Anyone propagating Hydrangea?

[Shirley Pinchev]

I am propagating hydrangeas and would love to share techniques and perhaps plant material. It is easy and a good way to add to your collection. Is anyone is interested? My propagation system is all home made except for the heat mat and has been very successful. It is very exciting to watch the roots form from the bare cuttings and then add the new babies to the garden in the spring.

[GardenGnome]

I've taken cutting and just put them in water and they are still alive and rooting.
Some even have leafs under water that are neon green.

[GardenGnome]

[img]https://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj565/ericmgilson/2012-02-10_11-32-37_29.jpg[/img]

[GardenGnome]

Opps the button got stuck. But I put a stem in some water and leafs grew under water.
If a mod comes in here please remove the extra cpoies thanks.

[Shirley Pinchev]

Great job. My mother-in-law used water to root just about anything that would grow. I use trays with perlite and bottom heat. Big companies use just one node near the top of the soil but I usually pull the leaves and put that one in the soil and leave another on the cutting and that is above the soil level. I also make small cuts in the outer layer of the stem and use a rooting solution - we like the liquid better than the powder. I can take some photos if anyone is interested and post them.

How often do you change the water the plant is rooting in? I have not been as successful as you rooting hydrangea in water - I really admire yours.

Shirley

[GardenGnome]

there's so much stuff I want to learn on this forum so please post pictures these are one of my fav. So I wouldn't mind learning about them and doing cutting and ect.
I put it in a glass of water in on the window but there isn't direct sunlight to the window.
I don't change the water offen maybe once aweek in the start. Ill ask my wife if she did tho. I leave the water if it looks ok and just top it off if it needs it. I did 6 or 8 in all but I think one or 2 are left. I'm suprised its still going its been in that glass for almost a year.
The leafs underwater are kinda cool maybe ill leave it or plant it and try another one.

[Shirley Pinchev]

I will try to get some photos this weekend. It is easy and the photos will show how easy it is and the success rate is really good.

If you can keep those alive for more than a year in a glass, you can do this really well!!! Congratulations!

Shirley

[GardenGnome]

Lol thanks
My wife says she changes the water whenever. I would bet if it looks green or cloudy

[msalcido]

I'm here in TX and I've tried multple different ways of propragating the hydrangeas and nothing works for me!

Kudos - to you all!

[lance]

Hi everyone. I have a limelight hydrangea that I am training as a bonsai. Last year it went got a major pruning. Rather than throw away all the cuttings, I tried to root them in water. About 12 out of 15 rooted in about 6 weeks. I rooted hardwood cuttings with rooting hormone and potting mix.
I hope they all survive the weird winter we are having here in Maine.
My avatar is the hydrangea I pruned

[GardenGnome]

Getting 12 out of 15 nice.
And to msalcido I put mine in a flute type glass the shape they do toast with at weddings. And put them in a lighted window but the window doesn't get direct sun.
I did maybe 12 inch cuttings change the water every now and then atleast once a month.
Maybe lance can post how idk. Good luck

[lance]

The hard wood cuttings didn't make it through the winter but about 8 of the others did.
I did nothing special to my cuttings to get them to root. I seriously just put them in water and left them alone until late summer, then planted them in soil and out them beside my bonsai trees to winter over. You need to put them in soil about 6 weeks before the first frost do they will have time for the roots to get settled.

[callamisfit]

was just looking thru forum I bought a hydrangea had a few issues but looks better now posted a question on another post an will ask here also hope I don't sound too dumb, I work at a golf course that has beautiful full grown hydrangeas how do I go about taking cuttings off them to make new plants for my garden? thanks for any and all help

[Shirley Pinchev]

I posted the link to a new topic. Yes, your cuttings will root in water - I do this also - but when they are transplanted some will die because the water roots may not be able to adjust to the soil. The method I posted will result in more successful 'takes'. I have many hydrangeas growing out of pots on my deck where I have just poked broken branches into the pot and the root! I have an Endless Summer sprouting out of a Begonia hanging on the from porch! I only know what is it because of the red stems and leaf veins.

Will try to update the progress of the ones in the video on Sunday.

Feel free to comment or ask questions.

shirley

[ElizabethB]

I am not a fan of rooting in water. I find rooting in soil results in a sturdier root system and a sturdier plant. With Hydrangeas I find the simplest way to root is to peg a stem to the ground. I use U shaped pins designed to pin down landscape cloth. Bend a stem down to the ground so a leaf node is touching the ground. Put a pin an inch or 2 on either side of the node then cover the node with a hand full of soil. After a couple of months clip the stem from the parent plant and clip off all of the exterior stem except for 2 leaf nodes. Use a hand trowel and dig up the roots. When I prune I always start cuttings in pots. I use 3/4 to 1 gallon nursery pots with all purpose potting soil. 6" to 8" cuttings one per pot. The cut straight just above a leaf node and the bottom cut angled just below a leaf node. Keep the soil evenly moist not soggy. That usually means daily watering but no sitting in water. Since I prune when the blooms begin to fade heat is not an issue. I leave my cuttings on the patio. They generally root within 2 months and are ready for late summer, early fall planting. Plenty of time for them to get established before winter.

My 2 cents.

I love propagation.

Good luck

[Shirley Pinchev]

Elizabeth,

Thanks for including the method of propagation by pinning a branch to the ground. There are a few cultivars (mostly the older types) that will look just fine the first year but never come out of dormancy the following year. This is the only way they can be successful. It is also a reliable way of propagating if you don't have time to babysit the new babies! lol

The climbers are also hard to propagate and I read a way in a forum where the writer said it works almost 90% of the time! He takes the cutting from a branch - about 12 to 16 inches and winds them in the bottom of a pail. Covers with soil - 6 - 10 inches with the bid tip sticking out of the top of the soil. In a season or so - they root! After tons of unsuccessful tries the usual way, I have two buckets of trials and will post the results.

I will try to post an update on the plants I started in the video.

[Ornery_Pony]

Timely thread! I found two blue flowering hydrangea smothered by trees and brush and dug them out of that shade about a week ago. They were small, stunted, and barely flowered last year so I waited until now to dig them and put them into 5 gallon pots. I did have a few buds starting to leaf that got broken off. I put these in water to see if I can get them to root.

I agree that starting in soil is much better for proper roots. However, down here in Georgia I have a lot of trouble with cuttings in soil rotting. A very high rot rate if it's chilly, even though I water with Chamomile tea. Really depends on the kind of plant and our temperatures at that time. Stuff like Pineapple Sage I can stick /anywhere/ in soil and it'll root!

So for me, if I have something that is prone to rotting in trays of soil, I usually try them in water. I get a much lower rate of rot that way. Once the roots are /barely/ started I like then to pot them up into moist soil. This method seems to work pretty well for me but some stuff simply won't root in water. I honestly don't know which way the hydrangeas prefer but as these pieces are on very soft new green stems I presumed to try them in water first. Dropping an old penny in the water also seems to help against rotting or I'll add a tiny drop of sulphur solution.

I'll keep an eye on this thread because I haven't tried to propagate Hydrangeas before. Wouldn't mind seeing photos of other people's successes!