanted into the main berry garden.

For people far from gardening, it may be a revelation that plants also have gender. Of course, not all representatives of the flora kingdom have male and female individuals, but most of the cultivated breeds that we are used to seeing in our summer cottages have sexual differences. They also exist in sea buckthorn trees, popular among gardeners due to its unpretentiousness and beneficial properties berries In this article we will talk about how to determine whether a sea buckthorn seedling is male or female and whether there are differences in caring for them.

Male sea buckthorn trees

You can distinguish a male sea buckthorn tree by the following features:

• In spring it blooms more magnificently, while the flowers themselves are bright and large.
• A few years after planting (namely, by this moment the tree reaches fruiting age), large scaly buds appear on the thick branches of males, resembling cones in appearance.
• The shape of the leaves of male specimens is curved from the center to the edges of the plate, which is why they resemble a flying bird in appearance (gardeners call them “seagulls”). Also, the specific gray coating on the foliage in this case will be stronger than in female plants.
• At the end of summer and beginning of autumn, during the fruiting period, there will be no berries on male trees, because... They serve exclusively for pollination and do not produce crops themselves.

As you can see, determine gender young plant sea ​​buckthorn is difficult even for an experienced gardener, so the owner often finds out about it only 3-4 years after planting. However, we can immediately give important advice: you should not spend a lot of money on buying a male seedling of some rare variety, since the subsequent yield, size and taste of berries, etc. depend only on the female specimen.

Features of female sea buckthorn trees

Females are more recognizable and important for the gardener; they can be identified by their characteristic features:

1. Availability of berries- the simplest and most obvious way to identify a female. However, you will have to wait a few seasons to use it.
2. Before the tree begins to bear fruit, female seedlings can be distinguished by their flowers: they are smaller and not as numerous as on the male tree.
3. The leaves of females are more rounded and cup-shaped.
4. The female sea buckthorn also has scaly buds, but not so large, there are fewer scales on them and they do not fit so tightly to each other. The buds also have a special forked shape, which gardeners call a “goat’s hoof.”

Sea buckthorn is a fairly easy tree to care for. It does not require frequent watering, cutting branches, etc. However, there are certain tricks in planting and caring for it:

• If you know that a male sea buckthorn grows on a neighboring plot, then you can plant only female ones on yours. They will still begin to bear fruit, having received pollen from a neighbor's tree. However, it is important that the distance between the areas is not too large, otherwise pollination (which occurs with the help of the wind) will not occur.
• When examining the buds of a plant to determine its sex, remember that they acquire their final appearance at least 2.5-3 years after planting. Before this, sea buckthorn also forms buds, but only vegetative ones (those from which foliage and new shoots are formed); the gender of the tree can only be recognized by the flower buds.
• The best varieties of female sea buckthorn for planting are “Podruga”, “Podmoskovnaya”, “Etna”, “Zolotistaya”, etc.
• Sea buckthorn can be grown from seeds, but this method is far from the best. You will not know in advance whether the plants you got are male or female, this can complicate the process of harvesting. Propagating sea buckthorn seedlings is a more preferable option. At the same time, remember that the shoots will be of the same sex as the tree that gave them (for example, from a female individual we will also get female seedlings).
• If there is not enough space on your site to plant a new tree, and there are no males nearby, you can purchase a kind of sexual hybrid from the nursery: a female seedling onto which one male branch is grafted. This will save space and guarantee a harvest at the end of the season.

Sea buckthorn fruits are very valuable compared to other berry crops. They are rich in vitamins, carotene, microelements, sugars and organic acids necessary for the normal functioning of the body. Many gardeners want to have such a shrub on their personal plot. Unfortunately, it often happens that after purchasing a plant and giving it proper care, the gardener does not receive fruit. The fact is that plants are divided into male and female. How to distinguish female from male sea buckthorn? Is it necessary to have both shrubs on the plot to guarantee a harvest?

How to tell the difference?

How to distinguish female from male sea buckthorn? This can be determined by the following signs:

1. Shape of bush buds. On female plants they are located singly with a short distance from each other; on a male tree they are collected in inflorescences of several pieces, which look like cones. Unfortunately, this difference is not noticeable on plants under 3-4 years of age.
2. Female flowers have a yellow tint and are collected in inflorescences, while male flowers are greenish-silver.
3. In late spring, when the leaves have already grown to their final size, their shade is greener on female shrubs. Male plants have a bluish coating on the foliage.
4. The leaf shape of male trees is flat, while that of female trees is bowl-shaped.

When buying shrub seedlings, you need to know how to distinguish female from male sea buckthorn, however, it is almost impossible to determine the gender of young plants; you have to rely on the words of the seller. Therefore, it is recommended to purchase adult plants that are 3 years old. The photo will clearly show how to distinguish male from female sea buckthorn.

Nuances of cultivation

The shrub is dioecious - this means that for the appearance of fruits female plant must be male pollinated. That is why it is important to know how to distinguish female from male sea buckthorn when purchasing seedlings.

Occurs through the work of insects and wind. One male plant is able to pollinate five female plants at a distance of 10 meters from it. Of course, a female sea buckthorn shrub, located at a distance of up to 50 meters from a male one, can be pollinated, but to obtain best result plants are planted nearby.

Where to plant sea buckthorn in the country

After we have learned how to distinguish a male sea buckthorn tree from a female one, it is worth thinking about right place for landing. The shrub is quite light-loving, so it is important to place it in an area with sufficient lighting, avoiding close proximity to tall trees with a spreading crown.

The soil for planting shrubs must be fertile, nutritious, loose, with a neutral pH. In swampy and waterlogged soils, the tree will not bear fruit, and in addition, there is a high probability of its death.

When watering and fertilizing, one should take into account the fact that root system It is located superficially and has a diameter that is 2 times the height of the crown. The plant responds positively to the application of phosphorus and loosening the soil.

Correct selection of shrub variety

From the right choice The variety of tree depends on its fruiting. Since it is advisable to select one variety of sea buckthorn for successful pollination, it is important to understand how to distinguish a male plant from a female one. The variety of shrub must be suitable for the climatic conditions of the region, as well as the characteristics of the soil.

For temperate climate Shrubs with small growth (up to 2 meters), weak thorniness, high yield, and large fruit are ideal. According to these parameters, the most suitable varieties are Orange, Excellent, Chuyskaya, Amber, Moscow Beauty, Podarok Sad.

Planting and caring for plants

Before planting sea buckthorn, you need to know how to distinguish female and male bushes so as not to accidentally plant two same-sex bushes, because in this case there will be no harvest.

How to plant sea buckthorn:

1. For planting, dig a hole about 50 cm deep and 50 cm wide.
2. The soil from the pit is combined with fertilizers - compost, potassium phosphate and superphosphate.
3. Part of the nutrient soil is poured into the bottom of the hole.
4. The seedling is fixed in a vertical position and covered with the remaining soil. The root neck should be deepened by 5 cm.
5. The newly planted plant is watered with a bucket of water, to which 1 glass was added dolomite flour for 10 liters of liquid.

At correct landing plants should be located at a distance of 2 meters from each other due to the developed root system.

Caring for sea buckthorn consists of regular watering, loosening the soil, fertilizing and removing weeds around the bush. In hot weather, watering should be especially abundant and preferably done by sprinkling. Formative pruning is required periodically.

There are no particular difficulties in growing sea buckthorn, for bountiful harvest All you need to do is select and plant plants of different sexes correctly.

Those who decide to plant sea buckthorn on their plot should take into account that this crop is dioecious, there are male and female individuals.

Without their mutual proximity, fertilization will not occur, and, consequently, there will be no harvest.

One male sea buckthorn plant is planted in company with 4-5 female ones at a distance of 2.5 m from them. But this is not done thoughtlessly - you need to know climatic features your region.

With flowers it is even easier - here, due to the absence of petals, “sexual characteristics” are more clearly visible.

The female flowers are yellowish in color and collected in bunches (from 3 to 11 pieces in each axil). Externally they consist of a cup-shaped simple perianth with one pistil.

Male flowers are colored dirty green with a silvery tint and are collected in small spikes. Here the calyx-shaped perianth is already bilobed. On him There are 4 stamens.

During the flowering period, they begin to scatter pollen quite strongly, which the wind carries around the surrounding area over considerable distances.

So, knowing biological features plants, it won't be difficult distinguish male sea buckthorn from female, and breed on your plot a “polygamous family” of this crop, which, if good care, will give a big harvest.