Is it possible to root a stalk. Rooting conditions for cuttings. Rooting lignified cuttings at home

If you have ever tried to root green cuttings, then you probably know that they need constant control, you need to create a microclimate and regular spraying. But what if you can't run around the plants with a sprayer several times a day? Buying a foggy setup? Expensive if you do not have industrial plantings, but "for yourself and a little for sale." You can buy a humidifier: with it I also root cuttings, but electricity is very expensive in our country, and again, you need to control the amount of water in the humidifier. And then on the Internet I came across one method of grafting "for the lazy" On June 13, I started an experiment.

You will need:

• transparent plastic cups 50 or 100 ml - 100 pieces (83 rubles);
• zip packages A5 format - 100 pieces (172 rubles);
• Kornevin - 1 sachet (10 g - 30 rubles);
• water;
• purchased soil (260 rubles - 30 liters, I needed about 3 liters - 26 rubles).

I prepared the cuttings in the usual way: early in the morning, I collected half-spring * cuttings with two or three internodes from hydrangeas, vesicles, weigel, kerrias, and deren. On the lower internodes, the leaves were cut in half, and a third was removed from the upper ones. I updated the slices on the cuttings: on top I left "hemp" no more than 1 cm long, at the bottom - about 3-4 cm. She dipped the cuttings into water for two hours - to get drunk with moisture. I added a little aloe juice to the solution.

While the cuttings were getting drunk, I prepared the container. In each cup (I did not make any holes in the cups !!!) I poured soil so that it occupied a little more than half of the volume, and spilled it with water from the sprayer. It is more convenient for me to water from a sprayer: this way I control the amount of water. The soil should be moist, but not wet.

Now you can start planting. The lower part of the cuttings was pollinated by Kornevin and planted in cups with soil. I put the glass in a zip-bag and sealed it tightly. All! She took all the cuttings to the greenhouse and put them in a bright place, where direct sunlight does not fall.

For sixteen days I did not look in and did not check the cuttings, did not ventilate them or spray them. They just stood in the corner. On June 29, I opened several bags and: Oh, miracle! ALL the cuttings have taken root! It was perfectly visible through the transparent walls of the cups! There were a few cuttings, the roots of which were not visible. I slightly pulled their tops and felt an effort, which means there are roots, but the root system has not yet developed much. What's interesting: some varieties of weigel and hydrangea have roots not only in the ground, but also aerial roots on the stems.

I called the method of rooting "for the lazy": I set the cuttings to root and do not approach them for almost three weeks. You don't need to run to the greenhouse first thing in the morning - to spray, you don't need to run from work at lunchtime, and after work run back to the greenhouse.

In the same way, I tried to root bougainvillea and lead, which are very difficult to root - everything took root! Costs: a little more than three rubles per cutting. * Semi-lignified cuttings are those that bend but do not break. From the author: In the same way, you can root not only ornamental plants, but also stepchildren of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Excellent results were obtained by rooting berry bushes and indoor flowers, which are difficult to propagate by cuttings. In this way, I managed to propagate cuttings of mulberry, lilac, bladder, roses, chrysanthemums. The only plant that I could not propagate in this way is barberry.

Irina Ploshkina

Growing plants from cuttings is the most popular method of vegetative propagation.

Numerous guides have been written on rooting cuttings. But in the process of grafting and root formation, sometimes a lot of details are found that decisively affect the final result.

The easiest way to root cuttings is in a jar of water.

Under certain conditions, it can be used even for plants that are considered difficult to root. But for all the simplicity of this method, there are many subtleties on which success depends.

How to carry it out? What can be done to make rooting of cuttings easier? What are the little things to consider when grafting? Let's try to answer these questions.

Should I change the water in a jar with cuttings?

It is better not to change the water during evaporation, but to top up.

Not all plants tolerate this water change. In all likelihood, some necessary metabolic products accumulate in the water in which the cuttings are rooting. So it was noticed that cuttings of passionflower, which had already given roots, repeatedly died after changing the water. Moreover, the water was well settled, without harmful impurities. Therefore, it is advisable not to change the water, but to top it up as it evaporates.

How much water should be in the jar when cutting?

For example, a plant such as honeysuckle will not root in a 200 ml jar if it contains more than three cuttings. And if you place the cuttings one at a time in smaller containers, rooting of the cuttings occurs without problems.
It is important not only the amount of water per cutting, but also the water level in the jar. For the formation of roots, the presence of oxygen is necessary, it is not for nothing that roots are formed at the border of water and air. If the vessel is too deep and there is a lot of water, there is not enough oxygen in the lower part, which leads to rotting of the cutting. The experiments of the British showed that when the water was aerated in the vessel during cuttings, the roots on the cuttings formed along the entire length and in a shorter time.

Selection of shoots for cutting cuttings.

It is important to choose the right shoot from which to cut the stalk. Oddly enough, from the main, powerful shoots that grow up, poor cuttings are obtained. Good quality cuttings are obtained from lateral, not very actively growing branches. So, don't go after power and size.
Do not take thin fruit twigs that have stopped growing. It is better to take those shoots that still continue to grow. Usually they take the middle part of the shoot for cuttings. It is more convenient to cut the cuttings into three buds. If the deficit is two, or even one.

Some conifers, for example, spruce and pointed yew, have an interesting property. From cuttings taken from lateral horizontal branches, disheveled, sometimes even almost creeping plants are obtained, while vertical trees are obtained from cuttings from vertical branches.
If for grafting one long shoot is taken and cut into several parts, then it is essential from which part of the shoot the cutting is taken. Cuttings taken from the lower part of the stem root better. When grafting roses, it can often be observed that from the cuttings obtained from the equally lignified stem along the entire length, only the very last one, cut from the very base, takes root. This also applies to other cuttings, such as passionflower.

How and when to cut the cuttings?

This time, time matters: it is better to cut early in the morning - there is more moisture in the cuttings. Day and evening cuttings should be kept in water for an hour before planting, updating the cut with a sharp knife.
Depending on the type of plants and the ability of the cuttings to root, it is customary to divide the cuttings into groups.
Green cuttings - cut from early to mid-summer, in the morning.
Semi-lignified cuttings - cut at the end of summer, no more than 15 cm long.
When cutting cuttings from a green, immature shoot, the cut is made directly under the node or bud. The tissues located in this place are more resistant to fungal diseases. If a more mature lignified shoot is chosen for cuttings, the cut is usually made in the middle of the internode.
Lignified cuttings - cut during the dormant period of plants (late autumn - early spring before bud break), no more than 25 cm long.
For all types of cuttings, the rule applies - you need to cut the material from a strong healthy shoot. Trim the slices with a sharp knife. They should be even, without scuffs and rags.
Green cuttings can be successfully propagated: grapes, geraniums, larkspur, forsythia, chrysanthemum, chubushnik and berry crops.

Lignified cuttings reproduce well: viburnum, dogwood, rose, plum, spirea.

From any shoots: green, semi-lignified and lignified, you can cut a stalk consisting of a bud with a leaf. Such cuttings should be 2.5 - 4 cm long. The upper cut is made as close to the bud as possible; it is advisable not to leave the hemp at all. The upper cut is made as close to the kidney as possible (without leaving a hemp if possible). The lower one is 2.5-4 cm from the upper one.

Each stalk should consist of:
- a very short section of the stem;
- one sheet (the other sheet is removed);
- the bud located in the leaf axil.
You could leave all the leaves on the cuttings. But, being in water (and, even more so, when rooting in the substrate, when the water supply is limited), the extra leaves dry out the cuttings, which can cause them to die.

Cutting methods.

On the left is the nodal stalk, its lower cut is located directly under the node or kidney. This is how unripened green cuttings are usually cut, since the tissues located in this place are more resistant to fungal diseases.
Right - Slice in the middle of the internode. As a rule, this is done when cutting cuttings from more matured (lignified) shoots.

If the winter stalk uses its reserves, then the summer stalk is basically what produces the green leaf. There is a difficulty here. The leaf needs more light to produce its glucose. But at the same time, he must evaporate water, and there is still no trace of water - the roots have not grown. It will not evaporate water if you create one hundred percent humidity. So you need a film. But in the summer, under the film, everything burns out in an hour. The solution to the problem is in the exact selection of a place for the greenhouse. There should be almost no direct sun there - well, maybe until eight in the morning and after eight in the evening, and individual sunbeams are not contraindicated. But there should be a maximum of free sky. Normally - under the northern wall, and so that there are no trees and houses nearby. Or under the crown of a large tree, around which there is a lighted space.
The garden bed is done the same way. The same layer of sand or screenings spilled with a stimulant and half a dose of fertilizer. Wire frame 20-30 cm high. A clean film is stretched. One edge is dug in, the rest are pressed to the ground tightly, but so that it is easy to lift the film. That's the whole device called a cold greenhouse. If, at the same time, a reflective screen is arranged that would cast light from the open part of the sky and from the dark side, rooting will be even faster and more powerful. A sheet of aluminum, a mirror film, or just something white is suitable for this. The reflective effect is very noticeable.

The role of light in the propagation of plants by cuttings.

Light has a significant effect on the rooting of cuttings. If the cutting has at least part of the leaf, it needs light to root. At the same time, a cutting without leaves gives better roots in the dark. The reason for this is that if the cutting was harvested during a period when the plant no longer had leaves, it contains a certain amount of heteroauxin, which stimulates the formation of roots, which, in all likelihood, decomposes in the light. And in the presence of green leaves, heteroauxin, on the contrary, is produced. From this point of view, it would be better to leave a large number of leaves on the cuttings, but in this case, moisture evaporates more actively and the cuttings dry out. Therefore, it is recommended to remove most of the leaves, and sometimes even cut off the halves of the remaining leaves.
So, the light factor during grafting influences as follows. A stalk that does not have leaves grows better in the dark.
For rooting a cutting, which has at least a piece of a leaf, light is needed.
It is worth noting that in a light dish, even in the light, the roots are formed worse than in a dark one.

Storage and planting of cuttings.

For green cuttings, put the cut material in a plastic bag or put in water. Green cuttings must be planted on the day they are cut. Green cuttings are not kept dry at all. In a raw bag, they can be worn for half a day, and they must not be wrinkled. Having put them in water, they can be stored for a couple of days, but the leaves should not get into the water, and it is better to put a bag of transparent film on the jar to increase the humidity of the air.

It is enough to weed and spill such a greenhouse from a watering can once a week. Better, of course, to arrange wick watering. When the shoots begin to grow vigorously, the film can be removed, but you need to water more often. You can feed once every two weeks, and if humus is added, you can not feed at all. Subtlety of care: leaves adhering to a sweaty film or to sand quickly rot. Make sure that this does not happen.

Lignified cuttings can be stored in a bag in the refrigerator until spring or in the sand in the basement.

For green cuttings, cut the blades in half to prevent excessive moisture loss. In plants with a hollow core, the lower cut of the cutting must be filled with paraffin so that there is no decay. This process involves covering the cuttings with a thin film of paraffin. This is done as follows: the upper ends of the cuttings or a seedling with eyes located on them are immersed for a moment in molten paraffin, the temperature of which should be + 75-85 ° C. If you use paraffin, heated to a lower temperature, then its layer on the cuttings forms too thick and then it often crumbles. Paraffin is heated in a water bath. It is impossible to heat the paraffin on an open fire, because its temperature can be much higher than the recommended one, and this will lead to burns of the tissues of the cuttings; in addition, paraffin heated to a high temperature is fire hazardous.

For waxing, you can use ordinary technical paraffin, or just ordinary paraffin candles. In order for the paraffin to better adhere to the cuttings and its film to be elastic, bitumen and rosin can be added to it, 30 g per 1000 g of paraffin. If you add beeswax to the paraffin, up to 10% of its weight, then the waxing of cuttings and seedlings can be done at a lower temperature. The use of paraffin, which has good anti-respiratory properties, makes it possible to increase the survival rate of cuttings in a school (this is a mini-bed, a place for cutting seedlings, rooting cuttings, perennial divisions, i.e. where plants grow with different growth periods) and plant seedlings of their subsequent hilling with earth.

Select the distance between the cuttings according to the size of the plant so that the leaves do not touch. We deepen this time purely symbolically: semi-lignified - by the lower third, herbaceous (mint, lemon balm, etc.) - by 2 cm. In summer, cuttings rot especially quickly, and the roots climb even better if the moisture is not quite close. Bury the green cuttings in the ground to the leaves.
Bury the lignified cuttings in the soil so that 2-3 buds remain above the surface. There should be 2-3 cm of cutting above the ground. Keep the soil moist.

Try to root whatever you want. Look at the stalk for real: it is a living organism, which has everything to survive. There is a kidney and a cambium for the roots. A stalk is almost the same as a seed. Even the ends of perennial currant branches, cut in August, and sea-buckthorn branches, cut in September, take root. Even two- and three-year-old wood takes root.
Moreover, the ability to take root by cuttings is brought up. Plants have a "memory" for rooting! About a third of the cuttings are rooted first. Cuttings taken from rooted plants survive by two-thirds. And the cuttings from them are already rooted one hundred percent. Michurin described this in detail.
And that's not all. The most unrooted cuttings can be prepared for guaranteed rooting. And even make it take root "without leaving the branch."

How to root everything that doesn't want to root.

The most reliable way to root a plant is to cut it. A branch, dug into the ground and moistened, gives its roots over the summer, without risking anything and without stopping in growth. In the spring it can be cut off and planted wherever needed. So you can multiply anything you want. And the trees take root beautifully. Layers are not made because most gardeners are used to raising the crown high above the ground for some reason. At Yuri Ignatovich Trashchei in Vasyurinskaya, the trees sit almost horizontally. Their branches are lowered and buried in, then they are buried in again, and the trees can "walk" through the garden, forming a low-growing "tree-garden".
And the Chinese even in ancient times noticed: if a branch is laid strictly horizontally, several shoots climb up from it. If such a branch is dug, roots are formed under each shoot, and several plants can be obtained.
The mother branch (shoot) has to be pinned firmly to the ground and watered well. The way is called: Chinese layering. It is used for the propagation of rootstocks in nurseries: the grown seedling is buried in a groove, leaving only the top in the light. By the fall, a "comb" of shoots grows, and everything with its roots can be divided.
And in Kazakhstan, a varietal tree is buried in two directions for three years in a row. The main skeletal branches become like a rhizome, underground trunks are formed, overgrown with roots. And on top there are fruit-bearing branches. This greatly increases drought resistance. And in cold climates, God himself ordered the use of this technique.
Root formation on the cut can be enhanced and accelerated by incising or removing part of the bark on the underside of the branch. Here, substances flowing from the leaves will accumulate, and an influx will form, containing a mass of root primordia. If only one layer is removed, the bark can be cut out into the ring entirely. All substances will settle here, and a swelling is formed, which is even better.
Michurin, who had been playfully inoculating anything at the age of ten, learned to use it. There was always a shortage of land in his nurseries, and he came up with a method of air layering. If the branch cannot be lowered to the ground, then why not raise the ground to the branch? It turned out - enough water. Ivan Vladimirovich used a device made of rubber and glass tubes. In May, he ringed young twigs, in July the tube was filled with roots. Only the apple trees stuck: until the fall, the roots might not have appeared. But here's what is important: all the "stubborn" twigs formed an excellent swell, and it was covered with pimples of root buds. All these twigs, planted in the beds in the spring, rooted perfectly! Conclusion: by simply ringing the shoot at the beginning of summer, we prepare it for confident rooting.

It is not difficult to ring young branches of currants or gooseberries at the base and fill them with earth or put on a bag, box, kefir packaging filled with moist soil. The harvest is ripe - we cut off the branches with berries. The berries are in business, and the branches already with roots are in the ground. A year - and new bushes. It's a miracle with grapes: ring the fruit shoots at the base (those on which the brushes ripen) in June, and in the fall you will not cut any, but the shanks ready for rooting. And if you are not too lazy to tie the soil, then in August-September you can plant a shank with roots. In the spring, it will powerfully grow, developing three branches at once. The win is a year! If this becomes a habit, we will have a late summer market for planting material.

All this was developed and described back in the 1920s. Michurin hoped very much that our gardening would be transformed thanks to his methods. "This method of rooting, when fully developed, promises a big revolution in horticulture in the future. In this case, the wait for the beginning of fruiting will have to be incomparably less compared to grafted trees." Here is N.I. Kurdyumov's option for creating layering.

In May-June, the border of last year's and summer wood is clearly visible: the place from which the shoot began to grow. A centimeter-wide bark ring is removed immediately under this joint. We also make grooves for the formation of roots 3-5 cm long. It is better to take a growth shoot, without branching - it is more convenient to put on a bag. From below, we firmly tie the bag onto the palm below the ring of the removed bark. All the buds inside the bag are sure to be blinded. Put raw rotten sawdust, rotten leaf, moss, a little humus or soil in the bag. Humidification - average, not dirt! The quantity is no more than a glass. From above we tie the bag 2-3 cm above the furrows. Now we will wrap all this in a couple of layers of newspapers and fix them: the sun should not heat up the bag very much. It's all. Sometimes you can come up, remove the paper and watch what is being done in the bag. As soon as the bag is filled with roots, the growing shoot can be cut in half. After a week, it can be planted in a well-shed hole. You need to cut off the branch along the bottom edge of the bag, and remove the bag when planting.

Both two- and three-year branches can be rooted in this way. Of course, planting them in the summer is a big risk, and you need to wait until autumn. But from such branches, fruit-bearing, weakly growing trees are immediately obtained.

A whole young tree can also be "taken away"! In a three to four year old tree, you can ring the trunk. Strengthen, as expected, a container with earth - a bag or box. Water. By the fall, roots are formed, and the tree can be cut off and planted - of course, greatly relieving the crown. And new shoots will crawl out from under the ring - a new crown of a decapitated tree will grow from them in a couple of years. So two trees are made from one tree in one summer. This is especially popular in the tropics.

Is it possible to carry out cuttings of plants during the dormant period.

Surprisingly, many plants reproduce better during dormancy. For example, a large percentage of spring blackcurrant cuttings die, while those planted in the ground in autumn root much better.
Sea buckthorn branches, harvested at the end of January - February, form roots in water after 1 - 2 weeks in a jar with ordinary water. A good effect is the addition of honey to the water for sea buckthorn rooting. A tablespoon of honey is diluted in a glass of water and the cuttings are left in the solution for 6-12 hours. During winter cuttings of sea buckthorn, it is important to remember that the roots on the cuttings grow quickly and if they are not transplanted into the soil in time, they will outgrow and can easily break off.

Also, experienced gardeners say that berry yew and common thuja, which gave roots in February-March, were planted in the ground in May-June and took root well.

How to choose a mother plant.

How well the cuttings root depends on the plant from which they are cut. Interestingly, the rooting ability of the cuttings removed depends on the nutrition of the mother plant. In particular, from his food. If the mother plant has not been fertilized, rooting of cuttings obtained from it is difficult. If it was fed with a high nitrogen content, the cuttings also give roots very poorly. In order for the roots to form on the cuttings easily and actively, fertilizers for the mother plant must contain sufficient amounts of potassium and phosphorus and a small amount of nitrogen. If it received nitrogen in excess, then the roots on the cuttings are formed very poorly.

It is also difficult to form roots and cuttings of the plant that "starved".

Also for plants that are difficult to root, the age of the mother plant is a significant factor. Cuttings cut from older plants are poorly cut or not cut at all, even if cuttings are cut from annual shoots and even when treated with a root stimulant. Conversely, young plants produce rooting cuttings even in those species that usually do not propagate by cuttings, for example, apples and pears. But in order for such cuttings to give roots, they need to be treated with heteroauxin.
At the same time, for easily rooting plants, the age of the mother plant does not matter.
Choosing a part of the shoot for cuttings.
It is also important from which part of the shoot the cutting is taken.
Often, very long shoots are taken for cuttings, from which a large number of cuttings are cut with shears at once.
The lower the section of the stem from which the cutting is taken, the better it takes root in most plants.

Growth stimulants for cuttings.

To increase the likelihood of rooting, to accelerate the formation of roots on cuttings (especially difficult to root), in order to obtain a more powerful root system, it is recommended to treat the cuttings before planting with growth stimulants (phytohormones), which contribute to the beneficial accumulation of organic matter in the place of root formation. For successful cuttings of woody plants, growth stimulants are often used:

Heteroauxin (fine crystalline powder of white, pink or yellowish color);
- beta-indolylbutyric acid (outwardly similar to heteroauxin);
- beta-indoleacetic acid and alpha-naphthylacetic acid (white or grayish powders).

Growth stimulants have high biological activity, therefore they are used in very small concentrations (according to the instructions). To treat cuttings with solutions of growth stimulants, glass, porcelain or enamel dishes are used. The processing of cuttings with growth stimulants is carried out in a darkened room at a temperature not higher than 20-23 degrees (higher temperatures are dangerous, and at 28-30 degrees, cuttings are poisoned).

Three methods of stimulating processing of cuttings are most often used:

Immersion of the lower ends of the cuttings in aqueous solutions of stimulants (solutions of low, medium or high concentration are prepared);
- immersion of the lower ends of the cuttings in alcohol solutions of stimulants (used to treat cuttings of plants that cannot stay in water for a long time, as well as for the reproduction of rare and valuable plants);
- treatment of the lower ends of the cuttings with dry growth powder (a mixture of a growth stimulant with talc or crushed charcoal, usually at the rate of 1-30 mg of a stimulant per 1 g of talc or coal).
Root formation of cuttings is further enhanced by the treatment of their lower ends before planting with a mixture of a growth stimulant with vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or vitamin B1 (thiamine). Vitamins also contribute to faster growth of shoots in rooted cuttings (however, the use of only vitamins to improve root formation and better growth of shoots in cuttings, without using growth stimulants together with vitamins, does not give a positive effect). When preparing aqueous or alcoholic solutions of a growth stimulator, when preparing growth powder, one of the above vitamins is added to them, after having dissolved its powder in a small amount of water. After preparing an alcoholic solution of the stimulant, a vitamin is added to it in a concentration: vitamin C - 20-50 mg per 1 ml of 50% alcohol, vitamin B1 - 2-20 mg. When preparing growth powder, a dissolved vitamin is added to it at the rate of: vitamin C - 50-100 mg per 1 g of talc or coal, vitamin B1 - 5-10 mg per 1 g.

A freshly prepared solution of a growth stimulator, together with a vitamin solution added to it, is used immediately after cutting the cuttings; the depth of immersion in the growth stimulator solution depends on the length of the cuttings and the degree of their lignification. Green cuttings are immersed in a solution of 2-4 cm (no deeper than a third of the length) and kept in it from 10 hours to a day (according to the instructions); processing time depends on the concentration of the solution and the type of stimulant. The short length and presence of leaves in green cuttings promote enhanced absorption of stimulant by cuttings along with water. Lignified cuttings are immersed in the solution for half or two-thirds of the length of the cutting.

In the growth powder, prepared in advance for the treatment of cuttings before planting in a dry way, the content of the growth stimulant can fluctuate within significant limits (depending on the desired activity of the stimulant). To prepare the growth powder, the stimulator is preliminarily dissolved in water, and then this aqueous solution is thoroughly mixed with talc or charcoal and a vitamin solution. The resulting mixture is dried in a dark place at a temperature of 50-70 degrees; the powder is stored in a tightly closed opaque container. To process the cutting, its lower part is moistened with water, dusted with growth powder and immediately planted.

Amateur gardeners often use "Epin", "Kornevin", "Sodium humate", "Zircon", aloe juice as growth stimulants when rooting cuttings. Also, seeds and corms, cuttings of perennial plants are soaked in growth stimulants before planting. The Epina solution has proven itself very well as a natural bioregulator when used for spraying in order to maintain plant immunity during rooting, before and after picking seedlings and under stressful conditions of growing plants.

Some amateur gardeners have recently been practicing an interesting method of cuttings, which allows even plants that are difficult to propagate to be rooted.
The cuttings are stuck into the potato tuber, from which all eyes were previously removed. Then the tuber is buried in the ground, and the cutting is covered with a glass jar and watered regularly. At the same time, the cuttings are supplied with a large amount of nutrients and actively give roots, and the plants subsequently grow and develop well.

Surely many on the Internet have seen this method of grafting. But, you can go to such an experiment when you have a lot of cuttings and you do not mind if they die. And if you bought 3-5 cuttings, you better not tempt fate, and do not experiment with potatoes.

What is a stalk, knows, perhaps, every person who is fond of breeding garden and home crops. A cut is a detached part of a plant, for example, a shoot or a leaf, and cuttings are vegetative propagation with its help.

Plants are able to reproduce not only sexually, but also asexually, also called vegetative, and cuttings are most often used for vegetative production of new plants.

In fact, getting new plants from cuttings is a kind of cloning of the original culture. With the help of cuttings, you can quickly and inexpensively increase your garden or home collection.

[!] A definite plus of vegetative reproduction is the inheritance of all the qualities of the mother plant. This is especially important for valuable varietal specimens. In the case where seeds are used, varietal qualities may be lost.

Different types of cuttings are used for propagation. Cuttings are stem and leafy. Stems are used most often, only some plants reproduce with leaves: cacti and other succulents, saintpaulias, gloxinia and some types of begonias.

Leafy cuttings can be:

• whole with petioles,
• whole without petioles,
• fragment of a leaf.

Stem cuttings can be conditionally divided into several types:

• grassy green,
• semi-lignified,
• lignified.

Young growing shoots with a soft stem are called herbaceous or green cuttings. With age, the shoots lose their elasticity and begin to become covered with bark, becoming at first semi-lignified, and then lignified.

Floral plants (chrysanthemums, dahlias, asters) are usually propagated by green cuttings, and rooting occurs very quickly, and the percentage of rooted cuttings is quite high. For propagation of trees and shrubs, semi- and lignified cuttings are most often used.

The table below provides information on the optimal stage of maturity of tissues (wood) for rooting stem cuttings of individual ornamental shrubs and trees.

By location, the cuttings are divided into

• apical,
• stem,
• basal.

Usually, part of the stem is cut into cuttings from the middle, but sometimes the top with several leaves is also taken.

Apical and stem cutting

A root cut is obtained from a shoot growing from a root.

The length of the cuttings can also vary. There are single-bud and multi-bud cuttings. One-buds, as the name implies, contain a single bud or leaf and stand out for their very short size. Such cuttings are used when there is a shortage of planting material and the reproduction of easily rooted plants (grapes, raspberries, currants). Multi-bud cuttings are much longer and have several nodes and internodes.

[!] A node is a section of a stem on which buds, leaves, new shoots and other lateral organs are formed. An internode is a segment between adjacent nodes.

Sometimes the cutting is cut with a piece of root or bark. Such cuttings are called combined. They can be planted directly in open ground, bypassing the intermediate stages: they take root and take root well. Combined cuttings are

• with a heel,
• with a crutch.

A heel is a piece of root or bark with a thin layer of wood. The heel is obtained when the shoot is not cut off, but broken out from the base. The crutch is a fairly large segment of last year's escape.

The only drawback of combined cuttings is their limited number. However, if grafting is carried out in small volumes, there will be enough planting material.

How to plant cuttings

Of course, the rooting of each plant has its own subtleties, familiar to experienced gardeners and florists. However, there are general rules, the observance of which, if not guaranteeing a 100% result, will bring it closer to ideal.

Dates of cuttings and the choice of mother plants

The timing of harvesting cuttings largely depends on their maturity. You should cut off not too young, but not old shoots. Their readiness can be determined by the elasticity of the tissues: the stem should be springy without breaking when bent.

For harvesting cuttings, it is important to choose the right time of year. So, green herbaceous shoots are cut, as a rule, in the spring, during the period of active vegetation of the plant, semi-lignified cuttings are best harvested in late summer or early autumn, when active growth stops. Lignified cuttings are usually cut in late autumn and winter. This division is very arbitrary. The timing of cuttings is very dependent not only on the season, but also on the rooting rate of the culture. Easily rooted plants can be propagated by cuttings almost all year round, and difficult-to-root plants only during the period of active growth of shoots.

[!] Based on practice, the optimal average period for propagation of most crops in the middle zone of the European part of Russia begins on June 10 and ends on June 25.

If the spring was long and cold, the timing may move further, and vice versa, in a warm year with early spring, the timing of cuttings moves to the end of May.

It is not necessary to harvest cuttings during budding, flowering and ovary formation, because during this period, the plant spends all its strength on future fruiting. It is better to start cuttings before flowering or postpone for several weeks. If only flowering branches are at hand, all flower buds should be carefully removed.

It is not only the time of the year that matters, but also the time of day. It is best to cut the cuttings in the early morning when the amount of water in the plant is at its maximum and the weather should be cool and humid if possible.

It is equally important to choose a suitable mother plant. It must be healthy and old enough. Rooting is very negatively affected by viral and fungal diseases, as well as a deficiency of minerals in the mother liquor. As for the age, both too young and too old specimens are not suitable. Taking planting material from a young plant, you can damage it too much. At the same time, in an overly old plant, all life processes are slowed down, so the shoots will root very badly.

It often happens that cuttings are harvested long before planting. You can save the planting material in a cool dark place, for example, in a plastic bag, in the refrigerator.

Rooting and planting cuttings

So, the time has come, the plant has been selected, you can start grafting. To do this, you will need:

1. Garden shears or knife
2. Mini greenhouse (or its variations)
3. Substrate
4. Fine atomizer
5. Growth regulators

First of all, separate the stalk from the mother plant... Using a sharp knife or pruning shears, disinfected in an alcohol solution, cut off a part of the selected shoot. Pay attention to the lower cut - for more active root formation, it is better to do it at an angle. The upper cut, if the cutting is taken from the middle of the shoot, can be straight.

Leaves should be removed from the bottom of the cutting, leaving two or three on top. You do not need to completely get rid of the leaves, they are involved in the process of photosynthesis, thanks to which the plant produces vital nutrients. Too large leaf plates can be cut in half or neatly rolled into a tube.

Cuttings of plants that produce milky sap should be placed in water for several hours. This is necessary in order to flush away any liquid that may interfere with root formation. The thickened shoots of cacti and succulents must, on the contrary, be slightly dried up - slightly dried in the open air.

To help the roots appear faster, the bark of the cutting can be slightly cut or scratched. Also, with a sharp disinfected knife, you should remove the kidney located near the cut.

For a more successful rooting of the cuttings, many gardeners and florists use a variety of preparations, the so-called growth regulators... Various studies have shown that under the influence of growth regulators, the process of root formation is much accelerated. These drugs are used, as a rule, only on hard-to-root plants.

Growth regulators come in a variety of forms and are used as follows:

• Powdered - the lower part of the cutting is powdered or dipped into powder.
• Pasty - using a wooden spatula, the paste is applied in a thin layer to the lower cut of the cutting.
• Water solutions - cuttings are immersed for a long time (about 12 hours).
• Alcohol solutions - the cuttings are immersed for a few seconds.

In amateur gardening, the following growth regulators are most often used: Heteroauxin, Kornevin, Krezatsin, Zircon, Epin.

[!] Many experienced gardeners advise to powder the cut of the cuttings with activated carbon before planting. Coal, although it does not stimulate the emergence of new roots, perfectly disinfects the shoot, preventing the appearance of rot.

Next step - preparation of a mini greenhouse... Many ready-made and very convenient home greenhouses are now sold, consisting of a pallet, removable cassettes and a transparent cover. There are even electric options with bottom heating and lighting. However, if there is no opportunity to purchase a compact greenhouse, containers that can be found in every home are quite suitable: a container from under a cake or any deep enough plastic container, PET bottles with a cut-off neck, and finally, ordinary pots for home flowers.

The selected greenhouse must be filled with a suitable substrate. The substrate for growing cuttings must be clean, nutritious and sufficiently loose. Most often, gardeners use a mixture of peat and sand in equal proportions. Peat provides moisture capacity and nutritional value of the soil, sand - good aeration (water and air permeability).

Other ingredients are often added to the soil mixture: sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay. Moss perfectly loosens the earth, and also has an antibacterial effect, perlite is absolutely sterile, vermiculite perfectly absorbs and gives off moisture. All these materials can be mixed with the substrate or used as a drainage layer, which should be at least a quarter of the total volume of the dish.

After you fill the greenhouse with soil, thoroughly moisten the soil with a spray bottle, with a pencil or any other wooden stick, make shallow holes in it, put the prepared cuttings there, deepening them by about a third, and carefully compact the substrate around the stem. Cover the greenhouse with a lid or, if not available, a plastic bag.

[!] Cuttings of some plants can be rooted in water. In the aquatic environment, unpretentious fast-growing species easily take root. Germination water must be boiled; for disinfection, you can add a couple of crushed activated carbon tablets to it.

Care of cuttings

Further care of the shoots is no less important than proper planting. For successful rooting, it is important

• temperature,
• lighting,
• humidity.

Temperature. The heat demand for different types of plants is not the same. For example, gooseberry cuttings root perfectly at 18 ° С, currants, raspberries and sea buckthorn - at 24 ° С, apple, cherry, apricot - at 24 ° С. Among the decorative indoor crops, ivy is considered the most seasoned, and the most thermophilic are camellia, begonia,. The vast majority of plants take root in warmth, and the average temperature is at least 23 ° C. If the temperature is slightly below optimal, the roots will appear a little later.

Lighting... Lighting, like temperature, should be sufficient, but not excessive: cuttings are best rooted in partial shade. Too intense sunlight can cause burns, and in the shade, the process of photosynthesis will slow down and the cutting will not receive enough nutrients.

Humidity... Cuttings root much better in high humidity conditions. In order for the moisture to be sufficient, the seedlings must be watered and sprayed from time to time. Watering should be done as the topsoil dries out, and sprayed every day or at least every other day. After the first roots appear, the amount of moisture must be reduced.

In conditions of high temperature and humidity, pathogenic bacteria and fungi often develop, causing various phyto-diseases: gray rot, powdery mildew, leaf spot. In the fight against them, special preparations sold in gardening stores will help: foundationol (,), cuprozan (anthracnose).

Young seedlings can also attack pests: aphids, nematodes. Usually it is enough to remove them mechanically and rinse the leaves with shoots under running water. In case of severe damage, insecticidal formulations can be used.

From time to time, the lid or bag from the greenhouse must be removed, arranging ventilation. This is a necessary procedure, due to which the plant is hardened, and excess moisture evaporates, which prevents the development of fungal infections. Airing should be regular and frequent, but short in time: young seedlings should be opened for 5-10 minutes 1-2 times a day. As the cuttings grow, the duration of airing should be increased, and then the cover from the greenhouse should be removed altogether.

After the cuttings take root and start growing, they need to be fed. At first, the seedlings require enhanced phosphorus nutrition, later nitrogen comes to the fore.

Unusual ways of rooting cuttings

Above you learned about the classic rooting of young seedlings, but gardeners have tried other, more exotic techniques. The cuttings are rooted:

• in potato tubers,
• in a decoction of willow branches,
• in peat tablets.

To germinate a seedling in a potato, take a large healthy tuber, carefully remove all the eyes, stick a stalk into it, bury it in the ground and cover with a plastic bag. Further care is the same as for cuttings in a conventional substrate: watering, spraying and airing. It is believed that a large amount of nutrients, especially starch, contribute to the successful rooting of the seedling.

To make a willow broth, you need to cut willow shoots, add water, boil and boil for 5-10 minutes. The resulting broth must be cooled and filtered. After that, you can put seedlings in it that need rooting.

Peat tablets are peat or coconut fiber compressed into a small washer. The tablets are poured with water to swell, and then prepared cuttings are stuck into them. Such a substrate has undoubted advantages - sterility, water and air permeability, nutritional value.

Cuttings should be grown in strict compliance with the technology, but, for sure, everyone knows that plants, like other living things, respond to affection and goodness. Plant shoots with love and in a good mood - they take root well, grow quickly and will delight you for many years.

Cutting is an artificial method of vegetative propagation of rose bushes, which is suitable even for novice growers. A little patience is needed during the stages of processing the separated part of the stem and its rooting. After that, all that remains is to plant a seedling on the site and wait for the fruits of your labor.

Roses that are red or pink in color are best rooted.

Pros of growing new rose bushes from cuttings:

• 100% protection against counterfeiting - visual inspection of an adult plant allows you to estimate the future result in advance.
• Lack of wild growth - the culture does not degenerate into rose hips, which greatly facilitates caring for it.
• Minimum costs - you can get a large amount of planting material from one parent, which eliminates the need to purchase expensive seedlings.
• A high percentage of positive results - only 15–20% of stems with a well-developed root do not subsequently take root in the open field.
• The longevity of the rose garden - self-rooted, especially non-covering shrubs can live for several decades.
• Variety of options - most roses lend themselves well to grafting, including climbing, miniature, ground cover, hybrid polyanthus, polyanthus and some hybrid tea species.

Cuttings of the rose variety you like can be easily brought with you from the trip, since they tolerate long journeys well. To do this, they need to be properly prepared: stick the sharp end into raw potatoes, wrap them in paper and cover with a layer of polyethylene with holes. This design can be stored for up to 1 month at a temperature of + 2–4 ° C.

Cons of growing new rose bushes from cuttings:

• The impossibility of predicting the results when propagating vegetatively grafted (hybrid) varieties. Basically, only the qualities of the plant from which the root system was developed are inherited.
• Difficulty growing some species. Repaired, yellow and wrinkled park roses are the worst susceptible to cultivation in this way.

Also, a relative disadvantage can be called the weak frost resistance of roses propagated by cuttings, but the peculiarity of such plants is that when the surface part freezes, it is able to self-repair from dormant underground buds (which does not happen, for example, in grafted flowers).

Selection of starting material for germination

To avoid disappointment and not waste time on obviously failed options, you need to make sure in advance that the roses you like are suitable for getting a high-quality cutting.

Tips for choosing suitable rose bushes for grafting:

• Do not cut off shoots from too young flexible or, conversely, very old woody plants.
• Refuse to reproduce recently introduced imported species.
• Give preference to domestic varieties or flowers that have undergone long acclimatization.
• Select only healthy and strong shrubs of medium size without external signs of wilting, damage and / or disease (specks, mildew, etc.).

It is necessary to prepare the bush for propagation by cuttings in advance by making additional dressings under it

An important indicator of readiness for breeding is the presence of easily breaking off thorns - this indicates a sufficient maturity of the parent rose.

Harvesting cuttings: when and how to cut the shoots correctly

If you wish, you can try to grow a rose from a cutting, even from unpresentable branches. For example, those that broke off under the weight of snow or remained after curly cutting a bush. However, to obtain the most favorable results, it is recommended to adhere to certain rules:

• Season. Experienced growers advise to cut the shoots from the formation of buds to the end of flowering, that is, from early summer to mid-autumn. By this time, the wood has accumulated enough nutrients, but in general, you can start rooting from early spring.
• Maturity stage. A suitable cut is a small, straight piece of an adult semi-lignified (this year) green stem with 2–5 fully formed axillary buds.
• Shoot size. The length should be from 15 to 30 cm, the thickness should be from 5 to 10 mm.
• Work tool. A special garden pruner will do, as well as a household knife with a very sharp blade (the main thing is to make sure that it accurately separates the trunk, and does not flatten or "shag" it). It is advisable to disinfect the tool with alcohol or boiling water.
• The place of the cut. For grafting, the middle or lower part of the stem is used (the top is very poorly rooted). The upper cut is made in a straight line between the kidneys 2–6 mm above one of them, and the lower cut is made obliquely, at an angle of 45 ° directly under the extreme kidney.
• Material handling. At the base of the finished cuttings, you need to completely remove the thorns and leaves, and from above, reduce their number by half.

Cutting is best done during the period when the buds of the uterine specimens are stained.

Important! If the branches, when probed, turn out to be insufficiently elastic or even lethargic (which may be evidence of a disease), then they should not be used for reproduction: at best, they simply will not take root, and at worst, they will infect healthy neighbors.

You can complete the preparation of the stem by dipping the cut sites in a weak (light pink) solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. To minimize moisture loss, seal the upper end with wax or paraffin and place the lower end in a stimulating solution.

Growth activator application

For a more stable rooting of cuttings of roses, they are soaked for 10-24 hours in a weakly concentrated solution of any growth stimulant (regulator), which can be either professional or homemade.

Table: Means for enhancing root formation.

Preparing the solution at home:

• Willow infusion. Place a few twigs of willow in ordinary clean water and wait until they take root. After that, the nutrient fluid can be drained.
• Honey water. Dissolve 1 tsp. honey in 0.5 liters of warm boiled water.
• Yeast extract. Dilute raw baker's yeast in clean warm water at the rate of 100 g per 1 liter, while the effect can be enhanced by adding 1 tsp. Sahara.
• Aloe juice (gel). Grind the required amount of aloe leaves in a blender and strain the resulting gruel through several layers of gauze to separate the concentrated juice.

The use of growth activators contributes to the formation of a more powerful root system of the rose

Advice. In a pure gel made from aloe leaves, the cutting can be left for 10-12 hours, after which it is advisable to dilute the juice with water (1: 9) and leave it in this form for another 10-12 hours or for the entire period of development of the root system (with the water method of cuttings ).

The choice of a growth activator depends on the capabilities and desires of the grower, but it is worth noting that the action of chemicals is more targeted than that of its natural counterparts. Already on the 12-15th day of using these drugs, the cuttings have their own root system (versus the standard 30 days). It should also be remembered that when working with chemicals, it is very important to observe the permissible concentration indicated on the packaging and the precautions.

Germination methods

Rooting of cut stems can be done in different ways, some of which are especially popular:

• in water;
• in the newspaper;
• in potatoes;
• in a pot.

Each method has its own individual characteristics, having considered in detail which you can choose the most suitable option for yourself.

Instructions for germinating rose cuttings in water:

Important! Many growers argue that it is by no means impossible to completely change the water, but you can only "refresh" the main volume by adding the evaporated liquid.

This is a very simple and convenient way of grafting, but it has one significant drawback. Due to the lack of oxygen, the roots that have grown in water are particularly fragile. They are thinner and more transparent than ground counterparts, so they can be easily damaged during transplantation.

Cutting roses in newspaper leaves

Instructions for germinating rose cuttings in the newspaper:

1. Moisten newspaper sheets so that they are completely soft and can be wrung out like a rag.
2. Fold the cuttings in piles of several pieces and wrap them in paper according to the principle of an envelope, leaving no free ends of the branches outside.
3. Place the finished rolls in a plastic bag and leave them in a dark place at a temperature of + 18-25 ° C.
4. Unfold the bag periodically and moisten the newspaper with a spray bottle.
5. When rot appears on one of the cuttings, it must be removed and the healthy stems must be washed carefully, and then a new bundle must be formed for them.
6. When the roots get stronger and reach 5 cm in length, the plant can be transplanted into the ground.

The advantage of the Burrito method is the ability to grow difficult-to-root rose varieties

This method of obtaining roots is called Burrito for its similarity in appearance to the Mexican dish of the same name.

Growing roses in potato tubers

Instructions for germinating rose cuttings in potatoes:

Reference. Potatoes can be conditionally called a natural "growth stimulant", since it creates almost ideal conditions for the development of pink cuttings: it maintains optimal moisture and supplies useful microelements.

Propagation of roses by cuttings in a pot (soil)

Instructions for germinating rose cuttings in the ground:

Planting the stems directly into the ground is the most traditional method of grafting. Its main advantage is the readiness of the root system for painless transplantation to a permanent place of growth.

Open ground readiness

The period of readiness of pink cuttings for planting in an open garden plot depends on the stage of its development and the degree of soil warming. And also the type of formation of the root system is taken into account:

• Open (in plants in newspapers, bags, water, etc.). The size of the roots is from 5 to 7 cm, the optimal time is from mid-April.
• Closed (for seedlings in pots, substrates, biodegradable containers, etc.). New leaves from 2 to 6 pieces, the optimal time is the first decade of May.

Important! In the presence of young green leaves, the time of planting in open ground is selected especially carefully: it is necessary to exclude any possibility of night frosts.

Spring is the most favorable time for planting. It is advisable to actively care for young cuttings for another 1-2 months, so that it is possible to correct deviations in development. However, in the southern regions, planting can be done in the fall.

In order for the seedlings to get stronger and bloom regularly in the future, you need to take care of their protection from cold and possible frost.

It is necessary to prepare the soil for planting in advance so that it has time to settle by the time of planting

The most widespread are 3 methods of insulation:

• Sprinkling and watering.
  Prevents the trunk from cracking, since it forms an ice "shell" on it, increasing the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the earth. The sprinkling procedure must be repeated every half hour.
  It can be difficult to manually spray the leaves and stems several times at night for several hours. Therefore, automatic watering is more suitable for this method.
  A positive effect is provided not only by the formed ice shell, but also by the heat released: when 1 gram of water freezes, 80 calories of energy are produced, which literally warms the seedlings.
• Smoke (fumigation). It has a direct heating effect and reduces the radiation of heat from the soil through an artificial smoke cloud. Instructions for smoke (fumigation) of the site:
  1. Assemble a "three-layer cake" (height - 1 m, width - 1.5 m) from materials that are capable of smoldering with low burning:
     1 layer - firewood and brushwood;
     2nd layer - straw, manure and dry leaves;
     3rd layer - earth (2-3 cm).
  2. Place such blanks throughout the area in need of heating (1 pile per 10 m2).
  3. Make holes in the earthen layer at the top and on the leeward side for better smoke release.
  4. Set fire to the onset of frost.

  Such heaps of smoke are designed for 15 hours of smoldering, which is quite enough to survive one frosty night.

• Creation of shelters.Retains warmth by providing a physical barrier between plants and the environment. A variety of materials are suitable for creating shelters:
  • polyethylene film and agrofibre;
  • glass, including individual domes (jars);
  • mulch (straw, crop residues, spruce branches, paper, cardboard, leaves, undecomposed compost);
  • improvised devices (plastic bottles, boxes, containers, etc.).

Shelter of roses is held in late autumn

Important! If the weather permits, then in the daytime it is better to remove opaque shelters in order to give the plant access to sunlight.

When planting a rose in the autumn, it is important to choose the right time so that the seedling has time to take root in a new place, but does not begin to actively grow before the arrival of frost.

In this case, you will have to focus on the local climate. It should be borne in mind that rooting takes, as a rule, about 1–1.5 months.

Due to the large spread in time, it is recommended that novice gardeners still leave it to winter in indoor (basement) conditions, and start planting as early as next spring.

Preparing a site for planting seedlings

To choose the most suitable planting site, you need to focus on the individual needs of the varieties:

• Photophilous ones are located in open elevated spaces.
• Shade-loving ones can be planted near fences, trees and other bulky shrubs. And they are also great for creating a hedge around the perimeter of the site.

Preparing the soil before planting rose cuttings is carried out in 2 stages:

1. For 1-3 months, dig up the earth to a depth of about 55 cm. Add a mixture of sand, clay and compost (1: 1: 2) and loosen;
2. Immediately before planting, partially replace the soil in the place of constant growth with a fresh mixture consisting of turf, humus and sand (2: 1: 1).

Advice. It is recommended to pay attention to the original soil type. Loamy requires minimal preparation, while clayey often has an increased acidity level (pH< 5,5), который желательно нейтрализовать слабым раствором гашёной извести.

Planting a sprouted cuttings in a permanent flower bed

Instructions for transplanting a strengthened cuttings of a rose to a garden plot:

1. Dig the appropriate number of holes at an acceptable (depending on the variety) distance from each other:
   • undersized - from 30 to 40 cm;
   • tall - from 50 to 60 cm;
   • climbing - from 100 to 200 cm.
2. Carefully remove the stalk from the improvised incubator, being careful not to damage the roots.
3. Lower the shoots into the prepared holes 10-15 cm and cover them with a mixture of soil and compost.
4. To avoid decay, water the ground with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

If you plant roses too densely, this will lead to the development of diseases.

If the buds on the seedlings hatch only a little, then they do not need to be covered. If the buds and leaves are already formed, then they should be covered from sunburn with Lutrasil or Spunbond.

It is better to plant seedlings in cloudy weather or late at night, when the sun's rays are not so active.

For decorative planting of climbing or climbing roses, holes should be dug at a distance of about 18–20 cm from the supporting structure (trellis, fence, etc.).

A climbing rose along the fence will revive the hedge

The seedlings themselves should be tilted towards the support. It should also be borne in mind that if the decor object has a solid surface, then a lattice base must be attached to it at a distance of 7–9 cm from the wall in order to provide ventilation and access to the plant.

After transplanting future rose bushes to a permanent place, caring for them does not differ from caring for other flowers. They need regular watering, feeding and loosening the soil.

Advice. In order for a young plant to grow well, it is better not to allow it to bloom in the first 1-2 years after planting the cuttings: for this, immature buds are pinched off at the very initial stage of formation.

Cuttings are rightfully considered one of the most popular ways to propagate roses. If you follow all the proposed rules, then the effectiveness reaches 80-90%. This is a very high figure for the pink family.

All gardeners are faced, and quite often, with the question of reproduction of their favorite crops. And it is not always possible to do this by seeds. Many plant varieties retain their characteristics only during vegetative propagation: part of the shoot, root, leaves, bulbs, tubers, whiskers, layering, etc.

Some plants cannot be propagated by seeds at all, for example, terry forms. How to correctly draw a favorite culture - you can learn from the literature, Internet sources, which usually indicate the specific features of a particular culture. To root the cutting for sure, to avoid common mistakes, it is worth knowing the basic principles of rooting.

What is grafting? ..

Cuttings are a way of propagating plants using cuttings. A stalk is a part of a shoot, leaf or root that is separated from a plant in order to obtain a new plant from it. From one cutting, depending on the type of plant and the method of propagation, one or even several dozen new plants can be obtained.

Regrown cuttings taken for rooting, subject to all conditions, are quickly accepted and transformed into new independent plants, repeating all the characteristics of the mother. This is very important when breeding valuable varieties. After all, you really want, and quite often, to purchase a particular variety. But for some reason, it is not always possible to root seemingly unpretentious species. What do you need to know for success? ..

How to cut the cuttings correctly.

For rooting, twigs are taken - cuttings with several internodes, small (3-5 buds). The lower leaves are immediately removed, because upon contact with the planting soil or water, they are likely to rot, infecting the cutting itself. The upper leaves in species with thin delicate leaf blades are cut off. half, to reduce evaporation. The lower cut of the cutting should be done immediately under the bud (3-4 mm), it is better to break off the upper tender tops (except for plants with a pronounced main stem). It is good if a young green cutting in the lower part has a small area with formed wood. Cuttings "with a heel" - young shoots with a part of the stem from which they branched off, take root well. In many species, such branches are very easily broken off by tearing from top to bottom along the main stem.

Green young cuttings take root most easily (in berry and most flower-ornamental crops). If there are buds or flowers on the cutting, they must be removed, otherwise the cutting may simply not have enough strength to form roots.

Rooting in water.

The most common way to reproduce a favorite plant is to cut a twig and put it in water. In many species, this really does take root very quickly. But not all of them. When rooting cuttings in water, it is better to take glass containers, plastic is also suitable.

There is conflicting information about which water is better to use: boiled, or from the tap. Boiled water does not contain microbes, but they then multiply and accumulate faster in it. From the tap, water in many areas is sufficiently well purified and disinfected. Melted water stimulates metabolic processes of all organisms well, it is also effective for rooting.

It is not necessary to change the water under the cuttings, but you only need to top up if necessary. It is better to put 1, or 2-3 cuttings per 1 glass or jar. In a large mass, cuttings almost all die. Place a piece of charcoal in the water, or activated, it will inhibit putrefactive processes.

Into the water or straight into the ground? ..

The more arid conditions a species grows in nature, the less likely it is to root in water: the stalk will most likely simply rot. For example, the well-known pelargonium, or geranium, which comes from arid Africa, is easier to root immediately in loose soil, under a film, without any spraying. It is also easier to root immediately in the ground terry petunias.

For most crops, a simple mixture is most often used: peat and sand. Or other inert soil that is not prone to decay. In addition to peat, you can now find coconut briquettes on sale, as well as perlite and vermiculite. In these substrates, taken individually or mixed with each other, cuttings root most easily.

The addition of sphagnum moss to the soil helps very well during rooting. It increases the moisture holding capacity of the substrate and disinfects it a little. For successful rooting, a soil is compiled with a neutral reaction, or close to it. For example, hydrangea in an alkaline environment not only cannot take root, but it will not grow at all.

Drainage is required for all rooting plants. After planting the cuttings, a label must be installed indicating the variety. When watering for the first time, it is advisable to use a suitable fungicide.

Rule out infections.

The main rule for successful rooting is STERILE water, soil, planting containers, tools and cuttings themselves. For this, many flower growers steamed the earth, fry it, freeze it, spill it with boiling water or potassium permanganate (which has recently become considered an ineffective measure). Very often flower lovers try to root cuttings of roses from bouquets. And most often they fail. They put a twig in the water, or put it in the ground, - a new sprout has started, leaves are blooming, it seems like you can already rejoice - but no, usually the cutting is already turning black from below, from accidentally caught microbes, maybe from the cutting itself. Or, the roots have gone, the cutting is planted in the ground, and already there it becomes infected and dies.

Protection of cuttings.

Rooting shoots are covered with foil or glass to protect them from drying out, leaving a small hole for ventilation. Tightly closed cuttings require regular frequent ventilation, otherwise they can rot from excess condensation. Frequent spraying speeds up rooting, but not in pubescent species.

Very thermophilic exotic species take root only with bottom heating! To do this, a container with cuttings can be placed on a warm windowsill above the battery.

When propagating plants on an industrial scale, fogging plants are usually installed. It is easiest to maintain air humidity in them.

It is important to constantly monitor rooting cuttings, whether diseases or pests have appeared, and to take phytosanitary measures in time.

Lighting.

A common mistake of plant breeders is that they are afraid to put rooting plants in the sun so that they do not burn and dry out. And cuttings are placed somewhere completely in the shade, where the sun practically does not penetrate. As a result, most often the stalk does not take root. Still, all plants love the sun's rays, this is the source of their main food.

It is better, of course, if there is enough light, but it will be diffused light, and not direct scorching rays, otherwise the sprouts can get steamy under the film. In indoor conditions, cuttings of sun-loving species (hibiscus, gloxinia, geranium) can be placed under lamps, where conditions will be more controlled.

Each plant species takes root better at a certain time of the year. For example, most indoor plants take root easier in spring (fuchsias, chrysanthemums, geraniums), many garden tree and shrub species propagate in early and mid-summer, especially with green shoots.

Lignified cuttings root better by the end of summer, or harvested in autumn and winter (grapes, barberry), and rooted using special root stimulants.

The dependence of the rooting of cuttings on the quality of the mother plant.

For reproduction, be sure to choose only healthy material that is not affected by diseases and pests. Be sure to match the variety in all characteristics (many varieties have lines that differ from the original indicators, due to mutations).

The rooting rate of cuttings is also influenced by how the mother plant ate. If there was an excess of nitrogen in the soil (manure-humus substrates "from the garden" suffer from this), it is difficult to get the result.

For rooting, it is best to take branches from a plant that has been previously fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, including foliar nutrition. Cuttings from weakened, diseased, undernourished plants are also unlikely to take root.

Cuttings from young plants take root more successfully, but from very old ones, especially woody ones, they do not take root at all.

The easiest way to propagate by cuttings is plants with soft shoots: balsams, tradescantia, coleus, etc. Woody plants are propagated by young shoots that have not had time to lignify. It is very difficult to propagate old varieties; over the years, their reproductive ability decreases significantly. To get young shoots suitable for cuttings, you can cut off old flowering plants, and take new shoots that appear for rooting (for example, from clematis). In terms of time, rooting can last from several days to a couple of months or more, depending on the conditions and type of plant.

Adaptation of cuttings.

The resulting new seedlings, as they turn into full-fledged independent organisms, are planted in a permanent place. This stage is considered the most difficult. After all, a sharp change in conditions can literally ruin the sprouts with such difficulty before our eyes.

It is necessary to accustom the growing shoots to new conditions gradually. Adaptation to drier air should take place, for this, first remove the surfaces that covered the cuttings for short periods of time, then increase the duration of ventilation. Plants also need to get used to lower temperatures in unprotected soil.

A sudden change in soil can also be very stressful, so grown plants are usually planted with some of the old soil used for rooting, or even just transshipment, for especially delicate varieties and species. In the first year, it is advisable to remove all flower stalks and buds so that the young plant does not weaken by flowering.

Unusual ways of grafting.

There are some rather exotic, but effective, rooting methods.

For example, in potatoes. To do this, the tuber is thoroughly washed, all the eyes are removed from it, and the desired cutting is inserted into the hole made, which is dug into the ground along with the tuber. From above everything is covered with a film. Even capricious roses can be rooted like that!

Or, another way: a twig is stuck into a piece of piaflora oasis, this is a special green sponge to extend the life of cut flowers. It retains moisture for a long time and is treated with special antibacterial substances. For example, it is good to root fuchsia in this sponge.

In foam rubber, you can root cuttings, for example, grapes.

The survival rate of cuttings.

And yet, no matter how hard we try to fulfill all the requirements of plants, not all of them take root easily. For example, out of a hundred feijoa cuttings, under the best conditions, only 10-20 pieces will take root. Even with good care, just over half of the cuttings of clematis, honeysuckle, and lilac will take root. Conifers take root hard. Annuals practically do not take root. Do not despair, but again and again try to achieve your goal, trying to comply with all conditions.