Reproduction of hydrangeas by cuttings: mechanism of action

Hortensia is a shrub of the hydrangea family with stunningly beautiful flowers, for which they are particularly fond of landscape designers, flower shop owners engaged in the sale of bouquets and floral arrangements, and ordinary florists. There are several ways in which the hydrangeas multiply: cuttings, layers and offsprings, bush division and even seeds. Among them, the vegetative way - lignified or green cuttings - is the most common, and gives the greatest survival rate of young plants.

Hortensia tree: reproduction by cuttings in autumn

If you decide to start preparing the hydrangea planting material in the fall, be prepared for the fact that you will not only need to cut suitable cuttings, but also keep young plants in the room conditions until spring. In this case, the propagation of hydrangeas by cuttings occurs as follows:

1. In autumn, before sheltering adult plants for the winter, cuttings are cut from them. In this case, you should choose only strong, well-developed shoots. Each shank must contain two leaf nodes. The cut line should pass (both from above, and from below) obliquely and not less than 1 cm from the kidney. The lower leaves are removed, leaving a small tail of the petiole in the renal sinus, and the upper ones are cut halfway.
2. With a view of disinfection, the prepared cuttings are soaked for about an hour in a foundation solution. Then the upper cut of the cuttings is treated with greenery, and the lower one is sprinkled with a means to stimulate the formation of roots.
3. In a container with loose, fertile soil, pits are made in advance, which can be sprinkled with a composition against the formation of rot. A hole is inserted into the pit, slightly compacted and covered with earth.
4. The container with cuttings is wrapped in a plastic bag, forming a kind of greenhouse, and put in a bright place. Several times a week, your "boyfriend" should be ventilated and check the moisture content of the soil. As rooting and formation of young leaves grows, the time of finding cuttings in the open air is increased, while carefully watching that the shoots do not dry out and become frozen. In winter, it is possible to arrange the fluorescent lamps to illuminate the shoots .

Reproduction of hydrangeas by cuttings in spring

If you decided to start preparing cuttings in the spring, then it is necessary to take the case in March-April, when the hydrangea just left the state of rest and begins to grow green shoots. The earlier you cut the cuttings, the more branched the young plants will turn out, and vice versa, later the cuttings give mainly one-stem plants. Planting material is better cut from shrubs older than 1-2 years: so cuttings will be strong, and the adult plant does not hurt. Thus, the reproduction of hydrangeas by cuttings in spring assumes the following stages:

1. The strongest root shoots are selected, since the likelihood of their survival is highest. Cuttings from lateral shoots quickly enter the flowering phase, without having had time to form a strong root system.
2. In contrast to the autumn preparation of planting material, during the spring breeding the upper point of growth is not cut off. In other respects, the mechanism of preparation of cuttings and their rooting is almost the same.
3. In a few weeks, when young plants are well rooted and will release 6-5 pairs of new leaves, the top can be pinched to form a lush bush. However, it is important not to overdo it, because the hydrangea only releases inflorescences at the top of the shoot. So, the right choice of planting material and creating comfortable conditions for young plants is the key to success, whether the hydrangea is propagated by cuttings in water or in the soil, in autumn or in spring. So good luck to you in your endeavors!