Evergreen coniferous shrubs are often grown by gardeners to decorate personal plots. Juniper can be propagated in various ways. One of the most popular options is cuttings.
How to propagate juniper: perform the procedure at home
Propagation Features
Representatives of conifers, to which juniper belongs, are long-livers. Their main difference is that the vegetative stage of fruiting occurs much later than in other plants.
The first cones appear on the 9-10th year of life, they ripen for 2-3 years.
In the natural environment, dioecious conifers, which have female and male cones, are propagated by seeds and spores by spreading them in nature over long distances by wind flows and birds.
The seed method is suitable for ordinary varieties and is not suitable for decorative seedlings, because does not preserve the original qualities.
Artificial conditions require a long stratification - exposure in the cold. Sprouts obtained from seeds are often poorly taken root due to underdevelopment and weakness of the root system.
The cuttings method is best suited for the propagation of junipers, it is faster and easier, moreover, it can be carried out at home. Main advantages:
- the resulting seedlings show intense growth and development, reaching the size of an adult plant 3-4 years earlier than seedlings from seeds;
- the next generation retains the qualitative characteristics of the mother tree;
- the term for adaptation of cuttings to new growing conditions is reduced;
- resistance to environmental factors in young seedlings obtained is higher;
- the method gives a high percentage of rooting and is suitable for all varieties.
Dates
Juniper propagation can occur year-round, throughout the season, not excluding winter.
- In the summer - branches and layering. Creeping, creeping varieties are predominantly propagated, but this is not the best period for obtaining seedlings from prickly horizontal varieties, harvesting is carried out no later than July, so that the plants have time to take root by winter and not freeze.
- Autumn is suitable for the seed method.
- In winter, it is better to use cuttings, planting planting material in a heated room. It is being prepared from the first days of February to be dropped off next month.
- In the spring, root with branches or propagated by layering with fixation in the horizontal direction of the side shoots.
Technology description
We grow juniper in small pots
There are certain varieties of juniper that are best propagated by cuttings. It:
- Meyeri;
- Holger;
- Curivao Gold;
- Mint Julep;
- Mordigan Gold;
- Wiltoni;
- Dream Joy;
- Lime glove;
- Gold Coast;
- Hit.
Substrate preparation
For rooting the workpieces make a soil mixture of humus and peat taken in equal proportions. It is allowed to add river sand, crushed charcoal and perlite.
To neutralize excess acidity helps lime, lime flour and fly ash.
Preparation of cuttings
Harvesting of planting material is carried out throughout the garden season, starting in early spring and pumping in late autumn, but the most suitable time for this is April-May.
As a donor tree, specimens of the age of 8-10 years are suitable, in which varietal characteristics have already been formed.
The processes are collected from not yet lignified green branches of juniper, taking into account the features of the species:
- for columnar varieties - from growing in the upper part;
- for spherical varieties - from growing on the sides.
The average length of the cuttings to which the shoot should be cut is about 0.15-0.2 m. The maximum possible length is 0.25 m. The fence is carried out together with part of the bark, the so-called heel.
For creeping juniper varieties, cuttings are removed from vertically arranged branches.
The best time to cut planting material is early morning. Before planting, cuttings in the lower part (about 4-5 cm) are cleaned of needles and bark and kept for 0.5 days in an aqueous solution of Epin. In the upper part of the shoots, the needles are left for aeration.
Rooting
For rooting, creeping varieties of juniper are planted in a prepared nutrient substrate at an angle of 45 ° C, other varieties in the vertical direction.
In the soil I make indentations of 3-4 cm wide up to 1 cm, inserting a stalk into the hole, sprinkle it with earth and water it. Top sprout is covered with polyethylene or a jar.
When placing the processes in a single container, it is necessary to maintain a distance of 5 cm or more.
One of the methods of rooting twigs harvested in winter is to plant in a layer of sphagnum moss, which is previously soaked in water:
- for the role of the container, take a fabric strip on which the soaked moss is laid out;
- sprinkle the cuttings from the bottom with Kornevin and lay them out so that the tops are above the level of the fabric strip, and the lower part is on the sphagnum pillow;
- a strip of fabric is folded in half, covering the bottom of the workpieces, and rolled up, fixing with an elastic band;
- the roll is wrapped in polyethylene and put in a cool place until spring, until the shoots give root.
How to stimulate rooting
Cuttings can be made at home
It is possible to root cuttings at home with stimulating drugs, but in order to increase the survival rate and reduce the period of root formation, it is better to use root formation stimulants.
Means that activate the development of the root system:
- Kornevin. Designed based on indolylbutyric acid. Dosage - 1 g per 1 liter of water.
- Epin. In addition to enhancing root formation, serve as a means of increasing immunity. Dosage - 0.5 ml per 1 liter of water.
- Heteroauxin. It belongs to phytohormonal preparations based on indolylacetic acid. Dosage - 1 tablet For 1 liter of water.
- Zircon. Complex composition of a mixture of hydroxycinnamic acids. Dosage - 1 ml per 1 water.
To folk remedies include:
- sweet water;
- potato tubers;
- baking yeast.
Planting cuttings in open ground
The first roots appear on the 25-30th day after planting, and rooting occurs after 2-3 months.
However, transfer to the open ground is possible only at the end of the formation of the root system, which usually occurs in the 3rd year. Actively growing new green shoots will tell you about the successful development of the roots.
Transplanted before the recommended period, rooted seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse.
Transit times vary by region. It is planned so that by the time of the onset of the first frosts, the plant has already managed to undergo adaptation to the new growing conditions.
Usually, gardeners try to carry out the procedure immediately after the snow melts, while there is no risk of needles burning out in the active sun.
The best place for planting cuttings will be a well-lit area with diffused sunlight from the southeast or southwest side with moderately moist soil.
In the open ground, the sprouts are transplanted together with an earthen lump in order to avoid injury to the roots that have not yet fully grown, deepening along the root neck. The substrate for the landing pit is made from the same components as when rooting.
They dig a hole to a depth of 1.0 m or more, starting from the size of an earthen coma, which is 2-3 times larger than its diameter. Mandatory drainage system.
Seedling Care
At the initial stage, the cuttings need to create favorable conditions:
- the optimum temperature is 18-23 ° C, at lower rates the roots begin to rot, and at higher rates the soil will dry out;
- diffused light, without direct hit on the landing;
- periodic airing;
- watering - as the soil dries, usually once a week.
After transplanting into the open ground, young seedlings are protected from direct sunlight by shading and shelter, as well as from frost in winter by mulching with spruce branches.
Watered drought-resistant juniper once every 30 days. After 2 years from the moment of planting, they begin to feed him with organic or mineral fertilizers, applying in the summer one-time under the bush at the rate of 45 g per each m².
