How to grow hydrangea from seeds, what the seeds look like, how to collect them for seedlings, video

Content

1 Is it possible to grow hydrangea from seeds?
2 What do hydrangea seeds look like?
3 How to collect hydrangea seeds
4 When to plant hydrangea seeds for seedlings
5 How to plant hydrangea seeds at home
6 When will hydrangea seeds germinate?
7 How to sprout hydrangea from seeds
8 When to plant hydrangea in open ground
9 What year does hydrangea bloom from seeds?
10 Conclusion

Hydrangea is rightfully one of the perennials loved by flower growers. A distinctive feature of this plant is that it can be propagated without loss of quality not only by vegetative, but also by seed. Growing hydrangea from seeds is not at all difficult, and many gardeners do it successfully.

Is it possible to grow hydrangea from seeds?

In order to successfully grow hydrangea from seeds, you need to know some of the characteristics of this plant. Not all of its flowers produce fruit; some varieties have only large, beautiful, sterile inflorescences that do not produce seeds.

Hydrangea bushes look very decorative

Most varieties also have fertile flowers, after which the seeds ripen after flowering.They are quite small, located in the center of the inflorescences. It is at the end of their flowering that the seed material is collected, which is later used for planting.

What do hydrangea seeds look like?

In autumn, in place of fertile hydrangea flowers, capsules ripen, containing seeds inside. They are small, usually dark brown, brown or black, oblong, with a bumpy surface. In appearance, the seeds vaguely resemble something between small watermelon seeds and raisins.

You can collect hydrangea seeds yourself

The seeds are light and quite hard to the touch.

How to collect hydrangea seeds

Seed material is harvested in the pre-winter period, after the flowers have completely withered. Collection of seed pods is carried out in dry weather. At the same time, light-colored seeds discovered during the process are immediately subject to rejection as unripe. Also, specimens with mechanical damage, signs of rot, or mold are not suitable for storage. The seeds selected after culling are dried and, before sowing, stored in paper bags or clean linen bags, in dark, well-ventilated rooms at a temperature of + 10-15 ° C.

When to plant hydrangea seeds for seedlings

Hydrangea seeds can be sown immediately in open ground, but more often gardeners use the seedling method. It allows you to get good strong seedlings at home, and then, after the seedlings reach the age of 2 years, transplant the plants to a permanent place. Planting seeds for seedlings is usually carried out in late February or early March. Sowing hydrangea paniculata with seeds can also be done in the fall, immediately after harvesting.However, this is not advisable, since it will require additional care of the seedlings over several winter months.

How to plant hydrangea seeds at home

You can collect hydrangea seeds yourself if the plant is already grown, take it from friends, or purchase it at a specialty store. In this case, it is necessary to clarify the parameters of the variety and compare the existing growing conditions with the recommended ones. Before planting, the seeds must be carefully examined again and, if any deficiencies are found, they must be discarded.

Preparation of planting containers and soil

Any wide, shallow containers, containers, pots, plastic cups, or standard seedling cassettes are suitable for planting seeds and growing seedlings. They are filled with special soil for or a homemade soil mixture, which includes leaf soil, peat and sand, mixed in a ratio of 4:2:1. Before use, the substrate must be disinfected by calcining it in the oven or steaming it in a water bath.

Soil disinfection is the key to seedling health

For preventative purposes, you can also treat the nutrient soil in advance with a solution of potassium permanganate, diluted to a pink color.

Seed preparation

There are 2 ways to prepare hydrangea seeds before planting seedlings:

Planting with dry seeds. With this method, planting material is disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate for several hours. Then the seeds are immersed in a solution of Epin (root formation stimulator) for 12-15 hours. After this they are ready to plant.
Planting with germinated seeds. For germination, selected hydrangea seeds are placed between 2 damp cotton pads, layers of gauze, or simply soaked in warm water in a saucer.It is necessary to constantly ensure that the seeds are in a moist environment. After the appearance of small white roots, the seeds are planted in the soil.

Hydrangea seeds can be germinated on damp gauze or cotton pad

Important! If, when soaking, mucus appears on the walls of the seeds or gauze, then you should immediately rinse everything thoroughly with running water and soak again.

Rules for planting hydrangea from seeds

After preparing the containers, soil substrate and planting material, they proceed directly to the planting procedure. The seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil, keeping an interval between them of at least 1 cm, and lightly recessed. Then they are sprinkled with a thin layer of sand on top and sprayed with water from a spray bottle.

It is convenient to moisten the container with seedlings with water from a spray bottle

The container is covered with glass or film.

When will hydrangea seeds germinate?

Hydrangea emerges rather slowly and unevenly. It takes at least 2 weeks for seeds to germinate, but often the process can take a month or even a month and a half. All this time, it is necessary to open the shelter daily for ventilation, as well as to control soil moisture. It should not be allowed to dry out, but excessive watering is also unacceptable.

You can use a cake or cookie container as a mini-greenhouse.

Important! With the appearance of the first shoots, you need to completely remove the covering film or glass from the container with seedlings.

How to sprout hydrangea from seeds

Further care for young seedlings will consist of creating comfortable conditions for them to grow over the next 2 years. During this time, the plants are planted several times into larger containers so as not to inhibit the growth of the root system.It is also necessary to maintain certain microclimate parameters when growing them.

Optimal conditions for growing hydrangea from seeds

Young hydrangeas are sensitive to various changes in external conditions. They do not tolerate sudden temperature fluctuations, low and high humidity, and direct sunlight is also unacceptable for them. For proper cultivation, the microclimate parameters should be as follows:

Lighting. Hydrangea loves light, but it should be soft and diffused. It is unacceptable for seedlings to be exposed to direct sunlight. If containers with hydrangea seedlings are installed on a windowsill on the south side of the house, then they must be moved deeper into the room. When growing seedlings on a windowsill on the north side, the plants will need additional lighting.
Temperature regime. The optimal room temperature is within + 15-20 °C. Sharp fluctuations are unacceptable. For this reason, when growing, hydrangea seedlings must be protected from drafts, especially in winter.
Air humidity. The optimal value for this parameter is 70%. In a room with artificial heating, especially in winter, the air is usually very dry. In such conditions, it is recommended to maintain the specified humidity parameters by periodically spraying the seedlings with clean warm water from a spray bottle. In addition, you can place a saucer of water next to the young seedlings.

Watering and fertilizing

It is necessary to monitor the condition of the top layer of soil daily. It must not be allowed to dry out. Hydrangea seedlings are watered with soft, settled water at room temperature; the optimal time for this procedure is the morning.Do not use tap or artesian water for irrigation when growing hydrangeas. As a rule, it contains a lot of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts. Once in the soil, they reduce its acidity, which is unacceptable for this plant. It is best to use rainwater for irrigation.

For irrigation you need to use warm rainwater

Important! After watering, be sure to let the water drain from the pot, and then drain the water from the pan.

To feed seedlings, use specialized flower fertilizers intended for growing hydrangeas and rhododendrons. Such compositions contain a full range of substances necessary for the development of young seedlings. These fertilizers can be bought in specialized flower shops; they are sold under the brand names Green Wood, Pokon, Fertika and others. They are used in accordance with the instructions, for example, Fertika-Lux is used for feeding when growing seedlings once every 2 weeks.

Picking

During the time that hydrangea seedlings grow at home, the plants dive several times. For the first time, picking from a group container into individual pots or cells of a seedling cassette is carried out after the plant has two cotyledon leaves. The seedlings sprout again at the end of May, by which time the plants reach a height of 8-10 cm. If the hydrangea grows strongly, in the fall it can be transferred to larger pots. By the time of planting in open ground, the height of the plant reaches 30-35 cm, and the container for it should be proportionate.

The container for seedlings must be proportionate

Important! The container for growing hydrangea seedlings should be wide, since the roots of this plant grow greatly in breadth.

Topping

Many gardeners choose not to prune their hydrangeas until they are 4 years old. However, until this time, you can also engage in the formation of a young plant. At this time, it is recommended to pinch the apical shoots. This operation stimulates lateral branching and increases the splendor of the hydrangea bush.

When to plant hydrangea in open ground

For the first 2 years from the moment the seeds are planted, hydrangea is grown as a potted plant. After this, young seedlings are planted in open ground. This is done in the spring, after the soil has warmed up well. The place for planting hydrangeas must be chosen in advance. The area should be well lit, but direct sunlight has a bad effect on the flowers, they fade and become faded. Lighting should be diffused, so the best place for hydrangeas will be the east or west side of the house.

The soil for planting and growing young seedlings should be loose, well-fertilized and moderately moist. A prerequisite is that the soil must have slightly increased acidity. This indicator can be increased by adding high-moor peat or citric acid to the soil. Fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate increase acidity. The top layer of soil taken from a coniferous forest is well suited for growing hydrangeas; it is usually mixed with pine litter.

Important! In the old days, to increase the acidity of the soil, gardeners buried things made of iron in the place where hydrangeas were grown.

Hydrangea is planted together with a lump of earth

Planting young hydrangea seedlings is usually not difficult. Planting pits are placed in a row, maintaining an interval between them of 1 to 1.5 m.Their depth and diameter depend on the size of the container in which the seedlings grow; the hole should be at least twice as large. For backfilling, prepare a soil mixture from equal amounts of humus, turf soil and peat. The seedlings are carefully removed from the container, placed in the center of the planting hole and filled in without deepening the root collar. Then the planted plant is watered with approximately 10 liters of water and the top layer is mulched with the bark of coniferous trees.

Important! At first, the seedlings need to be protected from direct sunlight by installing a screen made of fabric or other material.

What year does hydrangea bloom from seeds?

If everything is done correctly, the site and soil are suitable for hydrangea, then young bushes grown from seeds will bloom 3 years after planting. Buds may appear earlier, but during the first 2 years they must be cut off. If this is not done, the plant will lose a lot of energy, which would be better spent on the development of the root part and the growth of shoots.

A video about growing hydrangea from seeds can be viewed at the link:

Conclusion

Growing hydrangea from seeds requires quite a lot of time and labor. Nevertheless, this method is quite realistic, and it can be done both at home and in the open ground. Despite this, most gardeners use vegetative methods, since they can propagate hydrangea much faster than with seeds.