Weigela - Blooming Twice A Season. Reproduction

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Gorgeous weigela bushes during flowering are a bright accent on the flower bed. The unpretentiousness of plants in the care attracts novice summer residents. You can increase the number of specimens in the garden on your own by multiplying the varieties available on the site. What methods are suitable for weigela?

Breeding types

For ornamental bushes, 3 methods are used:

• seed;

• layering;

• cuttings.

The first option is used by breeders to obtain new hybrids with improved traits. Seeds give heterogeneous offspring with mixed parental forms. Such seedlings are easier to adapt to the conditions of the area.

Plants obtained by vegetative means completely repeat the characteristics of the original variety.

Seed method

Freshly harvested seeds have good germination. In the second year, the yield of seedlings is significantly reduced. Culture stratification is not required.

In March, boxes with drainage holes 10-15 cm high are prepared. They are covered with a mixture of humus, peat, sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 1. Seal the surface with your hand. A snow pillow 2-3 cm high is prepared from above.

Spread the seeds evenly over the surface. Cover with foil. They are placed in a warm place. When melting, the snow will drag the grains with it to the required depth, moisten the soil.

Shoots appear in 2-3 weeks. The boxes are transferred to the windowsill. The film is removed gradually, accustoming the plants to the dry air of the room.

When two leaves are formed, seedlings are dived in separate cups. Water as the soil dries up. They feed with Kemira 1-2 times a month 0.5 tablespoons per 5 liters of water.

When steadily warm weather sets in, they are taken out into the garden for hardening, leaving for a day under the crowns of trees. At first, they are protected from direct sunlight, giving the plants the opportunity to get used to the bright street lighting.

The bushes are transplanted in early June to the beds for growing. The first year young seedlings develop slowly. They are relocated to a permanent place in the spring of the next season. Seedlings bloom for 3-4 years.

Cuttings

For this method, shoots are suitable: current year (green) or last year (lignified). Young twigs are cut in mid-June. Divide into segments of 2-3 buds each. The upper leaf plates are shortened in half, the lower ones are cut off completely. Put in water to saturate for 2-3 hours.

The ridges are prepared in advance, scattering humus and sand over the surface. Dig it to a depth of 20 cm. Remove the roots of malicious perennial weeds. Level with a rake. Cut grooves every 20 cm. Spill abundantly with water.

Before planting, the cuttings are dipped in root powder. They are planted obliquely after 7-10 cm in a row, deepening the lower buds. Crumple the ground around the shoots, achieving a tight contact. Arches are installed, covered with foil.

Water it 1-2 times a week with a solution of potassium permanganate. Monthly feed the complex preparation "Agricola" a tablespoon in a bucket of liquid. After 4-5 weeks, with a favorable rooting, dormant buds start to grow.

The plants are left to winter in cuttings, covered with sawdust with a layer of 20 cm. They are transplanted to a permanent place in the spring of the next season.

Lignified cuttings are harvested before bud break in April. Rooted in greenhouses or insulated greenhouses. The preparation and care process is similar to summer cultivation. At the moment of regrowth of the apical part, the growth point is pinched, stimulating the formation of lateral shoots. The rooting rate of lignified branches is slightly lower than that of green cuttings.

Sometimes plants release buds right on the seed beds. They must be removed so that the young are directed all their strength to building up roots. The next year, in the spring, the seedlings have full flowering.

We will consider popular types, decoration in flower beds, correct pruning in the next article.