I have attached a few pictures of my Picea abies 'Frohburg'. My question is: Most conifers are monoecious and I know Picea abies, so I am assuming that 'Frohburg' is too, so if you look at the next few photos is there a way to tell what is the male and what are the female parts now? Is the apical bud the female and the lateral buds male? Is it random? Does anyone have any pictures of both on the same tree? Or any other helpful photos. Thank you.
Vegetative buds, which have no gender. If you want a taller specimen what you plant does need it some effective staking. In its current state it appears to be headed for the ground, in the manner of an unsupported 'Reflexa' (the 'Pendula' of general commerce).
A bit too young to be having cones yet, give it a few more years. When it does, they'll look like this: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Picea_abies_flowers.jpg The larger dark pink ones are female (seed cones), the smaller paler ones male (pollen cones).
If I stake it in Spring and leave it on until Winter will that be long enough to start it grow taller or does the stake really need to stay on a few seasons or possibly the entire life of the plant. I guess my questions is how long will it take for the branch to be strong enough on its own so that I can take the stake out? Thank you - now I guess back to an earlier question - can you tell what is male and what is female before the flowers - correct term? open? Is it random as to what is male and what is female?
The female cone buds tend to be slightly larger, and are towards the tips of strong shoots usually in the upper crown, while pollen cone buds are slightly smaller, often somewhat clustered, and on weaker shoots lower in the crown. But not always easy to tell.
Since subsequent growth bends back to the ground as soon as it is free of a stake you have to stake it as high as you want it to grow and train it up to the top. After it gets up there and the wood hardens into position then you can take the stake away, let the growth that occurs afterward bend down. The part that was trained up the stake should remain erect once it hardens, with little if any leaning over of the main stem during the years after the stake is removed. You end up with a taller crook or hook shape than you have now. It appears with the shrub left as it is growing now you will rather soon be looking at a mat with a higher area in the center, the leader having grown back down to the ground and begun to blend with the basal skirt.
