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A lush hydrangea bush strewn with bright clusters of flowers makes many gardeners want this regal beauty to grow on their personal plot. And if for professionals it is not difficult to propagate hydrangea, then beginners have a lot of questions. What methods of propagating hydrangeas in autumn exist? Which method is the most optimal and effective? When is the best time to do this: spring, summer or autumn? What rules must be followed to succeed? You will find answers to these and many other questions in this article.
What are the methods for propagating hydrangea?
Like many garden flowers and shrubs, hydrangea can be propagated in several ways:
- Seeds;
- By cuttings;
- Dividing the bush;
- By layering;
- Children (or runaways).
Each method has both advantages and disadvantages.
For example, when planting hydrangea seeds, you should prepare for the fact that this method of propagation will require much more care compared to others. Another disadvantage is the low germination rate of the seed material and there is, of course, no 100% guarantee that you will receive the variety you ordered. Therefore, gardeners prefer to propagate hydrangea by cuttings, dividing the bush or layering. These methods are the most optimal.Moreover, they do not require any skills or abilities. Even a beginner can cope with them.
Propagation of hydrangea by cuttings
Propagating hydrangea by cuttings is the easiest and most accessible method. When, from an 8-10-centimeter cutting, with maximum love and care, you grow a chic hydrangea bush strewn with bright flowers - isn’t this a thing to be proud of? With this growing method, it is important to take into account several nuances.
Unlike many garden flowers and shrubs, hydrangea can be propagated by cuttings both in summer, from the beginning of July, and in autumn, until the end of September. But in the summer the cuttings can be planted directly into the ground, and in the fall they need to be planted in boxes or containers for rooting at home. The plantings require careful care throughout the winter, and only in the spring are the rooted seedlings planted in the garden.
- It is important to carry out all work only with clean, sharpened garden tools.
- You can cut planting material only in cloudy weather or early in the morning - at this time the branches contain a lot of moisture, which is so necessary for this plant. It is strictly not recommended to leave hydrangea cuttings without moisture, even for a short time. Immediately after cutting, they need to be placed in water.
- When cutting hydrangea cuttings, choose green, non-woody branches. It is best to cut planting material from the lower side shoots, from the most illuminated side of the bush.
- The top must be cut off - it is unsuitable for cuttings.
- Chopped hydrangea shoots can be divided into several cuttings. The main thing is that each of them should have at least 2-3 pairs of leaves.The lower pair of leaves need to be cut off, but the upper leaves should be shortened by a third or half. And one more nuance: both cuts, upper and lower, must be made at a distance of at least 1 cm from the kidney. It is advisable to make cuts oblique.
- Immediately after cutting, the planting material must be placed in a pre-prepared solution for 2 hours. It is necessary to add any stimulant to the water to accelerate root formation - root, heteroauxin or zircon. In this case, the top cut leaves should not touch the water. Place the hydrangea cuttings in a dark place.
It is undesirable to plant hydrangeas in an open place - the sun's rays burn the leaves. - If you do not have a root formation stimulant, dilute a teaspoon of honey in one glass of water. In this case, callus - growths indicating the beginning of root growth - forms much faster.
- Immediately before planting, dip the top cut into melted paraffin, wax or brilliant green.
- The soil for propagating hydrangeas also needs to be taken care of in advance. The ideal option is a mixture of peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1. Mix the composition well. If it is not possible to get peat or sand, you can use ready-made soil for growing azaleas. It is perfectly balanced and suitable for rooting hydrangeas.
- Lightly moisten the prepared soil with a sprayer and plant the cuttings to a depth of no more than 2-3 cm. The upper buds with the leaves remaining should under no circumstances touch the soil. For quick rooting, it is necessary to cover the planted material with glass jars or cut plastic bottles. Each seedling needs to be covered with a separate jar.If you decide not to cover the plantings, then the distance between the cuttings should be 5-7 cm.
- Cover the soil with a small layer of sand - 2-2.5 cm will be enough.
If hydrangea cuttings are covered with jars, they should be watered at least 1-2 times a week. There is no need to remove the jars when watering. If you left hydrangea seedlings open, then during the day they need to be sprayed with a spray bottle at least twice.
When cutting planting material, keep in mind that young bushes that are not even a year old are not yet suitable for propagating hydrangeas. Not only did they not have time to adapt to new conditions, the root system of the shrubs is very weak and you can easily ruin the plant.
Rooting of hydrangea cuttings in both cases occurs in no less than 25-30 days. The fact that all the work has been done correctly and the planting material has been accepted will be indicated to you first by the swollen upper buds, and subsequently by the leaves that appear. Until you see these signs of rooting, it is not recommended to remove the jars from the cuttings.
After the first hydrangea leaves appear, the jars or bottles must be removed. Now, until spring, when the seedlings can be planted in the garden, it is necessary to provide the plantings with regular watering and spraying of the leaves at least 1-2 times a week. During this period, it is important to prevent sudden temperature changes. A small jump of 5˚С-7˚С will be enough for weak plants to die.
When spring comes, rooted seedlings are planted in a specially prepared bed for growing or immediately in a certain place.
Before transplanting hydrangea seedlings to a personal plot, they must be gradually “hardened off”. For this purpose, containers or boxes with plantings are taken outside daily, first for an hour. Gradually, the “walk” time needs to be increased. After a week, young shoots can be planted in open ground.
You will learn how to propagate hydrangea with green cuttings from the video.
Propagation of hydrangea by dividing the bush
Hydrangea can be propagated by dividing the bush until the third decade of September or in early spring. If you plant separated bushes at the beginning of October or even later, the plants will not have time to take root sufficiently, gain the required amount of nutrients and fully prepare for winter.
To propagate a hydrangea bush, you need to carefully dig it up. It is best to dig out the bush with a pitchfork so as not to damage the roots. The dug plant is divided into small sections. When dividing, special attention must be paid to the renewal buds. There should be at least 2-3 of them on each division.
Replant each separated part of the bush into pre-prepared planting holes. Do not forget that each hydrangea seedling must be watered abundantly. If autumn rainfall is generous, then there is no need to water the bushes. If precipitation is extremely rare in autumn, the plants must be watered every day or every other day.
There is a second way to divide a hydrangea bush, but without digging.Carefully make a small dig at a distance of 15-18 cm from the outer shoots. Carefully separate part of the bush along with the roots and cut off the roots leading from the branches with a clean pruning shears. The separated part must be planted immediately.
This method of dividing a bush is more gentle. Moreover, large and large shrubs can be rejuvenated in this way.
Propagation of hydrangea by layering
Gardeners recommend propagating hydrangea by layering in early spring or late autumn. Work should begin when the garden hydrangea fades. It is best to combine this process with work to prepare shrubs for winter. The whole procedure will not take much time and effort, and by spring, several young rooted shoots ready for transplanting will immediately form from one branch.
Interesting! Despite the fact that all parts of this plant contain poison, hydrangea roots have a powerful anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effect and in ancient times they were actively used for treatment.
- The soil around the hydrangea bush needs to be dug up. You should not go too deep so as not to damage the root system. A depth of 15-18 cm will be quite enough. Level the ground thoroughly.
- Make shallow, 1.5-2 cm grooves from the bush in the form of a radius.
- One hydrangea branch should be placed in one furrow.
- In several places, each shoot must be pressed to the ground using a small wooden spike or metal hooks.
- The upper part of the shoot, approximately 12-15 cm, should be left above the ground. It is desirable that the upper part stands vertically, without bending to the side.
- Cover the hydrangea shoots with soil.You should not pour too thick a layer of soil, otherwise it will be very difficult for young shoots to break through the compacted soil.
- Very soon, after 2-3 weeks, the first shoots will begin to appear above the ground. When the shoots reach a height of 8-10 cm, they need to be hilled.
- Do not forget about regular watering not only of the main bush, but also of the furrows with shoots.
When propagating hydrangea by layering, you should remember that it is undesirable to use lignified branches in this case.
You can divide the cuttings into seedlings and transplant them to another place only in early spring or a year later, in the fall.
This method is not often used by gardeners for growing hydrangeas. With systematic care, there are not so many branches on the bush. But due to the ease of implementation and excellent results, it is still perfect for propagating hydrangeas.
Conclusion
As you can see, any of the methods of growing hydrangea described above is simple and accessible to every novice gardener. The only rule is not to forget about constant watering, because these delicate flowers love moisture very much. When the first buds appear on the hydrangea bushes grown by yourself, and subsequently it blooms with lush, bright flowers, you will be able to admire the results of your painstaking work for a long period.
