Sea buckthorn

Family Elaeagnaceae. Thickets of wild sea buckthorn can be found in many parts of the world: in Eastern and Western Siberia, in Central Asia, in the Caucasus, and in the Baltic region. It prefers to settle along the banks of water bodies. The introduction of sea buckthorn into garden cultivation is the merit of the staff of the Siberian Horticulture Research Institute named after M.A. Lisavenko (Barnaul). For this achievement, 10 Altai scientists were awarded the USSR Prize in science and technology in 1981. In 2003, for work on creating a range of sea buckthorn varieties, 4 employees received an award from the European Union.

Sea buckthorn is often called a "treasure trove of vitamins." Its fruits are rich in ascorbic acid, B-group vitamins and carotene. In addition, 15 trace elements have been found in them, including iron, magnesium, manganese, boron, sulfur, aluminum, silicon, and titanium.

The fruits of sea buckthorn have long been widely used in folk medicine, and the flowers were used as a cosmetic. Modern medicine, the perfume industry and cosmetology also actively use sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn oil obtained from the fruits is considered especially valuable.

This plant does not tolerate heavy soils — it needs light, loose, well-aerated fertile soils. Most of the root system is located in the surface layer at a depth of 10–40 cm, and only individual roots go down to one and a half meters. The roots are fragile and break easily, so care is needed during planting or transplanting.

Sea buckthorn is very light-loving and does not grow in shade. An ideal planting site is a gentle slope where soils are light and water does not stagnate. But on a flat site the plant will also take root well if all conditions are provided.

Sea buckthorn is a dioecious plant: male plants only bloom and serve as pollinators, while berries set and mature on female plants. Sea buckthorn is always planted in "family pairs." Even better is to surround one male plant with 3–4 female plants — then there will be especially many berries.

Flowering sea buckthorn is not at all decorative: the small inconspicuous flowers have no nectaries and do not attract bees.

But when a breeze blows, a light cloud of pollen flies from the male plant to the female. Therefore it is better to place the "male" on the side of the prevailing winds.

Sea buckthorn begins to bear fruit at the age of 3–5 years; before that it is practically impossible to distinguish male and female plants. Later, when generative buds are laid on one-year shoots, the sex can easily be determined: the buds of male plants are considerably larger.

Wild species and forms of sea buckthorn are famous for their protective adaptation — long, up to 7–8 cm, strong and very sharp spines-thorns that cover the skeletal branches and young shoots. Because of the thorns, harvesting sea buckthorn berries can sometimes be a difficult and injury-prone task. However, cultivated varieties with few or no thorns have already been bred.

Sea buckthorn's frost hardiness is extremely high. Siberian varieties and their cultivated forms calmly withstand frosts: −40°C is usual for them. Baltic and Kaliningrad sea buckthorn are less cold-hardy, but better tolerate temperature fluctuations and rarely suffer from rot during frequent thaws.

There is a noticeable difference in hardiness by sex: male sea buckthorns are more capricious than females, more often suffer from temperature fluctuations and are more likely to be damaged by severe cold.

Promising sea buckthorn varieties:

• 'Золотой початок' - a medium-growing, moderately thorny tree or shrub. High frost resistance. Begins fruiting in the 3rd–4th year. Yield 10–15 kg per bush. Berries of medium size and weight (0.6 g), oval, yellow-orange, slightly tart taste, densely arranged in a spike-like cluster, hence the variety's name. Ripen in early September.
• 'Великан' - a tree or shrub 2.5–3.5 m high, almost without thorns. Late ripening, yield 5–6 kg per tree.
• 'Воробьевская' - a medium-growing compact tree with relatively thorny shoots. Medium ripening time, yield 7–8 kg. Berries large — on average 0.7 g.
• 'Золотистая Сибири' - a medium-sized tree or shrub, almost without thorns. High yield — 11–16 kg, berries large.
• 'Красноплодная' - a medium-growing, not sprawling, very thorny shrub. Yield 7–8 kg. Berries red.
• 'Любимая' - a medium-growing thorny shrub. Yield up to 8 kg. Berries bright orange, large. Variety resistant to pests and diseases.
• 'Московская ананасная' - a medium-growing shrub almost without thorns. Yield 6–8 kg.
• 'Московская красавица' - a medium-sized tree with a small number of thorns. Yield small — 5–7 kg. Variety resistant to pests and diseases.
• 'Нивелена' - a medium-growing compact shrub with an umbrella-like crown, few thorns. Yield 6–8 kg. Berries yellow-orange, medium and large.
• 'Ароматная' - a tree or shrub. Ripening time medium, yield 5–6 kg per tree. Variety resistant to scab and endomykosis.
• 'Обильная' - a tree or vigorous shrub with a rather spreading crown. Medium-early ripening. High yield — 12–14 kg. Berries bright orange, large, 0.7 g. Variety almost thornless.
• 'Оранжевая' - a shrub with an oval crown of medium density. Mid-late ripening. High yield — 10–14 kg. Berries orange-red, large, 0.7 g. Few thorns.
• 'Отрадная' - a tree or shrub with a spreading crown, almost without thorns. Mid-late ripening. Yield 8–9 kg. Berries red-orange, medium and large, 0.6–0.7 g.
• 'Перчик' - a low compact shrub with an umbrella-like crown. Medium-early ripening. Yield 6–7 kg. Berries orange-red, large, 0.7 g. The variety is rather thorny.
• 'Самородок' - a medium-growing tree or shrub, early ripening, few thorns. Yield 8–10 kg. Berries orange, large.
• 'Трофимовская' - a compact thorny tree with a pyramidal crown. Yield 6–7 kg.
• 'Чуйская' - a medium-growing tree with a sparse spreading crown, almost without thorns. Early ripening. Yield 8–10 kg. The variety is prone to mycotic drying and rots during frequent thaws.
• 'Ботаническая' - a medium-sized tree, almost without thorns. Yield 6–7 kg.
• 'Ботаническая любительская' - a medium-growing compact tree, almost without thorns. The variety fruits early, medium ripening time. Very high yield — 20 kg. Resistant to pests and mycotic drying.

Cultivation of sea buckthorn:

It is best to plant sea buckthorn in early spring. In the central part of Russia it blooms in early to mid-May, and the berries ripen in August–September.

In late March–early April the plants must be pruned — thinning the branches. In an overgrown crown annual growth decreases, yields fall, many dead branches appear, and the plant ages quickly. With good care and correct planting, a cultivated sea buckthorn tree lives and bears fruit for 30–40 years.

Sea buckthorn, especially when young, does not tolerate neighboring plants; there should be free space around it. Do not plant vegetables and flowers under the crown of sea buckthorn to save space. Weeds growing near the trunk should be carefully removed. The ideal condition for tranquil development of sea buckthorn is a mulched trunk circle. When preparing and loosening the soil around the trunk, remember that sea buckthorn roots are fragile, sensitive and shallow — the maximum depth of loosening should not exceed 5 cm.

Of mineral fertilizers, sea buckthorn prefers phosphorus and potassium. It also accepts organic fertilizers, but they should be applied moderately because the plant supplies itself with nitrogen — nodular formations on the roots serve this purpose. It does not like high soil acidity. Therefore, long before spring planting, that is, in autumn, the soil in the chosen site should be well limed. Liming is repeated every 3–5 years, applying 300 to 800 g of lime per 1 sq. m.

Sea buckthorn is very moisture-loving; it must be watered regularly, especially during hot and dry summers. The required number of buckets of water per plant depends on its age and the season. For example, to water one young tree in summer, 4–10 buckets are needed, and closer to autumn 6–12 buckets. At the same time, sea buckthorn has a "capricious" trait: it responds well to good irrigation and flowing water — but cannot tolerate waterlogging at the roots. Where groundwater stands at 1.5–2 m from the soil surface, sea buckthorn takes root poorly and quickly dies.

It can also die from diseases, since viruses and fungal diseases that affect the plant quickly spread through the internal vessels, and spraying sea buckthorn with pesticides is not recommended: because of its exceptional medicinal properties it needs ecologically clean growing conditions. The only method of control is urgent pruning of drying branches.

Sea buckthorn is propagated by seeds, suckers, layering, cuttings and grafting. For novice gardeners it is most reliable to buy seedlings from a nursery: there the variety will be selected and the plant sexes will not be confused.

Only professional breeders with specialized knowledge and skills can successfully propagate by seeds and obtain true-to-type cultivated plants.

It is relatively easy to propagate the plant by suckers and layering taken from mature plants of the appropriate sex: since sea buckthorn grows on its own roots, all its suckers will be true-to-type and cultivated.

Those who know grafting techniques can save space in the garden by grafting several male cuttings onto a female sea buckthorn plant. This is quite sufficient for full pollination.