How to propagate garden blueberries: cuttings, layering, dividing the bush

Berry culture is one of the hard-to-root plants. It is important for gardeners to know how to properly propagate blueberries, breeding methods suitable for different climatic zones. Expensive seedlings are the second reason for the independent use of cost-effective methods for obtaining planting material.

Is it possible to propagate blueberries

Garden blueberries with low calorie content (39 kcal) contain a rich set of vitamins and minerals. Removes radiation, relieves fever, improves blood composition. In the off-season, the fruits support the body's immune defenses.Thanks to its beneficial properties, the culture is becoming more and more popular.

Amateur gardeners are interested in whether it is possible to grow blueberries with their own hands, without purchasing plants in specialized nurseries or through intermediaries. Subject to the rules and recommendations, the task is quite feasible. The berry crop reproduces in the same way as other fruit bushes.

Methods of reproduction and timing

Blueberries can be successfully bred using seeds, parts of the bush. The first method takes a lot of time, requires considerable effort and does not guarantee the preservation of economic, genetic properties of seedlings. To preserve the qualities inherent in varietal blueberries, a vegetative method of propagation by cuttings, layering, root shoots is used.

Modern achievement of biologists - microcloning of biological tissue taken from a plant.

The choice of breeding method depends on the region, age of the bush, variety, and the choice of timing depends on the type of planting material. In autumn and spring, blueberries are bred with ready-made seedlings, root shoots. Segments of shoots, stratified seeds are planted only in spring.

Features of cuttings

A popular way to grow blueberries is rooting green, lignified or rooted cuttings, starting with the selection of quality material.

Lignified

From December to March, shoots are harvested from young annual plants, which are stored tied in bunches at a temperature of 0-4 ° C. If the blueberries are low-stemmed, cut the branches into 10 cm long segments, for tall varieties - 15 cm. The lower part ends with an oblique cut under the bud.

The top is cut horizontally, leaving 2 cm to the top kidney, preventing the growth zone from drying out. Before planting, the bottom of the cutting is powdered with Kornevin or dipped into a solution obtained from a liter of water and 1 g of a substance that stimulates root formation for 2-7 days.

At the end of March or in April, cuttings are planted in a greenhouse, having prepared a box filled with peat substrate in advance.A part of the plant with two buds is left above the ground. You can dig right away in the garden, covering it with a film, spunbond, stretched over arcs. Planting pattern - from 5 to 10 cm between plants and rows. Rooting period - from two months.

Green cuttings

Productive blueberry cuttings in the summer. A larger amount of planting material takes root, the rooting period is reduced (1.5 months). In summer, from the last days of June to the end of July, a new growth or branching shoots are selected. The areas that form the inflorescences are unsuitable.

When harvesting, green shoots are separated with a sharp jerk down so that a section of last year's stem bark remains on them. The lower part is freed from foliage, treated with a root formation stimulator. The remaining leaves are thinned out so that after planting the semi-lignified cuttings in the greenhouse, they do not touch.

Favorable conditions for rooting - regular soil moisture, an indicator of which is the condition of the leaves, the temperature is in the range of 18-22 ° C.

Root

The bushes with a developed root system are dug in, exposing the roots. Sections of rhizomatous shoots are separated, which are cut into 20 cm cuttings with buds.

Before planting branch segments, furrows are made and moistened in the garden. The cuttings in an inclined position are covered with earth, watered again. Cover with a film stretched over arcs. After rooting garden blueberries, the protective material is removed. In winter, the culture is left in the same place, after taking care of the insulation.

The root cutting method is used to propagate low-growing varieties that form underground shoots.

Breeding by layering

The method is used at the end of spring. Flexible he althy shoots are suitable for reproduction, previously placed in a solution of a chemical root stimulator.

After fitting, they dig a shallow groove, along which a branch is laid, covered with earth.If you press the shoot only at the base, you get one layer. With full instillation, several new plants may appear no earlier than after 2 years. After separation from the bush, the planting material is grown in greenhouse conditions for another 1-2 years before planting in the berry.

The method of propagating blueberries by layering is long and not the most effective, since the result is not guaranteed.

Seeds

Seedlings are grown from self-collected or purchased seeds at home. Cold stratification is preliminarily carried out. 3 months before planting, the seeds are placed in a container with wet coconut substrate or moss, the container is closed, put in the refrigerator.

Algorithm for growing blueberries from seeds:

1. Pour an acidic substrate into the container, moisten. Or arranged in rows, pre-soaked peat tablets.
2. Planting material is sown on the surface without deepening. Sprinkle on top with sand, peat or sawdust with a layer of no more than 2-3 mm. Cover with glass, place on the windowsill.
3. Monitor soil moisture. For watering use a spray bottle. Air at least once a week.
4. Glass is removed 7-20 days after the first shoots appear.
5. In the three-leaf phase, blueberry seedlings require more nutrients. Each plant is transplanted into a separate glass or pot.

From spring to autumn, seedlings are kept outdoors in natural conditions. For the winter they are brought into a closed unheated room, insulated with a covering material. Seedlings are planted in the garden two years after the seeds are planted.

Root shoots (partial bushes)

For propagation by partial bushes, young he althy specimens of low-growing blueberries are used.The main condition is a developed root system that forms stolons. Growth zones located on the shoots form young shoots. To isolate it from the mother plant, the blueberry bush is dug up. Branch occurs in spring or autumn. It is allowed to plant in separate containers or immediately to a permanent place.

Dividing the bush

The method is applied to old plants for the purpose of rejuvenation. The bush is dug up, divided into parts, each of which includes several branches and a root of 5 cm. The resulting division is planted immediately in a permanent place. Begins to bear fruit in the fourth year.

Reproduction by cardinal pruning

Get planting material by total pruning of the bush. The event is held in early spring. After removing the shoots, a double rate of mineral fertilizers is injected under the root, a 30-cm layer of sawdust is covered with blueberries on top.

A greenhouse is built above the formed elevation, protecting the cut bush from adverse weather conditions, preserving moisture. On the new shoots that have appeared, after 2 years, roots appear above the original root system on the parts covered with sawdust. The structure is removed, young plants are separated from the mother bush, grown or planted in the garden.

Micropropagation of garden blueberries

The method related to vegetative propagation is used to improve the culture, the rapid reproduction of blueberries from a piece of biological tissue (meristem).

Growing steps:

1. The mother plant is selected for genetic or economic qualities.
2. Cut out a piece of the trunk, bark, leaf plate. If the laboratory is faced with the task of obtaining a large number of cuttings in a short time, then the tops of the shoots are used.
3. The sterilized biomaterial is placed in a nutrient medium based on agar-agar with the addition of hormones, micro and macro elements. They get 5-9 shoots from one growth point.
4. Next, they are separated with a scalpel in distilled water.
5. Preparing a fresh nutrient medium, different from the first by the ratio of hormones.
6. In the cuttings placed in sterile conditions, the root system begins to develop rapidly.
7. When the plant reaches the desired parameters, the blueberries are transplanted into the greenhouse.

The advantages of blueberry micropropagation are that it does not depend on climatic conditions, the possibility of growing new varieties.

Features of garden blueberry propagation in different regions

The difference in climatic conditions affects planting, growing, wintering.The methods and rules of reproduction by region are identical, some nuances differ. In the harsh conditions of Siberia and the Urals, frost-resistant varieties of blueberries are grown. Short summers and long winters involve the use of greenhouses, greenhouses, warm beds, the principle of which is based on the release of heat from compost embedded under the fertile layer.

In the south of Russia, blueberries do not grow and do not multiply. In the North Caucasus, one cannot find acidic peat soils and mycelium of fungi necessary for the development, fruiting and reproduction of a crop.

In Central Russia, meteorologists note sharp temperature fluctuations, frosty winters, thaws. The growing season for blueberries begins in April. At this time, plantings are organized, greenhouses are opened, seedlings planted with seeds a year ago are taken out into the street. At the end of October, the plants are prepared for wintering.

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