my first hydrangea cutting experiment

I'm a newbie here. Sure I've had plants all my life, my mom had a garden as i was a kid. But this is my first year in my own house with my own garden, lots of land, a greenhouse and enthusiasm! So I've begun a little cutting experiment with hydrangeas! Now, I'm novice at best but I've rooted cuttings before; Christmas cactus, spider plants and the like. I must admit I just can't resist a challenge and free plants! So! I am using a variety of size cuttings of some type of bigleaf macrophylla. Here's what I've done with these: miracle grow potting mix, bone meal, and water. No rooting hormone, don't have any yet. Cuttings with at least 2 setsof leaves, larger leaves halved to prevent transpiration, and focus on roots not the plant. I have them situated in my greenhouse that recieves a fair amount of sun but is shaded mid day and honestly even after washing the panels. Are very dingy so they aren't just baking away in the sun. Yesterday was a little hot and I'll admit the cuttings were a bit wilty when I took them. However! This morning it seems a few have perked right up! If I find a willow tree and the guts to ask the owners for cuttings I'll be making willow tea for the little guys.for now I'll try to document my progress here. (In this photo: a tickled pink hydrangea, a run wild mystery plant, some shrub seedlings of some sort Angeles my cuttings

Another picture of the 3 larger cuttings

I would make sure that the cuttings aren't getting any direct sun...bright indirect light is best. Since they don't have any roots, they're going to wilt very easily in the sun and won't have as much ability to recover as a plant would, so too many wilting days will likely kill them. You also don't want them to be too hot so if your days are quite warm the greenhouse might not be the best spot for them--do you maybe have a shaded patio or something where you could keep them instead?

Yeah tommorrow it's supposed to be 94! One day cold, one day hot. Weird spring we're having.

Very exciting! I have always wanted to do this. So you cut the end of a plant that has 2 leaves and put them in potting soil? What other plants do you recommend? I love free plants as well.

Christmas cactus is great for a house plant! So easy. But otherwise I've never made any other outdoor cuttings. I think that you can propogate just about anything this way with rooting powder and the right conditions. But I haven't t done much research on anything but hydrageas.

Yesterday and today they're out behind the shed with indirect light since it's been in the 90°s. There are 2 that really seem to be doing well, very upright. Those also seem to be the two with exactly 4 leaves that are very small.

Still going strong!

Great job, Outlaw! As Ecrane said, no direct sun. You might be able to shade the top and side of the greenhouse with some newspaper to protect your new plants.

June and July are the most recommended months for cuttings but I've done them in other months and have been too successful - hard to find enough people who want them all. Some can't be traded since they are patented.

I do remove the top leaves to form a bushier shrub.

I took cuttings last March and these are the roots that formed by November:

For the past few days they've been behind the shed because of the intense heat. But they're back in the greenhouse now since it's been pouring all yesterday and today. I'm very impressed and inspired by your cuttings pirl! Hopefully mine will grow that well. My firelight hydrangea is looking good now too.! Lots of new growth forming. I'm not sure I'll get any more blooms besides the one it came with back in.... gosh.... April? But I have high hopes for this little one.

Robusto! Looks like a real winner.

Wow sorry for any neck cramps... here's a better picture

It really does look great from any angle. I was complimenting you on your great success.

When did you take the cuttings?

The cuttings were taken on the 7th which rocks because it's almost been a week now and none are outright dead yet! I believe they are endless summer, since the plant i took them from blooms on new growth; but i don't know for sure.
The leuchtfeurer or firelight pictured was one of those cheap foil potted florist forced deals i bought around Easter time. I keep it on a steady diet of fertilizer, bone meal, & coffee! It's in morning sun then dappled shade all day till evening when it's basically lights out. :) robusto ! :) finally!!! It has certainly come a long way. Thanks so much for the compliments and any suggestions! Keep em comin!

You deserve the compliments just for trying and more compliments for the success you've had. It seems, from your description, they couldn't ask for a better situation in which to grow and flourish.

Mine get planted with a huge amount of compost and I seldom water them so the compost must be retaining moisture. In any event they do grow for me.

A few weeks ago, while trimming the Callicarpa (Beauty Bush), I couldn't bear to throw away any stems that looked like strong possibilities for a trial in growing them. So far two didn't work out but all the others did! I'm very pleased.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pendernursery.com/Images/Callicarpa-dichotoma-'Issai.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pendernursery.com/Catalog/Detail/callicarpadichotomaissai.html&h=450&w=330&sz=58&tbnid=dgOf7uukwxXAXM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=66&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcallicarpa%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=callicarpa&hl=en&usg=__ZQisSYAWPyDvZ4lH3bJkMcT6M7w=&sa=X&ei=JrP2TYfwFaH40gHVxr3rDA&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQ9QEwBA

Wow!! Keep us posted here on your progress! And try and post pictures! That's a cool plant. Are those edible?
I'm really hopeful that these will survive the overwintering process which i dread even thinking of so early in the summer.

I will take photos if it's not raining tomorrow. I seriously doubt if the berries are edible but love the look of the plant.

You can always use a piece of burlap to cover them in December and they should do fine. We have to think ahead to be prepared but the photo I posted of mine were just 8 months old and the roots were fantastic. Now they've all doubled in size. I'm in Hydrangea Heaven.

So you think i should plant them before winter and cover them, or keep them covered in the greenhouse over winter, or uncovered in the greenhouse?

You do have a few choices there, don't you?!

Here, in zone 7, I put the cuttings directly in the soil and they remain there until I get to moving them. Maybe you could try a few each way and see how they perform for you.

Sorry but I don't have any experience with outdoor greenhouses to better advise you.

I think i will try that. Then it will be truly experimental. Like this set of leaves left over that i decided may as well go in the dirt too. And look! It's alive A week later!

That's the "joy of gardening" in a photo!

Three of the larger cuttings are still floppy but hanging on. I decided to cut back a little more leaf on them. We'll see what happens.

This is just my thought - cut off the entire top of the center and right one. If the lower leaves are turning brown on the one on the left then cut them off. A dying leaf isn't providing much use to the cutting.

Let us know how they continue to perform, please.

And then there's the good lookin ones...it's their birthday! They're a week old! Lol

You've gone through the most difficult time.

And a daisy in the background....

It's been fun, & almost too easy so far especially since i didn't have rooting powder, i feel like this may become an obsession!

I don't waste the money or time for rooting powder for any plants. It's quite useful for the difficult plants but for hydrangeas, coleus and many others it's just not mandatory.

Coleus roots that way? Hmmm... I thought it was annual here. Maybe a nice new house plant idea for me though. :)

Coleus are annuals outside, but you can take cuttings and grow as a house plant also.

It's how I grow coleus all winter long. Just don't overwater them!

Awesome!!! I love them. I think i just love foliage. Some flowers but give me bid beautiful foliage all season and I'm just as happy. I think I'll be working on hucheras next year too. Garden is under construction. Women working.

:) so I'm peeking today! There was a little green growth at through base of this one. Just a stick i planted, new growth from the node! Should be forming roots soon right?!

Yes! Post the photo so others can see it.

Lol!!! Whoops!!!

Goldenway.... There are so many you can do from cuttings and if you research a little on what you have in your yard, or if there is one you know of you want a cutting from and go from there. Here is a link I refer to on a regular basis to find out what time of year, what type of cutting, etc. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8702.html I have a clear storage bin that I use and some smaller storage containers. I keep them under the trampoline so it gets bright light and dappled morning sun. So far I have rooted gardenias, holly, azaleas, hydrangea and now doing some Japanese Maple (since I knocked a limb off my beautiful little tree when I dropped my shovel!!!!) I plan on doing more soon...the possibilites are numerous. Check out the link and it will tell you so much about the basics and don't be afraid to experiment. Some I put in strictly perlite and some in potting soil mixed with sand and perlite. It's an exciting experiment every time!

This message was edited Jun 21, 2011 1:26 PM

Awesome article dirt lover!!!! That's good to know.
Not sure if I'll try propagating anything else but that is a great point of reference just in case! This is a little addicting. I recently acquired some more hydrangea cuttings to play with so I'll keep you updated on their progress as well. :)

You're most welcome OutlawHeart! Isn't the internet invaluable? I couldn't afford the books or have the time to go to the library every time I needed to know something about gardening. Here are some pictures of my new cuttings I just took out. Two branches off of my mother-in-law's hydrangea turned into 11 new plants....Yayyy!! I don't care how many times I do cuttings or seeds it's still exciting and ADDICTIVE like you said. These cuttings stayed in the little "greenhouse" for 4 weeks potted in just perlite with rooting hormone. I just would lift the lid every day and spray water on the leaves. That's how I did the gardenia, azalea and holly cuttings too.

Here are my gardenia cuttings from last fall. We're waiting until this fall to plant so they'll be in the ground before it's cold but not be in the hot sun right now.

And last....my azalea and holly cuttings. They stay in the shade since that's where they like it most. Not all of them made it but the ones that did look healthy. The gardenia cuttings I have in dappled sun. These will go out this fall too.

Awesome job!!!
Here are pictures of the mommy plant from my "BK" cuttings

So pretty!