Hydrangea propagation failing and I'm very sad.
After researching and watching oodles of good videos, I took a stab at taking many cuttings from my healthy, mature, big hydrangea mother plant a month ago. All looked healthy until a few days ago. I inspected yesterday. Only a couple had the tiniest hint of a few roots. I'm in NC, zone 8a. It's very hot and very humid at this time. Had the large tray under my carport (no sides) in the shade. Did not cover, or bag because of humidity/heat. Soil (peat/vermic/touch of planting soil) kept continually moist, not soggy, but definitely moist. Used a DIY self-watering set up with string. Noted when pulling out many with no roots, the bottom part was a dark brown. No sign of disease. No fertilizer ever used. Very large tray I used had no holes for drainage. I potted up the very few that showed teensy roots and have 3 small pots under umbrella in shade on outside table. Needles to say, I'm bummed, especially being very particular to do correctly. Am thinking, was my soil too moist? Should the tray have had drainage holes? Was it root rot? Wondering how I save the ones I potted (has drainage holes) Will see if I can attach photo. The photo was taken after I first did the propagation. Am new to this forum, and not sure about posting. Wishing all happy summer days.
Comments (11)
Diane (NC zone 8a)
5 years agoRelated Discussions
I'm liking the 'new' annuals more and more, propagating?
Comments (32)I have a set up similar to Zenmans (though MY basement is nowhere near so neat! impressive!). About six weeks before my last frost date, I start taking cuttings of salvias, tibouchina, durantas, and a few other plants that I want to overwinter. I do it as much because I cannot count on finding new plants every year as for the purpose of saving money. I start the cuttings outside under my deck benches and only bring them inside to the lights when the plants begin to show damage from cold. (It doesn't even have to frost for some things like durantas to be stressed.) I spent $10 a set for shop lights, not counting the bulbs, and bought inexpensive plastic shelving. The shelves and light units are each long enough to hold two flats. Be sure your shelves have slats or are open in some way because you want to hang the lights from chains. Using S hooks, you can then raise and lower the shoplights over your plants. (You'll want extra S hooks.) You'll notice from ZM's photo that he has his plants in trays. This prevents runoff onto the light units below. I bought cheap cookie sheets at WalMart and filled them with a layer of gravel. My basement floor has a drain in it, which is really handy. I just drag a hose into the basement once a week to water and/or feed. I learned fast that once a week water is plenty. And that regular fertilizer is very important. The cuttings are joined in late winter by seeds that I start for my beds. In my climate, if you want color in July and August, you need annuals. With advice from fellow GWers, I have gotten pretty good at the seed thing in just a couple years. Once you get your shelves set up, it's not especially time consuming to care for your babies and it's nice to have plants to work with through the winter....See MoreSad hydrangea....
Comments (8)It does not look too bad but more bloomage would be good. Four hours of sun is ok if you are giving it four hours of morning sun. Morning sun/afternoon shade or dappled sun are ok. I would check the soil pH and see what it reads. Yellow leaves with the leaf veins staying dark green indicate iron chlorosis. Liquid soil amendments work faster to correct iron chlorosis but regardless whether you use liquid or powders/etc, it will take several weeks. I would also check the soil nitrogen levels with a testng kit (available at most plant nurseries) to make sure that it hss decent levels of nitrogen. Lack of nitrogen makes the leaves turn all yellow, including the leaf veins. Too much afternoon sun can also turn the leaves in direct contact with the sun all yellowish or whiteish (and because they are dehydrated, the may feel like paper) while the leaves below remain all dark green or partly yellow and green. I would also add some mulch so you do not have to water often. Watering a lot, especially as the summer arrives, leeches nutrients so your nitrogen could go literally "down the tubes"....See MoreNewly planted hydrangea and very very heavy rain
Comments (24)Summer has arrived and that stressed and dries out some hydrangeas more than others. Newly planted one typically are most water and sun sensitive on year one so please keep a close watch on them thru these hot days. On future years, they should be established enough to not need so much coddling. Pictures and the names of these shrubs definitely would help. And the times when when they get sun. When was this lanscape project complated? Also, plan on watering more in the summer per plant. I find that rocks around hydrangeas sometimes cause the stems to wither and bend as the rocks. In hot days, rocks absorb and then release heat so, depending on how close these rocks are to the shrubs, you may want to separate them further. Not really a good combination (heat producing rocks and water thirst hydrangeas). ;o) A temporary lawn chair over them in the summer is usually suggested for new mopheads. But even paniculatas might also benefit since they can eventually take more sun than mopheads. Luis...See MoreHydrangea tried to come back but failed
Comments (7)Yeah, hydrangeas do not perform well with all that heat from rock mulch. It is not a problem when temperatures are cool but things will go downhill as temps get warmer. If you observe the soil in the picture, it appears to be very dry. That is also not a good sign. But going back to the rocks, the heat trapped in the rocks helps the soil moisture evaporate faster than otherwise and the soil dires out faster. It also makes things rather "uncomfortable" to the hydrangea roots (many of the roots are in the top 4"). It is also possible that the leaf/stem that failed may have had a winter injury or not enough water but gosh, who knows now for sure right? Ha! ;o) For example, when Spring arrived, the injured stem/leaf bud started leafing out a little but, due to the winter injury, the small leaf/stem petered out and died. I had one Pistachio leaf/stem that did exactly that this Spring. Since the shrub was being kept well watered in winter and spring, I ruled out water issues and decided it got hit when temps cratered to 13F in January. Regarding pruning, I do not think there should be any need to prune at all unless you meant that you are pruning the dead sticks left from last year... the ones that did not leaf out by the end of May. It would be ok to prune those dead stems. The green looking stems should not need to be pruned at all....See Moreophoenix
5 years agoDiane (NC zone 8a)
5 years agoDiane (NC zone 8a)
5 years agoluis_pr
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoophoenix
5 years agoPop some in now and then later in the fall. Anytime is fine - most will strike roots. My favorite time is dead winter and I put branches into a large pot, with drainage and put them in the garage and by spring, they start to bud out and shortly after will get healthy roots. Some time in late spring or even summer I will divide them out of the big container, transplant into individual pots and keep moist - not wet - and they grow like crazy. Many of these little babies are actually blooming their first year in their little pots.
pot full of rooted cuttings
Typical roots when divided from big pot
New rooted cutting with broccoli
Diane (NC zone 8a) thanked ophoenixDiane (NC zone 8a)
5 years ago
luis_pr