Country estates and dachas cannot be imagined without exquisite flower beds or cozy flower beds. Most often, areas are decorated with unpretentious flowers. You can give your landscape design an extraordinary look with the help of a spectacular rhododendron bush. This culture is considered capricious to grow, and not all gardeners know how to propagate rhododendron on their own. To increase shrubs, several techniques are used.
How to propagate rhododendron from cuttings
Annual shoots, both woody and leafy, are suitable for growing the crop.The cutting procedure begins as soon as the rhododendron fades. Approximate guidelines: May 20-June 15 - deciduous varieties, June 20-July 10 - evergreen.
The cutting procedure includes several stages:
- A cutting 5-9 cm long is cut from the shoot. It is advisable to choose a section of the shoot that has leaves and a couple of internodes.
- The bottom of the cutting is cleared of branches, a 2-2.5 cm long incision is made on the bark. The branches are soaked in solutions of growth stimulants for a day.
- Fill the container with loose, fertile soil. The cuttings are buried in the ground at an angle of 30-40°.
Containers with cuttings are placed in a lighted place protected from drafts, ensuring a temperature of 20-25 °C. To maintain high air humidity, the containers are covered with polyethylene. Cuttings are planted in a permanent place of growth in the spring.
Reproduction by layering
This method is excellent for propagating plants growing in open areas. The popular method is quite simple to implement and is carried out in the spring. The essence of the procedure:
- the lower branches of the bush are inclined towards the ground;
- The middle part of the branch is split and buried to a depth of 10-15 cm so that the top of the branch is located above the surface of the ground. To fix the branch in the recess, use a pin;
- During the season, the planting site is watered;
- For the winter, the deep branches are not dug up, but left to overwinter, covered with spruce branches.
In the spring, the spruce branches are removed and the cuttings are dug up, cutting them off from the mother bush. This is how young rhododendrons, whose branches are still quite flexible, are propagated.
Advice! No more than 3-5 cuttings are rooted from one bush.
Rules for propagation by seeds
This is not the most common way to propagate plants at home. The main disadvantage of the technique is the long period of growing seedlings. Seeds are sown at the end of February, beginning of March. Standard seed germination technology:
- containers are filled with loose soil (peat-sand mixture is suitable);
- planting material is simply distributed on the surface of the earth, maintaining a distance of 1.5-2 cm, without sprinkling;
- containers are covered with glass, plastic wrap and left in the room. It is important to regularly moisten the soil to ensure high air humidity under the shelter;
- as soon as the shoots appear, the covering material is removed and the containers are placed in a cooler room (air temperature - 10-12 °C).
Plants are planted in separate containers at the end of June. In the summer, rhododendrons are kept outdoors, and in the winter they are moved indoors. In this way, plants are grown for 4-5 years, only then they are planted in a permanent place of growth.
Dividing the bush
This method is advisable to apply to old, luxuriantly grown bushes. The technique is not complicated. But experienced gardeners note that this is a rather painful procedure for the plant. The mother bush is divided into several parts using a sharp shovel, and the small roots at the base are cut with a knife. The resulting divisions are planted in pre-prepared holes and are not replanted for at least 2-3 years. During this period, the plants' root system grows and strengthens, shoots grow, and a bush forms.
If, when dividing the mother bush, divisions with weak roots are obtained, the plants are first planted in greenhouses.
Which method is better to choose?
When choosing a method of growing a crop, you need to take into account, first of all, the variety.Although it is also important that the grower has experience and time to care for rhododendrons.
The seed propagation method is not suitable for growing varietal crops, since there is a possibility that the varietal characteristics will not be preserved. It is most practical and convenient to grow rhododendrons in a spacious area using layering. This method is most often used when growing deciduous varieties. It is preferable to propagate alpine varieties with creeping stems by dividing the bush. This propagation technique is also suitable for growing Rhododendron canada, which produces many rhizomes.
When using the cutting method, you need to keep in mind that deciduous varieties take root within 1-1.5 months, and evergreen varieties will take from 4 to 5 months.
Planting young plants in a permanent place
To reliably root the plant, it is important to choose a suitable growing location. The culture develops well in areas with diffused lighting, protected from drafts and strong winds. Regarding soil quality, loose nutritious soils with a pH reaction of 4.5-5.0 are preferable. Plants are planted in a permanent place of growth in the spring. The layout of the holes is determined by the rhododendron variety. It will be comfortable for compact bushes to grow at a distance of 0.7-0.8 m from each other, and for spreading bushes a distance of at least 2 m is established.
It is important to check the position of the root collar relative to the soil surface. The best option is 2-3 cm above ground level.
Holes are formed around the plants. The planting procedure is completed with extensive watering and mulching of the soil. Peat and pine needles are used as mulch. A distinctive feature of rhododendrons is that the plants take a long time to develop with any method of propagation.It is possible that not all attempts to propagate the crop will be successful. But beautiful and lush rhododendron bushes are definitely worth the time and effort.
