Honeysuckle propagation methods: cuttings, layering, dividing the bush, seeds

You probably liked the honeysuckle berries so much that you decided to find out how you can effectively propagate it.

Well, let's take a look at the main breeding methods of honeysuckle in spring, summer and fall. Namely, let's talk about when and how to drop in layers, cuttings and divide the bushes.

By the way! Honeysuckle can be decorative (honeysuckle or Tatar honeysuckle), or it can be edible. In general, the breeding methods are the same.

When and how to propagate honeysuckle: timing and methods

Honeysuckle can be propagated generatively (by seeds) and vegetatively, that is, in parts (by layering, cuttings, dividing the bush).

As for the timing, the entire warm period is suitable for this, however, each season has its own breeding methods.

• In spring - by seeds (in March) and horizontal layers (in April-May);
• In early summer - green cuttings (late May-early June).
• In the second half of summer (autumn) - lignified cuttings.

But you can divide the bush both in spring and autumn.

Thus, in order to determine which method of reproduction of honeysuckle suits you best, you should familiarize yourself with each of them and choose the most optimal one.

Honeysuckle breeding methods

Seeds

Many online stores offer honeysuckle seeds for sale.

The very technology of growing honeysuckle from seeds is almost completely repeats the cultivation of tomato seedlings:

• sow seeds in March (literally 3-5 mm deep),
• waiting for seedlings to appear (about 3-5 weeks!),
• take care (water),
• dive at the stage of 3 true leaves into larger containers,
• plant seedlings in open ground when the threat of frost has passed (i.e. in the second half of May).

Note! If you prepare the seeds yourself and next year grow seedlings from them, then the resulting plants will differ from the mother, and for the worse (most likely, the fruit will be bitter), because maternal signs will simply be split and not fully transmitted. These are the features of the generative (seed) method of reproduction - varietal characteristics are not preserved.

Another thing is the seeds harvested in an industrial way (in the laboratory).

Video: how to grow honeysuckle from seeds (see videos from 5 min. 34 sec.)

Layers

Honeysuckle propagation by layering is, perhaps, the easiest way obtaining new seedlings, and also the most efficient and fastest (as opposed to cuttings).

So, in order to propagate honeysuckle with horizontal layers, you need to do the following:

• In spring (April-May) or early summer (June), you need to find the most conveniently located one-year branch.

If fruits are already tied on it, then they will need to be cut off.

• Gently bend the selected shoot to the soil and press it with a hairpin (bracket, hook), and then sprinkle it on top with soil (5-10 cm).
• Alternatively, you can dig a small trench (groove) 5-10 cm deep, lay the shoot in it, secure it with a brace (hairpin, hook) and cover it with earth.

By the way! In this case, the top (crown) of the shoot should be above the soil surface.

Interesting! Some gardeners recommend slightly disturbing the bark under the branching points by sawing with a file so that the roots appear faster.

• Water thoroughly and mulch (so that the soil does not dry out).
• In order for the cuttings to take root well and quickly, do not forget to water it periodically.
• This fall or next spring it will be necessary to separate the new plants from the mother shrub and transplant to a permanent place.

Video: vegetative propagation of honeysuckle with edible layering

Cuttings (green and lignified)

One of the most popular methods for obtaining new planting material for honeysuckle and other plants is their cuttings.

Honeysuckle can be propagated both by green cuttings and lignified. In this case, it is the first method that is used more often, i.e. cut in early summer (late May-early June), and not at the end.

Advice! Put several cuttings on rooting at once (so to speak, in reserve). The result will not be 100% anyway.

Green cuttings

The procedure for propagation of honeysuckle with green cuttings consists of several stages: cutting and harvesting cuttings, their treatment with root formation stimulants, germination and / or planting in the ground, followed by transplanting seedlings to a permanent place. Next, everything in order.

Harvesting cuttings and preparing them for rooting:

• Green cuttings are usually cut in late spring-early summer (late May-early June), when the first berries begin to ripen.
• Young semi-lignified shoots of the current year 8-12 cm long are cut as cuttings, while each cuttings should have 3 internodes.

You can make 3 cuttings from a 30 cm branch:

• One of them will with a "heel",
• and the remaining 2 - without "heels", while bottom cut must be oblique (at an angle of 45 degrees), and top - straight.

By the way! Best of all, cuttings with a "heel" take root.

• Next, you need to completely remove the lower leaves (at 1 internode), leaving only a part of the upper ones, and they need to be shortened by cutting them by about half.

The upper leaves are shortened to reduce the area of ​​moisture evaporation.

• Then, to improve rooting, the lower sections should be dusted with a dry powder of one of the root formation stimulants (for example, Kornevin, Heteroauxin) or kept in solution for some time (according to the instructions).

Now you need to put the cuttings for germination (rooting), doing it in one of the following ways:

Directly into the ground (under the greenhouse)

Of course, the easiest way is to immediately plant the cuttings in open ground, on a separate bed:

• The greenhouse must be in the shade (not in direct sunlight). Alternatively, make it under the crown of trees (in the open sun, everything will burn and resist).
• Naturally, the soil in the garden bed in the cuttings (this is the usually called the place that is allocated for rooting cuttings) should be loose and moderately fertile (just mix garden soil with sand, if possible also add peat and humus).

Moreover, it is very desirable that the base of the cutting was in the sand (i.e., add a 2-3 cm layer of sand on top). The sand will keep the cuttings from rotting.

• The cuttings themselves need to be planted at an angle, deepening along the first internode, from which you broke off the leaves.
• Next, you need to create a greenhouse effect, for example, cover the cuttings with a bottle on top.

It is best to make an arc greenhouse, i.e. stretch the film (to retain moisture), on top of which there is still spunbond (to protect from direct sunlight).

• The main care is to maintain maximum humidity inside the greenhouse, i.e. regular spraying (at least 2-3 times a day for the first week, then a little less often).

Ideally, green cuttings should be rooted in artificial fog.

• By the fall, the cuttings will take root, and in the spring they can be transplanted to a permanent place.

Initial germination in water or in a glass of soil

• And you can put cuttings for germination in water (again, only the lower part of the cutting without leaves should be in the water).

But it's even better to put the cuttings for rooting. in cups (cut bottles) with earth (it is optimal to take peat, sand and humus in equal proportions).

• Place the glass with cuttings in a warm place and cover with a bottle (again, make a greenhouse).

The ideal temperature for rooting cuttings is +22 .. + 25 degrees. Therefore, you can put the container with cuttings in the garden, for example, under a tree or in a greenhouse (if the weather is cool).

It is imperative to maintain high humidity by regularly spraying cuttings (In no case should anything dry out!).

• After about a month or earlier, when the cutting has a lot of roots (when germinating in water, this will be visible, in a transparent cup too), it will be possible to transplant the rooted cutting into open ground, under a greenhouse (in a bottle).

Video: propagate honeysuckle by cuttings (green)

Lignified cuttings

As a rule, most gardeners, if they propagate honeysuckle with lignified cuttings, they prefer to do it in the second half of summer (and not in autumn).

In this case, the reproduction process by lignified cuttings is similar to reproduction by green ones, the only difference is in terms. This is how the cuttings are harvested and planted in the ground when they turn brown (completely lignified).

However! The classic method of propagation with lignified cuttings implies that you cut them in the fall, store until spring (for example, in sand or sawdust in a basement or cellar) and plant only in spring.

Anyway the survival rate of lignified cuttings is much worse than green, so this method is suitable only for experiments (in other words, for pampering).

Dividing the bush

Another very versatile breeding method for any shrub, suitable also for honeysuckle.

However! Due to its laboriousness, it is used only as a last resort (if it is not possible to propagate it in other ways, or if you want, so to speak, to rejuvenate the bush or transplant it to another place).

As for the timing, as a rule, the division and transplantation of the bushes is done in early spring (in April) or in the fall (2-4 weeks before frost).

Note! Obviously, you can only divide already sufficiently mature and overgrown bushes. Otherwise, what are you going to share?

Honeysuckle propagation by dividing the bush is performed in the following sequence:

• Carefully dig up the mother bush itself, being careful not to damage its root system.
• Divide into how many parts with a secateurs (knife). Sprinkle the slices made with crushed charcoal (wood or activated).

• Plant the resulting seedlings in a standard way (like a normal open-root seedling).

By the way! The site has detailed material about how to plant honeysuckle seedlings in spring and in the fall.

Now you know the essence of each of the breeding methods for honeysuckle. There is nothing complicated about it. Everything is easier than it seems, in other words, even a novice gardener can cope with the breeding procedure. In any case, experience comes with practice. Good luck with your garden experiments!

Consider! In order for honeysuckle to bear fruit, it is necessary that it is well pollinated, for which it is necessary to plant at least 2 or better 3 different varieties.

Video: methods of breeding honeysuckle (layering and green cuttings)