Korean fir in zone 6 southern Ohio?

14 years ago

My parents are thinking about buying a 'Horst Silberlocke' Korean fir for their home in southern Ohio. The summers are warm and humid -- about like Baltimore. Is that too warm for Abies koreana?

The soil is well-amended red clay, so the drainage is OK but not great.

Thanks for any advice!

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Comments (9)

pineresin
14 years ago
Probably OK if it is grafted on a heat-tolerant rootstock like Abies firma.

Resin
gardener365
14 years ago
I agree. 'Silver Show' is another option.

Dax
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Well, Dave and Resin, I think you are both right. Thank you both. I have two A. koreana 'Silberlocke' growing very well nearby for 8 years and thought that full sun in zone 6b would be okay. Then I tried A. koreana 'Aurea' in the ground, and it died of this brown needle problem, which I now believe Resin has identified correctly for me as spider mites. The 'Silberlocke' pair probably had better soil as well. After that I kept 'Flynn's Flash' in a container, but maybe I kept it there a year too long. I will try hosing off the mites and setting up a better spot in a partial shade area for transplanting before getting involved with any chemicals. Any other advice will be appreciated.
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hollyshome... start your own post next time.. so the answers come to you ... a plain old abies kor is NOT going to remain a small tree ... nor i suspect ... are the others you claim will only be 6 to 8 feet .... research the latin names of each .... and find the estimated growth rates of your plants ... MOST listed heights are at 10 years ... year 11 .. they are ten plus the growth rate ...most they will continue at the growth rate for the rest of your life ... after transplant.. by about the third year.. you will see the annual growth rate ... i bring this up.. so that you can decide now.. while they are still small .. if perhaps you need to rethink some of your plantings ... a plant like silberloche ... will not grow like the plain old green one.. it will be slower... a dwarf of the larger parent ... but it still might grow 6 to 12 inches a year.. depending on how happy it is ... never trust labels.. and learn a lot more.. there are some great conifer tutorials and a good database at the American Conifer Society website.. ken
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amidheliot
14 years ago
Janet- I have been growing Abies koreana, the species for a couple of years now in West Central Ohio (Lima). I have had no problems with them so this year I added several cultivers. I planted a very nice 30-36" Silberlocke this spring and it has done beautifully. We had a very dry summer, but fortunately we only had a handful of miserably humid days.

Hope this helps.

Eliot
amidheliot
14 years ago
Janet- BTW it is just called 'Silberlocke' The "Horstmann" name has been dropped, or never was part of, or was an illegal name or something I can't remember the story. Maybe Coniferjoy can tell us why since I can't recall. He knows the story behind most every named cultiver it seems.

Eliot
coniferjoy
14 years ago
Thanks Eliot, I can't explain why I remember these stories but I do.
Some stories I have bin told, othhers I red in books or from articles and ofcourse this forum is also very important!

Indeed it's only 'Silberlocke'.
The Horstmann part is taken away because to avoid a mixed up situation with another Abies koreana cultivar found by them with the name 'Horstmann'
So there's Abies koreana 'Silberlocke' and Abies koreana 'Horstmann'.
gardener365
14 years ago
Erroneous as coniferjoy has stated prior. Same for Picea abies 'Pusch' which was formerly 'Acrocona Pusch'. Since 'Acrocona' is a cultivar, and to avoid any hint of confusion, the name 'Pusch' is now the name of this other plant. That I learned from coniferjoy. If not the same reason for Abies 'Silberlocke', very similar in terms of understanding the reason(s), why. That was an awakening for me. Thanks coniferjoy.

Dax
ljcollector
14 years ago
I loose 3 out of 5 every couple years. They don't like our hot humid summers. I still treat them like favorite annuals and if they make it great. I've had luck with several different cultivars giving them afternoon shade.
coniferjoy
14 years ago
Hi Dax,
Other names in the past for the 'Pusch' were 'Acrozwerg' and 'Acrocona Nana'.
Maybe you can add this to the ACS database...
midtn
14 years ago
Listen to Resin. Get it grafted to firma. Then they should do fine. I have seen them growing well in Middle TN in full sun and bad soil. They were probably 3-4 years in the ground. Another option may be nordmanniana if you canÂt find firma. I have a nordmanniana growing in my yard for 4 years now and it looks great. Stay away from grafts to balsamea.

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Korean fir in zone 6 southern Ohio?

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