How to propagate garden blueberries by cuttings?

By practicing blueberry propagation at home, you can expand your collection or rejuvenate an old plant. Cutting helps not only to get new specimens - a plant grown from a cuttings retains all the properties of a mother bush, which is fundamentally important. In order for the cuttings to take root, planting must be done according to the rules. In the future, young bushes are provided with careful care.

Benefits of cuttings

You can propagate garden blueberries yourself in different ways. For this purpose, seeds, cuttings, root shoots, cuttings are used. Most often, gardeners resort to cuttings. This method is simple, the process of obtaining new plants does not take much time. Cuttings can be carried out in spring and summer.

The best results are obtained when propagated by green cuttings.

The 3 main benefits of propagating blueberries by cuttings:

• the ability to maintain varietal characteristics;
• the formation of a more developed root system in seedlings in comparison with other propagation options;
• the specimens obtained are distinguished by their endurance.

However, this method is not without its drawbacks. Cutting with woody cuttings in spring is more suitable for experienced gardeners, since the process of harvesting, preserving material and rooting seedlings is quite complicated. And when blueberry breeds in summer, seedlings take root in August. The plant may not gain strength in order to well endure the upcoming wintering, therefore, it requires careful care.

Reproduction technology by cuttings

The use of a specific grafting method depends on the timing of planting. Lignified cuttings are suitable for reproduction in spring, and in summer, blueberries can be diluted with green cuttings.

Propagation by lignified cuttings

Reproduction by lignified cuttings begins in early spring. It is necessary to act at a time when the plant has not yet left the dormant period.

Violation of the rooting time threatens that the percentage of established seedlings will be much less.

Breeding material is harvested at the beginning of winter. These should be fully matured annual shoots with a diameter of 0.5–1.2 cm. Thicker branches have a low rooting capacity. Selected shoots are cut from the bush and stored until spring in the basement, cellar, refrigerator, previously placed in boxes with sawdust or peat.

The grafting procedure is step by step:

1. The prepared branches are cut into pieces. Cuttings of tall varieties should be 12-15 cm long, and low-growing ones - 8-10 cm.
2. The upper cut should be straight, it is made 2 cm above the kidney. From below, the cutting is cut at an angle of 45 degrees directly under the bud.
3. The lower cut before planting is treated with a root growth stimulant, for example, "Kornevin".
4. Rooting is carried out in pre-prepared pots or cassettes 15–20 cm high, filled with a mixture of peat, sawdust, and coarse sand. Rooting in clean peat is acceptable.

After planting, a film is stretched over the cuttings, which is left for the entire rooting period. Lignified planting material takes root within 7–8 weeks at a temperature of 20–25 ° C. During this time, the soil is kept in a moderately moist state. The film is regularly lifted for airing.

You can root the cuttings at home or use a greenhouse with heating for this.With the arrival of heat, the seedlings are put into the garden. The first winter blueberries should spend in the greenhouse, and only next spring, after the soil warms up, they are planted in the planned place.

It is better to plant a shrub where perennial grasses used to grow. Vegetable crops are not suitable as precursors to blueberries.

Propagation by green cuttings

Harvesting of green cuttings begins in late June - early July. The use of insufficiently ripe shoots increases the risk of disease. The cuttings may dry out. If you start harvesting planting material late (after July 10), the seedlings will have a reduced ability to form roots.

Select flexible branches with dark green leaves. These should be shoots of the first and higher branching orders. The optimum length of the cuttings is 6–12 cm; they must be broken off together with the heel.

Stages of cuttings:

1. At the bottom of each cutting, the exfoliated bark is removed.
2. On 2-3 lower leaves, a part of the leaf tissue is cut off, leaving 1/3 of the plate.
3. The lower part of the cuttings is treated with a growth stimulant.
4. Then the planting material is planted in a greenhouse and covered with foil.

The bed must be well drained. The most suitable substrate is a mixture of peat with river sand in equal proportions. The day before planting, the soil is spilled with warm water and covered with foil. After a month, the cuttings will begin to appear roots. You can finally remove the shelter in 2–3 months. In the same period, fertilizing is carried out with ammonium sulfate (10 g per 1 sq. M). The depth is planted in a permanent place at the beginning of the next season.

Other ways to breed blueberries

You can also breed blueberries yourself in other ways. They are used when the grafting method is not suitable for some reason. The least commonly used method of reproduction by seeds, because in this case, it will be possible to wait for the harvest no earlier than in 7-8 years.

Reproduction by layering

The method of propagation of blueberries by layering is used, but it is less popular, since in this case it is possible to get full-fledged specimens with a sufficiently developed root system only after a few years. It is advisable to use this method if the variety is poorly rooted by cuttings or the plant is too young, with few shoots.

The process goes like this:

1. On the bush, strong healthy branches are selected, and a furrow 6–7 cm deep is laid opposite them. The length of the groove should correspond to the length of the shoot.
2. The ground is watered, then the selected branch is laid in the furrow, after slightly shortening the crown.
3. The stem is fixed in the ground with metal staples and sprinkled with sawdust on top.
4. After the vertical shoots with a height of 10 cm are formed, they are half-spud with a mixture of peat and sawdust. During the growth of shoots, this procedure is repeated several more times.

The soil should be kept moist all this time. If necessary, the earth is loosened. It will be possible to separate the young plant from the mother bush and transplant to another place only after 2-3 years.

Reproduction by root shoots

Only undersized, twig-shaped and bog blueberries can be propagated by root shoots. Tall varieties do not produce underground shoots.

Before you start breeding blueberries, you need to prepare a garden for it. The soil is loosened, peat, needles, sawdust are introduced, and complex fertilizer is added.

Planting procedure:

1. In blueberries, part of the underground roots is stripped and cut off.
2. The planting material is divided into 10–17 cm segments with a well-developed bud.
3. On the bed, grooves are cut with a depth of 10–12 cm at intervals of 15 cm.
4. Before laying the cuttings, the soil is well shed.
5. Sections of roots are laid out at the planting site, bud upwards.
6. At the end of the work, the furrows are sprinkled with soil and watered again.

Immediately after this, a temporary greenhouse is built in the garden from arches covered with agrotextile. You can remove the shelter in a month.The established cuttings will sprout by this time.

Regular watering is important for plants - the soil should not be allowed to dry out. Before the arrival of winter, the seedlings are mulched with peat and covered with spunbond. It will be possible to plant the bushes in a permanent place in the spring.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

Blueberry division is often used to rejuvenate an old plant. The culture grows, forms a powerful bush with developed roots.

It is not difficult to divide the shrub into parts:

1. The bush is dug in a circle.
2. Then the blueberries are gently lifted, shoveling under the roots, and pulled to the surface.
3. The bush is carefully divided into parts. Each delenka must have its own roots at least 5-7 cm long.
4. Before planting, the root system of the seedlings is inspected, if necessary, cutting off all damaged or rotten areas.
5. When planting, the delenki are buried 10-12 cm into the ground, this will allow you to get additional roots.

When planting work is completed, the blueberries are well watered and their shoots are shortened.

It is better to divide the bush in the spring, so that the divisions can take root normally before the onset of cold weather.

When breeding blueberries, it is important to follow the rules, because the percentage of rooted seedlings directly depends on compliance with the work technology. In addition, it is important to choose the right place for planting young plants, their further growth depends on this. The site should be well lit by the sun. Blueberries love drained and acidic soil. In the care of the culture, regular watering, feeding, mulching, pruning, protection from diseases and pests are needed.