Fruit and berry bushes: how to propagate by cuttings
Many fruit and berry bushes and even some fruit trees can be propagated by cuttings. However, gardeners consider this method time-consuming and ineffective.

Often failures are due to the wrong approach. It is important to consider several points here.

Propagation by cuttings in summer

In order for the cuttings to take root well, it is important to cut them in time. The harvest time is very short – only 10 – 14 days. It falls at the end of June – beginning of July. At this time, the lower part of the shoots begins to lignify, the upper one is still herbaceous.

It is best to cut the cuttings with a sharp grafting knife. The lower cut is made under the leaf at an angle of 45 ° towards the kidney. Upper – horizontally just above the kidney. The ideal cutting should have 3 leaves. It is best to cut them from the middle part of the shoot.

For greater reliability, before planting, the cuttings must be treated with a root formation stimulator, for example, Kornevin (1).

Reproduction conditions by cuttings

It is best to root green cuttings right in the garden in a greenhouse box. It can be any size, the main thing is that glass or film covers it from above.

And it is important to carefully prepare the soil for planting. The best option is a mixture of sand and earth. Both ingredients must be steamed well beforehand.

The bottom of the greenhouse is filled with drainage, such as expanded clay. But before that, it must be poured with boiling water and left to cool completely. It is advisable to ignite the box itself in the sun, and then sprinkle it with a solution of Fitosporin (1) or strong potassium permanganate.

Drainage is poured with a layer of 1,5 – 2 cm. Then 10 – 15 cm of earth, and 1 – 2 cm of sand on top. This “layer cake” must be thoroughly poured with a solution of the same Fitosporin or potassium permanganate. And only after that, cuttings can be planted in it.

All these treatments are needed to get rid of pathogens that can kill the cuttings during the rooting process.

The cuttings are buried in the soil to the bottom sheet.

In the first year, they practically do not form growth – at this time, roots grow. Winter young plants are left directly in the greenhouse. In order not to freeze, in the fall they are covered with needles, sawdust or peat. And in the spring they are transplanted to special beds – here they will grow. And only for 3 years the cuttings can be planted in a permanent place.

What can be propagated by cuttings

Among berry bushes, currants (black, red and golden) (2) and honeysuckle are the easiest to propagate by summer cuttings (50-90% of cuttings take root in them). Worse – gooseberries and sea buckthorn (10 – 40%). Barberry, viburnum, chaenomeles (Japanese quince) can also be propagated by cuttings.

Among fruit crops, many varieties of cherries, cherry plums, and plums reproduce well with green shoots.

Apple trees can also be propagated, but not every variety. Aport Alexander, Aport blood-red, Vityaz, Zhigulevskoye, Dream, Moscow red, Father’s renet, Nakhodka Lebedyanskaya, Pepin saffron, Altai dove, Altai dessert, Altai ruddy, Gornoaltayskoye, Long, Zhebrovskoye, Kitayka Saninskaya, Kuznetsovskoye, Pepinka are best rooted Altai, Gift for gardeners, Ranetka Ermolaeva, Ranetka purple, Severyanka, Ural bulk, Flashlight. From pears, the roots of Lada, Moskvichka, Smart Efimova, Autumn Yakovleva, Memory Zhigalova give good results.

Popular questions and answers

We asked about cuttings agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mykhaylova – she answered the most frequent questions of summer residents.

What is the easiest way to propagate from cuttings?

The easiest is to root them in water. This is more convenient than planting cuttings in the soil – in the summer the earth dries up quickly, you need to monitor the humidity all the time. In addition, in the open field, cuttings can be spoiled by pests. 

How to root cuttings in water?

There are several rules: 

• the container must be taken dark and opaque – in a transparent one, the roots form for a long time, and may not appear;

• put in one dish no more than 3 cuttings;

• there should be little water – oxygen is important for rooting, and there is almost no oxygen in a deep dish with a high level of water in the lower part;

• water cannot be changed completely – if it has evaporated, just add to the previous level.

 

Do I need to use root stimulants?

There are cultures that easily give roots without tricks. For example, blackcurrant. It is not necessary to treat such cuttings with stimulants. But if processed, the percentage of rooting will be higher, the roots will appear earlier. 

But for plants that take root with difficulty, for example, gooseberries, actinidia, some varieties of apple trees, stimulants are required. The most famous of them are Heterauksin and Kornevin.

Sources of

  1. State catalog of pesticides and agrochemicals permitted for use on the territory of the Federation as of July 6, 2021 // Ministry of Agriculture of the Federation

    https://mcx.gov.ru/ministry/departments/departament-rastenievodstva-mekhanizatsii-khimizatsii-i-zashchity-rasteniy/industry-information/info-gosudarstvennaya-usluga-po-gosudarstvennoy-registratsii-pestitsidov-i-agrokhimikatov/

  2. Romanov V.V., Ganichkina O.A., Akimov A.A., Uvarov E.V. In the garden and in the garden // Yaroslavl, Upper Volga book publishing house, 1989 – 288 p.

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