How to propagate honeysuckle: reproduction methods, their features, possible problems and solutions

Honeysuckle is a new culture in our gardens. This is the very first and earliest berry that opens the season and saves us from spring vitamin deficiency. Its juicy bittersweet fruits contain a lot of vitamins C and B and more than a dozen useful minerals. It is good if several honeysuckle bushes grow on the site, but far from everyone succeeds in making friends with this crop the first time. Today we will talk about how to propagate honeysuckle correctly at different times of the year, and also consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of the breeding methods.

Honeysuckle propagation methods

Most plants, including honeysuckle, reproduce not only with the help of seeds, but also vegetatively:

• dividing the bush;
• layering;
• cuttings;
• vaccination;
• by cloning.

Each of these methods has its pros and cons. When propagated by seeds, the characteristics of the variety are usually not preserved, but as a result, you can get a plant that far exceeds its parent form in its properties. Seed propagation is used very rarely in horticulture, but sometimes you can’t do without it. Honeysuckle is sown in those cases when:

• in the area where the site is located, difficult weather conditions prevail (severe frosts, drought) and plants from outside do not take root;
• there is no possibility to transport a full-fledged seedling;
• I want to experiment and develop my own variety.

Table: advantages and disadvantages of different breeding methods

Vegetative propagation of honeysuckle

In order to preserve the signs of the mother plant, berry crops are reproduced in a vegetative manner. IN In private households, honeysuckle is most often propagated by layering and cuttings.

How to choose a parent plant

In any case, you first need to choose a uterine bush. You need to remember that a young plant will look like a mother in 98 out of 100 cases. Therefore, if you decide to grow a seedling yourself, first look at the future parent during the season. It is desirable that it meets the following requirements:

1. The bush should be compact, without drooping branches and no visible signs of the disease.
2. The berries are juicy, large, should not crumble in an unripe state and wrinkle strongly when harvested.
3. Additional benefits - dry separation and simultaneous ripening of fruits.

The berries on the uterine bush should be large and sweet

How to make layering from the uterine bush of honeysuckle

If you need only one young plant, proceed as follows:

1. In late autumn, during leaf fall, the lower branches of the uterine bush are neatly spread out on the ground and fixed with hairpins or wooden slingshots. It is important to ensure that the branch does not crack or break at the base.
   

   The honeysuckle shoot is fixed with a hairpin and sprinkled with earth, the top is slightly raised

2. The shoot can be immediately covered with soil, and the top of the head slightly raised. Over the next season, roots form on a covered ground branch.
3. In the fall or in the spring after rooting, a new plant is separated by secateurs from the mother liquor, they are dug up with a lump of earth and carefully transplanted to a new place.

If you plan to get 10-20 plants from one parent bush, then make layering a little differently:

1. They pin several branches, do not immediately fall asleep with soil, leave them in this position until the onset of warm days. In the spring, from new horizontal branches, new shoots grow vertically.
   

   To get several seedlings, the honeysuckle shoot is bent to the ground and pinned in several places
2. Gradually, in 3-4 doses, the pinned branches are sprinkled with earth, making sure that the apical leaves of young shoots always remain on the surface. As a result, by mid-summer, a hill of land along a horizontal branch should reach 15 cm in height.
3. Periodically, the bush is carefully watered, since the roots at the layering are formed only in a humid environment.
4. In the autumn, a branch is dug up, separated from the mother liquor and cut into parts - according to the number of seedlings obtained. Rooted fragments are best planted immediately in a permanent place or growing.

When propagating by layering, strong plants with a branched root system are obtained. Such seedlings are less sick during transplantation and can give a full crop the very next year.

Honeysuckle seedlings obtained from layering have a branched root system

Honeysuckle roots are very sensitive to sap. This should be considered when digging and transporting.

Features of honeysuckle cuttings

Cuttings are a propagation method in which parts of a plant are rooted separately from the mother liquor. There are two types of cuttings:

• Lignified - they are cut early in the spring from last year's overwintered shoots. It is important that the kidneys slightly swell, but do not have time to turn around.
• Green, which cut off at the beginning of summer.

Honeysuckle seedlings can be grown from lignified cuttings that are cut in early spring, before the buds open.

Honeysuckle is much better propagated by rooting of green cuttings. However, this method requires careful execution of all stages of work.

Propagation by green cuttings

Green shoots are cut at the beginning of summer, immediately after harvesting. For grafting, choose long, powerful branches - they have more nutrients. When growing in large volumes, finely dispersed sprinklers must be installed in the greenhouse. Small shelters can maintain the desired microclimate and humidity on their own.

Stages of growing seedlings:

1. The shoots are cut off and immediately placed in a damp cloth or film, periodically sprayed from the spray gun. It is very important to prevent leaf sagging.
2. In a room or under a canopy, shoots are cut into cuttings in 3-4 internodes. The upper cut is made even, retreating 0.3-0.5 cm above the kidney, and the stalk is cut obliquely from below.
3. On the resulting slice, all the leaves, except the top pair, are removed. Do this carefully, trying not to damage the skin on the kidneys - this dramatically reduces the percentage of survival. It is best to trim the leaves with scissors, leaving a small piece of petiole. During operation, the honeysuckle shoots are constantly sprayed with water, covered with a film from the wind and the sun.
   

   Honeysuckle shoots are cut into cuttings with 3-4 internodes, leaving only the top pair of leaves on them

4. The resulting cuttings are bundled and placed in water so that only leaves are on the surface. Put them in a cool, shaded place for 12-20 hours. Periodically, the leaves are sprayed. Cuttings should be properly saturated with water before planting.
5. Green cuttings are planted in cool time - in the early morning, evening or during rain. The soil is prepared in advance, it must be simultaneously loose and hold water well. Usually take deoxidized peat with sand in a ratio of 2: 1. 1 cm of clean sand is laid on the surface. This technique helps to prevent mold. Arcs for the film are also pre-installed.
6. Cuttings are stuck into the soil at a distance of 5-7 cm from each other. This must be done carefully, as broken or crumpled plants do not take root. On the surface there remains a crown of 3-4 cm with a pair of leaves. During operation, the cuttings are constantly moisturized. The soil is well shed with water.
   

   Green honeysuckle cuttings are stuck into the soil at a distance of 5-7 cm from each other
7. After planting in the ground, green cuttings are covered with a film. It is best to use white translucent material for this purpose, and a conventional film can be shaded with light agrofibre.
8. Cuttings are tightly closed. If there is no fine watering, then the greenhouse is watered once a day, in the morning, so that the moisture evaporates during the day and settles on the leaves.
   

   Cuttings are covered with a film or other transparent material to create favorable conditions for plants

Cuttings root in 3-4 weeks. After that, they begin to gradually accustom themselves to environmental conditions, opening the cuttings in the cool of the day. In autumn, during leaf fall, young plants are planted in ordinary soil for growing.

Under favorable conditions, roots on honeysuckle cuttings form in 3-4 weeks

Video: Honeysuckle cuttings on own site

Green cuttings can be rooted not only in the greenhouse, but also in plastic bottles cut in half (no more than 3-4 cuttings are placed in one). Such a mini-cuticle can not be watered, it is enough only 1 time to properly moisten the soil.

Honeysuckle propagation by seeds

Honeysuckle is a plant adapted to a cold climate. Its seeds germinate only after prolonged exposure to low temperatures (stratification).

Carry out the procedure as follows:

1. In a small container (10-15 cm deep) make drainage holes. It can be a plastic container, an old flower pot or any suitable utensils.
2. The tank is filled to half with a mixture of sand, peat and forest land in equal proportions. The soil must be both loose and water-absorbing.
   

   Containers prepared for stratification of honeysuckle seeds are half filled with soil

3. Ripe crushed berries are laid on the surface, covered with soil about 0.5-1 cm and gently watered. The seeds are small, so deep seeding can affect the percentage of germination.
4. Then the container is covered, buried in the garden, enclosed from animals and left until spring.
   

   A container with honeysuckle seeds is sprinkled with earth, snow and left in the garden until spring

This is the easiest way to stratify. After the snow melts, the seed bowl is taken to the room and the seedlings are monitored. In the phase of the first real leaf, the sprouts are planted in a seedling box (according to the scheme 5 by 5 cm) or in separate containers. Next - care as for ordinary seedlings.

If you managed to get the berries in the middle of winter, then stratification can be done in another way:

1. Ordinary peat soil, which is sold in garden centers, is shed with hot potassium permanganate and allowed to cool.
2. The soil is collected in a plastic container with a lid, then the berries are laid out and sprinkled with a layer of earth (up to 1 cm). Tightly close, water a little and put in the refrigerator compartment, where vegetables are usually stored (temperature + 5 ... +8^aboutFROM).
   

   In order for the seeds of honeysuckle to successfully pass stratification, the container is placed in the refrigerator, in the compartment for storing vegetables

3. Periodically, the container is aired, mold is removed, a little water is added as needed.

After about 1-1.5 months, seedlings may appear. Then the container is taken out, young plants dive in pots in the phase of the first real leaf. If you do not pick in time, the seedlings will stretch very much and die from thickening. In summer, plants are best taken out into the air, as indoor honeysuckle grows pampered and weak.

Part of the seeds retains germination in both frozen and dried fruits. Honeysuckle berries purchased at the supermarket can be used for sowing.

Seedling Care

When planting young honeysuckle in a permanent place, it should be remembered that this plant has only recently entered the culture. Therefore, the main task of the gardener is to create conditions close to the natural habitat of honeysuckle. It is better to choose a slightly shaded place where the sun appears for about half a day. It is recommended to plant the plant away from paths and common areas.

Honeysuckle is very difficult to tolerate transplantation and any damage to the roots. Therefore, it is better to prepare the pit in advance, and transfer the seedling to a new place already during the dormant period (after the leaves have fallen and before the buds awaken). After planting, the plant is abundantly watered and immediately the mulch circle is mulched with mowed grass. Periodically update the mulch. Unwanted weeding with a hoe, loosening and digging for at least the first five years, until the bush grows properly. Pruning is also not carried out until the age of four. Then you can adjust the height of the bush, thin out the crown and remove old and dried branches.

Honeysuckle is an interesting and useful plant that does not require careful maintenance, complex pruning and fertilizing. Perhaps it will appeal to supporters of organic farming. Adherents of traditions will have to get used to the fact that honeysuckle does not tolerate bare soil. Take a closer look at the plant, do not disregard it, and then even in a capricious touch you will be able to discern just a timid forest beauty.