8 Rules for Successfully Growing Dwarf Alberta Spruce in a Pot

Hello friends! Today I will tell you how I grow Dwarf Alberta Spruce in a pot.

1. Use a pot slightly larger than the root ball.

The pot for Dwarf Alberta Spruce should be slightly larger than its root ball. This will ensure that the root system can develop throughout the year.

An important aspect here is the presence of drainage holes. Make sure that the pot has drainage holes and if not, make them.

The material of the pot does not matter much. My Dwarf Alberta Spruce has been growing well in a plastic pot for many years.

2. Plant in the spring.

It is best to plant Dwarf Alberta Spruce in a pot or transplant it from one pot to another in early spring. At this time, the tree is hibernating and the transplant will be very easy.

For planting, give preference to the evening of a cloudy day. I also recommend watering the spruce 2 days before planting.

3. Use nutritious soil.

The best soil for potting this spruce is a mix of good quality compost and garden soil. The compost makes the mix nutritious and light and the garden soil will prevent the mix from drying out quickly in hot weather.

Buy good quality compost and mix it halfway with soil from your garden. Next, plant the spruce so that the trunk is not covered with soil, that is, the place where the trunk connects to the roots should be at the level of the soil.

4. Provide adequate watering.

Water Dwarf Alberta Spruce in a pot when the top layer of soil is 1 inch dry. In hot summer weather, potting soil dries out very quickly, so keep an eye on it all the time.

To prevent the soil from drying out quickly spread crushed pine bark on top of the pot.

When watering, use at least 1 gallon of water to soak up all the soil in the pot. After watering, the excess water should escape through the drainage holes in the bottom.

5. Overwintering.

For more comfortable overwintering, move the container with the plant to the most protected place in your yard. The main thing is that it should not be exposed to frosty winds and bright sun. You can even move it to full shade for the winter.

It is not necessary to bury the pot in the ground. Instead, mulch the surface of the pot. If you don’t have a protected spot, wrap the spruce from top to bottom with burlap or other protective material.

6. Prune the roots every year.

Every year in early spring, I prune the roots of my Dwarf Alberta Spruce. This is necessary to avoid root bound.

Around early March, carefully remove the spruce from its pot and inspect the roots. If you see a lot of tangled roots with no soil between them, they should be trimmed a bit.

Remove no more than 10% of the root system. Remove roots from the bottom of the root ball that are most tangled.

After that, shake off some old soil and plant the spruce in a slightly larger pot than the previous one. Use a fresh mix of compost and garden soil.

7. Add magnesium.

The potted Dwarf Alberta Spruce needs magnesium nutrition. The fact is that no matter how nutritious the potting soil is, sooner or later it will be depleted and the tree will suffer from chlorosis. To prevent this, magnesium is needed.

I use the water-soluble fertilizer Calcium-Magnesium twice a year. The first time I water in early spring and the second time in the middle of summer. I use half a gallon of the solution for each watering.

In addition, I give my Dwarf Alberta Spruce a slow-release multi-purpose fertilizer every spring.

8. Place it in partial sun.

Do not place the potted Dwarf Alberta Spruce in full sun. The fact is that in summer the soil in the pot gets very hot and the spruce cannot cool down as it does when planted in the garden.

As a result, the needles can get burned and turn brown. To prevent this from happening, place the pot with the spruce in a place where it will receive direct sunlight only in the first half of the day.

🌲Do you have any questions? Ask in the comments!🌲

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