Seedlings are very expensive today, and blueberries in many regions are also very rare. In addition, purchased bushes take root with great difficulty. Therefore, you have to buy 1-2 roots, and then carefully grow them, propagate, sometimes even seeds, to get a berry plant that can provide the whole family with vitamins. In addition, growing seedlings and blueberries is a great business idea.
Blueberry propagation by cuttings
The best time for cutting cuttings is the last decade of June until the beginning of July, inclusive, when annual growths have not yet lignified. The event can be combined with thinning out a bush of blueberries. Cut young, thickening crown branches.
One-half-lignified twigs go on cuttings
At each shoot, remove the green tops. Divide the rest into cuttings with 2-3 internodes. Cut the bottom leaves as a whole, leave only the top two and cut them in half. The lower cut of the handle should be sharp, with a bevel in the opposite direction from the growth of the lower leaf.
A - for cuttings take the middle part of the side branch. B - cut is done at an acute angle and not parallel to the growth of the bottom sheet. B - treat the cuttings with a rooting agent. G - blueberry stalks are planted in a loose and acidic substrate
The soil for blueberries should have an acidic pH of 4 to 5. This crop is contraindicated: humus, compost, manure and even ordinary garden soil, since they have a slightly acidic and neutral reaction. The substrate can be composed of peat, river sand, coniferous litter and rotted sawdust in any proportions.
Before planting, hold each stalk in the root formation stimulator (Kornevin, Heterouxin, Epin, Ecogel and others). Plant in boxes in rows (5x10 cm) or in separate pots, half-deepening the stalk. Rooting should take place at high humidity and elevated temperature. Arrange a mini-greenhouse or hotbed. When young leaves begin to grow on the cuttings, the greenhouse can be aired, and after a week completely removed. In the fall, a month before frosts, transplanted seedlings to a permanent place.
Video: harvesting cuttings and planting
Propagation by horizontal layering
In the spring at the beginning of summer, choose strong and flexible branches that can be laid on the ground. If it is possible only to bend them with an arc, then the seedling will turn out to be one with the roots in the place of contact with the ground, and if you can dig in most of the branches, then there will be several bushes. The easiest and most reliable way is to propagate blueberries with horizontal layering:
- Try on a branch at the place where you want to dig it, and make a shallow (5-7 cm) groove in the ground.
- Scratch the side with which the branch will come into contact with the ground, at least with a fingernail and moisten with a preparation that enhances root formation.
- Attach the branch to the ground with studs of wire and sprinkle with earth. If the branch does not fit, it is bent by an arc and comes into contact with the ground in only one place, you can tack it and crush it with a brick or stone. In any case, the top of the rooted branch should be outside, above the ground.
- Keep the soil moist all summer.
- Next spring, you can dig out our branch, cut it off from the uterine bush and divide it into seedlings. But according to the experience of gardeners, it is known that rooting branches of blueberries have to wait 2-3 years.
Video: rooting by digging and aerial layering
Propagation of blueberries with root shoots
Some varieties of blueberries, like raspberries, give root shoots. It is formed at a distance of at least 30 cm from the main bush. It is better to separate such seedlings in the spring so that they have time to root well in the new place before the fall. The most difficult thing is to carefully cut or cut the main root connecting the mother bush and the young shoot. In no case do not stretch the shoot. Dig it around, feel for the junction and cut it off. Transfer the seedling to a permanent place or place in a container for growing.
Video: Branch of a seedling grown from a root layer
Blueberry seed
Reproduction by seeds is a very interesting, but also time-consuming way:
- Seeds can be bought at a store in your city, written out over the Internet, and harvested yourself from berries that you own or bought on the market.
- Soil - acid peat, can be mixed with coarse sand and rotted sawdust. Peat tablets are great.
- Sowing dates are easy to calculate. Stratification for blueberries lasts up to 90 days, it is advisable to obtain seedlings in March, when the sun begins to well illuminate our window sills. Therefore, you need to start working with blueberry seeds in early December.
- Sowing should be done superficially without deepening Blueberry seeds are very small, seedlings do not have enough strength to break through even through loose soil. Moisten the substrate before sowing, if you water it after, then the water will pull the seeds deeper. You can sow in a seedling box in rows or individually each seed in a peat tablet or glass.
- Cover the crops with glass or wrap them in a plastic bag and place on the lower shelf of the refrigerator for 3 months. Once a week, it is necessary to remove, ventilate and, if necessary, moisten.
- In March, transfer crops to a light and warm windowsill. After 1-3 weeks, shoots should appear. Grow them like ordinary seedlings. But do not forget to take a special acidic soil from peat for a dive without adding earth, humus and other components familiar to us.
Blueberry seeds and loose substrate
Video: stratification rules in the refrigerator and in the garden under the snow
Microclonal propagation of blueberries
Test tube seedlings are already appearing in our stores. In addition, the army of gardeners is growing, knowing what meristems are and how plants develop from them. Microclonal propagation is the cultivation of a seedling from a piece of tissue (meristem) of the mother plant. Mostly apical meristems are used. Their cells actively divide and lead to the continuous growth of leaves, stems, flowers.
Plants obtained by the microclonal method - from a piece of tissue
If it is possible for an ordinary landowner to grow blueberries from cuttings or shoots, this method looks very illogical, complicated and costly. It will require laboratory equipment and a nutrient solution, and for this particular crop. And it is also necessary to ensure optimal temperature conditions and adequate illumination. After growing in vitro, plants are accustomed to normal, non-sterile conditions.
However, this technology allows you to get thousands of seedlings from one branch, and absolutely healthy and repeating all the properties of the mother plant. The method of artificial propagation is actively spreading around the world; it is interesting to breeders and companies engaged in the sale of planting material.
Video: the advantages of microclonal propagation and its main stages
Blueberries are considered a promising berry for business. In many countries, it is grown on an industrial scale. For example, in Belarus, the planted area is 500 hectares, more than 100 farms are engaged in breeding. Belarusian gardeners can buy imported tall varieties and unique local ones, for example, with white fruits.
Video: breeding blueberries in Belarus
Blueberry breeding is a promising activity. Having bought 2-3 seedlings of different varieties, you can eventually grow a whole plantation of berries, which is in high demand in the market. The most popular methods of propagation are by cuttings and layering, and large enterprises adopt the microclonal method.
