can anyone tell me about hydrangea cuttings?

i just bought 2 new hydrangea hybrids today. what i want to know is can you take cuttings on these plants in 90 degree weather with any success? does the heat make it easier or harder to root plants? will hydrangea's root in water or what do you suggest?

I don't know about hydrangeas, but roses are very hard to root in hot weather, because starting in the spring they are programmed by Mother Nature to grow leaves and if they have no roots it's really hard to grow leaves. But I recently received some hydrangeas from Htop (I hope she finds this thread because she knows alot more about this than I do) and she told me they bloom on old wood. Which means I guess that if you want to take cuttings at the best time of year for them to succeed, you'll have to sacrifice some flowers. She said they should be trimmed right after they bloom so they will have all summer to grow more wood for next years bloom.
If you do try it in hot weather (or any other time) it's a good idea to use a rooting hormone of some sort. Some people use liquid seaweed, but I'm sure there are lots of good choices.
Good luck, Mary Lee

The leaves are so large that, in hot weather, the cuttings would probably lose more water than they can take in and would wilt. To increase humidity, you could try covering the cutting with a glass jar or plastic, making sure the leaves don't come in contact with the glass or plastic. Place in bright, but indirect light. In very hot weather, you'd be creating a mini oven and a perfect environment for fungus and rot. Another possibility would be to try to root the cuttings indoors by an east facing window. I've had more success in the fall or early spring.

By pruning hydrangeas after they bloom, you'll get a lot of flowers, but they will be smaller in size than if you prune after all danger of frost but before they start new growth. Of course that was when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. Things could be different here. My hydrangeas here are too small for me to take cuttings. So I haven't tried to root any here.

i figured it was too hot to take the cuttings. i posted another entry in the perennial section about this in case their were hydrangea experts that could help. well i guess i will just put them in the ground and wait to see them flower this year. i was going to sacrifice bloom this year to give the roots a change to grow good and wanted to use the cuttings to start some new plants. why is it 90 plus degrees in april? why does texas have to have new and different weather every year?

I tried cuttings 2 years ago, but did not have any luck, but last year was able to propogate by layering where my Nikko Blue was planted. Two were started last year around this time, though it may have been a couple weeks later, and both survived.

I chose two long branches from my Hydrangea. Then in an area half way down the branch, I scratched off the bark about a 1/4 inch wide. Next, I dug an impression in the soil about 3 inches deep, and backfilled about half of that with light soil (I used broken down bark mulch and potting soil). Next I placed the girdled area of branch down in that impression and just to the side of the girdle, I pinned it down using those landscape fabric pins. Then I covered it with more light soil and some mulch. It was shaded by the upper branches and I watered it every couple days for about two months and then one to two times a week until mid August when I dug both up, snipped them and potted them. They both lost leaves after being potted up, but grew them back soon after. They made it through the winter and one is planted at the new house. The other I gave to a fellow DGer.

One more thing, I think I sprinkled a little root hormone on it, though I cannot remember for sure.

LOLOL!! Since starting to garden a few years ago, I have been watching the weather more closely, and have been thinking the very same thing! No year is ever "normal", I don't know how I'm supposed to learn what is supposed to happen when. I suppose we just have to learn what all gardeners learn: anything can happen. Somehow, plants survive and even thrive. It is a miracle and a mystery. I love it.
:-)

ain't it so maggiemoo. my running joke is that my back garden is named THE GARDEN THAT TEXAS CAN'T KILL.