Bright and attractive hydrangea has long mastered the gardens of lovers of summer cottages. However, buying a ready-made sapling of a new variety in a store is quite an expensive pleasure. Here are some ways to self-propagate hydrangeas in your area.
Seeds
Hydrangea seeds do not need special preparation before planting. They can be sown immediately into prepared containers with slightly moistened soil.
At the same time, it is not necessary to close the seeds deeply, since this may affect their germination. After sowing, cover the tray with glass or cling film.
Plants will sprout in about 20 days. Then the seedlings are grown for 2 years, and in the third year they are planted in a permanent place. The plus of such reproduction is relative simplicity, and the minus is that only natural types of hydrangea can be propagated by seeds. The varieties bred by specialists do not retain their decorative qualities with this method.
Green cuttings
It is better to start grafting when the buds appear, that is, in early July. Cuttings - parts of the stem with leaves and buds - are cut only from young plants. Another nuance is that you need to make sure that the cuttings do not dry out in any way.
Early in the morning, shoots are cut from the hydrangea and put in the water. The shoots are divided into pieces several centimeters long, the lower leaves are removed from them. Now you need to put the cuttings in a root former for a couple of hours. It can be purchased from a specialist store. After that, we plant the cuttings in a mixture of peat and sand and cover with glass jars. They need to be watered a couple of times a week.
Layers
Hydrangea propagation by layering begins in the spring, before the buds begin to bloom. They dig up the earth around the bush and make radial grooves in it with a depth of about 2 cm.
Further, one shoot from the bottom of the plant must be laid in each groove. They must be fixed and covered with soil. After a few months, young shoots will appear from the layers. By the end of summer, several young shoots should have formed on each of our cuttings. As soon as they grow up to 20 cm, we begin hilling.
In October, you can divide the shoots and plant them in the garden in the spring. And in a year, young hydrangea bushes will be ready for transplantation to a permanent place.
Offspring
There is another effective way to propagate hydrangeas. It will require care and some experience from the gardener.
In the fall, you need to remove the soil layer near the plant. Very carefully separate the coppice shoot, while trying not to touch the roots of the mother bush. Shoots must be grown: for this they must be planted in a garden bed, where young plants will spend about two years before planting in a permanent place.
Transplanting and dividing the bush
This method is perhaps the simplest. It is usually used when transplanting a plant. In early spring, they dig up the entire hydrangea bush, after having plentifully watering the ground.
Now you need to thoroughly wash the roots from the soil. This will make it easier to split the bush. Plants are divided into several parts and immediately planted in a permanent place.
