How to propagate hydrangea cuttings?

Hydrangea is a wonderful ornamental plant, during the flowering period it saturates the air with a wonderful aroma of honey. With its help, landscape designers decorate the walls of buildings, arches, front entrances. She is beautiful both in summer, when she throws out baskets of white, lilac or pink flowers, and in autumn, when her leaves turn bright yellow, so many gardeners have a natural question: how to propagate hydrangea? What are the ways, what are the optimal terms for this?

Propagation of the main types of hydrangea by cuttings

Hydrangea can be propagated:

• cuttings;
• layering;
• making a bush;
• seeds.

In practice, they often resort to cuttings, as this is the simplest and most affordable method. And in this way it can be propagated at almost any time of the year! Green cuttings give roots in sand, water, a light substrate. Not badly rooted and lignified shoots.

Important! The method is applicable to all types and varieties of hydrangeas.

There are some differences in propagation by cuttings in different species of shrubs. Although the standard method with varying degrees of effectiveness is applicable to each of them.

Standard breeding technology

• Cut green cuttings 7-12 cm long during the summer. For this, they select the fastest growing shoots located on the illuminated side of a bush or tree.
• The lower leaves are removed from them and planted either in sand or in light soil.
• Water and cover with plastic wrap. If there are a lot of cuttings, then they can be planted at an angle of 30-45 degrees.
• In the future, the seedlings are aired 1-3 times a week, increasing the frequency of this procedure every week, and sprayed from the spray gun.The substrate usually does not need to be watered, since after spraying, drops falling from the leaves naturally moisturize it. After 3-4 weeks, roots appear, after which the greenhouse is removed.

Panicle hydrangea

The optimal period for cutting cuttings is mid-June. Attempts to root this species later or earlier than this period are less effective. To do this, cut the lower shoots that do not contain buds. If possible, the stalk comes off with a heel, that is, with a piece of the bark of the branch from which it grew. The length of the stalk can be any: it does not have to be short, as when propagating other species. Slices are processed by Kornevin, after which the cuttings are planted in pots with light soil, and sometimes (if the weather is not excessively hot) - immediately on the beds.

Panicled hydrangea can bloom in the first year of life. In this case, you must definitely cut off all the buds!

Garden hydrangea

This species has a lower percentage of rooting, so its cuttings must be treated with drugs that accelerate root formation. The most popular of these is Kornevin. You can either put the cuttings in a solution, or cover the lower sections with a thin layer of powder. Green shoots cut off in the summer give slightly better roots.

The rest of the technology is standard.

Tree hydrangea

Cuttings of tree hydrangea, unlike the rest, take root well in the fall. For this, shortly before the onset of winter cold, the tops of ripened shoots with 2-3 pairs of leaves are cut off. The lower ones are completely removed, the upper ones are cut off by half, and only the petioles leave the middle ones.

The cuttings are washed in a solution of foundationazole for disinfection, after which they are planted in pots with loose, breathable soil and watered with a weak solution of phytosporin (to prevent rot). Finally, the plantings are covered with a mini-greenhouse or plastic bags and placed on a bright windowsill with room air temperature. 2-4 times a week they are aired.

In this form they are kept until spring, periodically airing and moderately watering. The roots appear in a month. Seedlings grow slowly until they are planted in open ground. In the darkest winter days they will need to be highlighted.

Leaf hydrangea

This species differs from others in more capriciousness when cutting. Only green cuttings are suitable for this, which are cut from June to September. This is preferable to do on cloudy days. Take only the tops of the shoots with 3-5 pairs of leaves, which are greatly shortened during planting. All other actions are standard.

How to propagate hydrangea cuttings in water?

Green hydrangea cuttings, in addition to the large-leaved variety, give roots even in water. For this, the upper part with 2-4 pairs of leaves is taken from the shoot. The lower leaves are completely cut off, and the rest are shortened. The bottom cut the stalk is immersed in water by 1 cm, covered with a mini-greenhouse or plastic bag.

It is preferable to select a transparent container for this procedure. It is also important to periodically (every 5-7 days) change the water, since pathogenic bacteria that cause decay processes multiply in it during stagnation.

After 3-3.5 weeks, the first roots will appear. When they reach a length of 2-3 cm, the plant can be transplanted into a pot or in cloudy and non-hot weather - in open ground.

Cuttings under the winter

Hydrangea can be propagated even by winter cuttings.

Stages of winter grafting:

• In the second half of October, or just before the winter cooling, the mother plant is dug up, planted in a pot and placed in the basement. It is advisable to use light soil, consisting of 4 parts of sod land, 2 parts of humus, 1 part of peat and 1 part of sand. There, the bush should stand at temperatures close to outside. As necessary, the earthen lump is moderately watered, but at low temperatures due to slow evaporation this may not be necessary.
• In mid-January, the plant is brought into the room with a temperature of the order of +10 degrees. Soon, the buds begin to bloom on the bush. By the end of February, young shoots reach a sufficient length for cuttings: they have 3-4 pairs of leaves.
• Cuttings are cut, kept in the root formation stimulator for 24 hours and planted in light nutrient soil, covered with a mini-greenhouse. They are buried to the first leaves. Coarse sand can be used instead of soil.
• After a month, the shelter is phased out, and young seedlings grow on the windowsill before the start of the warm season. Hydrangea is planted in mid-May in a shaded place.

Preparation of cuttings: technology

If the propagation path is chosen with green cuttings, then they are cut only from the top of the shoot.

The lower leaves are removed from the stalk, and the largest ones are halved. The lower sections put them for a day in a solution that promotes root formation: root, heteroauxin, epin. If the drug HB101 is used, it is enough to withstand cuttings in it for only 30 minutes.

Important! Experience shows that cuttings from the middle of the branch also take root, but grow more slowly.

A few words about other breeding methods

Less common breeding methods:

• Layering. May and September are the optimal time for plant propagation in this way. The shoot is bent to the ground, fixed with wire and sprinkled with soil at the point of contact. Next year, the branch can be separated from the mother bush and planted at a constant place of growth.
• Root growth. Most varieties produce root shoots, which in the fall can be separated from the main rhizome with a shovel. The young shoot is recommended to be grown in the garden for the first year, paying special attention to it, and then it can be planted in a permanent place.
• Bush division in early spring before budding. The plant is watered abundantly, dug up, its root system is cleared of soil. The bush is neatly divided into 2-3 parts and seated.
• Seed propagation hydrangeas are used very rarely and only for breeding purposes, since the resulting plants do not always inherit the decorative features of the mother bush. In addition, seedlings from seeds can be planted in open ground only in the third year! The procedure is standard: seeds are sown in shallow containers on the surface of moist soil, sprayed from a spray bottle and covered with glass or a mini-greenhouse. Shoots appear in a month. The glass is removed in stages. A month later, they are dived into more voluminous dishes and grown in greenhouse conditions for 2 years.

Propagation of hydrangea by cuttings is within the power of everyone. Cutting is the best option for amateur gardeners. Thanks to this simple and reliable method, everyone can get this wonderful queen of gardens.