To increase the amount of honeysuckle, it is not necessary to purchase planting material, it is quite possible to propagate the varieties of your choice. In this article we will get acquainted with the main methods of reproduction and the sequence of their implementation.
Conditions for successful honeysuckle breeding
To get a good planting material and harvest, you need:
- Select strong and young bushes that are not susceptible to diseases and pests.
- Create conditions for the active formation of the root system (observe the temperature regime of 24-28 ° C, moist air 90-95%).
- Rooted plants do not rush to plant, it is advisable to grow another year, so that the roots have time to grow.
- Plant plants outdoors in the garden at the age of 2-3 years.
- It is advisable to plant 3-5 varieties of honeysuckle, or more, on your plot.
What are the diseases and pests in honeysuckle, you can read here.
Honeysuckle breeding dates
Honeysuckle is propagated almost all year round.
Timing depends on the chosen method:
- Layers - in the spring until the buds open.
- Cuttings - from the moment of flowering to leaf fall.
- Dividing - in the fall, when the plants will dump all the foliage, or in the spring, before the buds swell.
- Seeds - can be sown from spring to autumn, with the exception of the winter period.
Vegetative propagation methods
Vegetative propagation is the formation of a new plant from part of the uterine bush. At the same time, the varietal characteristics of the plant are transmitted, and good survival is ensured. In this way, you can rejuvenate the garden, or increase the number of bushes.
Honeysuckle can be propagated:
- Stems or young shoots. It is possible to cut both green and lignified branches, but the former have a higher percentage of survival.
- Layers - from branches in contact with the ground.
- Root shoots - sprouts from awakened sleeping buds on the roots.
- Division of the root.
About 200 plants can be harvested and rooted from one bush.
Green cuttings
This method is used for summer reproduction of honeysuckle.
Recommended harvest time for green cuttings:
- Simultaneously with flowering and the formation of green fruits.
- After harvesting - at this time the shoot has already grown stronger, roughened, less prone to decay, and there is time until the fall to form a good root system.
- The best time for cutting cuttings is approximately from May (the second half of the month) until mid-June.
- Cuttings should be about the thickness of a pencil.
Requirements for the collection of cuttings:
- Branches intended for cuttings should still retain a green color, but already become brittle (when bent, they break with a characteristic crunch). If the shoots bend well, give them more time to grow.
- Choose the most powerful young shoots.
- Cut the cuttings in cloudy weather, in the morning or evening hours.
Sequencing:
- Cut the cuttings from the middle of the branch, so that their length is from 8 to 13 cm. On the handle, leave 3 or 4 buds. Perform the lower cut at an angle of 45 ° C. And the top one is at a right angle above the internode by 1.5-2 cm.
- Leave the leaves in the lower half of the handle, and reduce in the upper half. This will allow the cuttings to retain more moisture, which is necessary for the formation of complete roots.
- To stimulate root growth, make small incisions (grooves) at the lower edge of the handle.
- Before planting, soak the cuttings for 24 hours, immersing them 2-3 cm in the root stimulant. Powder the bottom cut with Cornevin powder.
- Treat the lower edge of the cuttings with a stimulator of root formation (Kornevin, Epin or Zircon).
- Rooting cuttings lasts about 1 month.
Green cuttings root in two ways:
- In water, followed by planting in a substrate after root formation:
- Immerse the cuttings in a container with water with the lower part with one internode.
- To accelerate the formation of roots on the first day, place them in a solution of heterouaxin, and then put in plain water.
- As evaporation periodically add water, but do not replace it.
- When the first roots appear, plant in a container with a substrate.
- In moist, light soil:
- Plant cuttings in light loose soil (mix 1 part peat with three parts sand, or in equal parts) so that the lower internode is in the ground.
- Cover with a transparent film to create a greenhouse effect and protect from bright sunlight.
- After 2-3 weeks, when the roots are formed - reduce watering, open the cuttings for ventilation, but keep the shelter for some time, gradually accustoming the young plants to the street.
- In the autumn, cover rooted cuttings with fir branches or leaves.
- With the advent of spring, they will begin to grow, grow another season, and next spring plant in the garden.
Lignified cuttings
To do this, choose year-old shoots with brown bark. They can be cut off after the plants drop their leaves or in early spring before buds open.
Rules for the collection and rooting:
- Choose healthy branches with a diameter of 6-9 mm.
- To store the prepared branches, wrap them with a damp cloth and dig them into the sand in the basement.
- In the spring, when the honeysuckle begins to start growing, cut the workpieces into cuttings, so that each has from 2 to 5 internodes and plant them on a substrate. But only one kidney should remain on the surface.
- After wintering the cuttings, grow another season to form a good root system.
- Plant rooted plants in a permanent place.
Root and horizontal layering
If propagating by cuttings seems too difficult, you can try propagating by layering. This method is quite simple, but applies only to varieties that give good annual shoots.
Root offspring rarely appear in honeysuckle - only if a sleeping kidney wakes up on the rhizomes. Then, emerging on the root shoot, grow up to 2 years, and then separate it from the main bush, plant it in a permanent place.
Another option is to try to propagate by horizontal layering.
This should be done before the sap flow begins:
- Dig around the main bush in the spring and remove weeds.
- At the bottom of the plant, select 3 or 4 good annual shoots. Gently pull the branches to the ground and pin in several places with an arc of wire.
- To stimulate the formation of roots at the point of contact of the designated branch with the ground, make small incisions in the cortex (furrow).
- Sprinkle the layers with a layer of earth up to 5 cm and regularly water and spud during the season.
- In autumn, the rooted layering will already have its own roots.
- In the spring, separate the secateurs from the mother bush and drop them into a permanent place.
Air layering
This option is used when all branches grow vertically, and there is no way to bend them to the ground.
Sequencing:
- Select the appropriate branch.
- Step back from the top of the branch 15-20 cm.
- Furrow it under one of the kidneys, or remove with a ring a layer of bark 1 cm wide.
- Cover the injured area with water-absorbing material (moss).
- Cut a bottle or other suitable container lengthwise and fill it with half a damp substrate, you can wrap it with a film filled with moss and fix it with tape.
- Put the container with the earth on the branch at the furrow, connect the halves and fasten with tape.
- All season, water the earthen lump in the tank, preventing it from drying out.
- After the roots appear, separate the secateurs below the planting capacity from the bush and plant them for growing.
Bush division and transplant
If an adult bush (3-6 years old) is strong enough and has 6-9 skeletal branches buried at the root in the ground, then it can be divided into parts and several plants can be obtained (from 6 to 12 divisions).
You can prepare the bush in advance, high (about 20 cm) hilling it in the fall, and this stimulated the growth of lateral roots. Dividing is carried out in the spring, until before the buds open, or in the fall, after leaf fall.
Sequencing:
- Dig a bush and divide into separate parts. In each divide there should be 2-3 shoots and a good rhizome.
- Disinfect the sections with ash, or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
- Plant the dividers in a permanent place, observing a technology similar to planting ordinary seedlings: in pre-prepared pits with nutrient soil, water the plantings abundantly.
Partial dividing can also be done, for this, the uterine bush is spudded in the spring, and in the fall they do not dig it out, and only the lateral branches with their own roots grown over the summer are separated.
Generative Honeysuckle Propagation
With seed propagation, it is impossible to predict the varietal properties of the future plant, since honeysuckle is cross-pollinated and as a result, both edible and wild forms can grow.
Sequencing:
- During the summer, during harvest, pick the largest, ripe berries. Crush them.
- Rinse the seeds from the pulp and dry.
- You can sow:
- In the summer, immediately after seed preparation, in the fall they will sprout. For winter, cover the young sprouts with covering material, in the spring they will continue to grow.
- Sowing in the winter - the seeds will undergo a natural stratification, and will be stronger and hardened, with more powerful roots. In the summer, transplant them for growing.
- Sowing in early spring - produce in closed ground in a nutrient substrate in cups or a container. Sprinkle the seeds with soil to a depth of 1 cm, carefully pour and cover with a film or glass. When the first leaves appear, remove the shelter. A year later, in the spring, land in the open ground.
Popular mistakes gardeners
When breeding honeysuckle, it happens that the failure to root and death of a young seedling occurs due to errors.
Here is a list of the most common:
- When propagated by seeds, gardeners plant one-year-old seedlings in open ground. But the plants have not yet developed a protective mechanism before the cold and will freeze during the first frosts.
- When rooting with green cuttings, cuttings of a much larger size are cut than necessary. In this case, the plant will build up the upper part to the detriment of the roots.
- When dividing, they begin to divide the bush just before the cold, in this case the honeysuckle does not have time to take root and prepare for frost and can freeze over during the winter.
Breeding honeysuckle does not require special knowledge and skills. The main thing is to try to follow the basic rules of rooting plants. Do not be afraid of experiments and your efforts will be rewarded with good yields from self-propagated varieties.