How to propagate apricot with green cuttings at home

The apricot tree attracts the attention of gardeners with its unpretentious care, resistance to environmental changes, high yield and taste of ripe fruits, which are popular both fresh and processed. How to properly propagate an apricot in your own garden, and how to care for the rooted cuttings? Let's deal with everything in order.

Methods of reproduction

Reproduction of apricot trees can occur in three ways: by stone, cuttings or grafting. However, for any of them, you must adhere to some recommendations and follow an algorithm that simplifies the process as much as possible.

Growing from seed

This method is considered long, but the most reliable. Growing from the stone of a local tree guarantees a high adaptation of the future apricot to the climate conditions of a particular region.

First of all, you need to choose the appropriate material for planting - the bone of a ripe fruit. The apricot kernel retains all the maternal properties, so the largest and juiciest fruit should be chosen, making sure that the tree did not suffer from diseases characteristic of horticultural crops.

It is best to take a few seedlings in order to later choose the strongest of them, since apricot trees are not famous for their high survival rate.

Then follow the standard landing algorithm:

The bones are soaked for a day in warm running water. Floating seedlings are considered bad and are rejected.
Landing in progress:

in autumn (September-early October). With the onset of November, there is a possibility that rodents will steal the seedlings. Therefore, it is better to postpone late sowing and wait until spring;
spring (beginning of April). Apricot kernels harvested in autumn overwinter in a cool, dark place until March. Spring planting is good because it allows you to harden the seeds. The process is called stratification and is carried out by soaking them in cool water for 5-7 days. At the same time, the water is periodically updated in order to prevent it from warming to room temperature.

Apricot pit is placed in a prepared hole (up to 10 centimeters deep) and sprinkled with humus.
Sufficient care rules - regular watering, loosening the soil, mulching with peat.
The formed apricot trees are transplanted to a permanent place in the fall, at the age of 2 years. So, the seedlings will be able to overwinter and give a good growth in the spring. A couple of years later, the first harvest appears.

Propagation of apricot cuttings

Like all plants, over time, the apricot grows old and loses the ability to bear fruit. Is it possible to grow a new apricot tree of the same species as the old one if it is not possible to obtain seedling material from its fruit? There is such a way, and it is called grafting.

It can be produced in several ways:

Green shoots. In order to successfully propagate an apricot, a part of the branch with leaves is separated from the middle part of the shoot. The ideal cutting should have three leaves and be cut in the morning so that the branches are saturated with moisture. After cutting, green shoots are lowered for 10-15 hours into a solution that stimulates the growth of the root system (Kornevin, Heteroauxin, Zircon).

We figured out how to propagate an apricot, but how to grow it? For germination, ready-made cuttings are planted in open ground, where fertilizers are applied and soil moisture is maintained.Such conditions allow the callus to appear already on the 10-15th day, and after another month you can see a he althy root system.

Lignified cuttings. To grow a he althy apricot propagated in this way, it is necessary to harvest cuttings during the dormant period (after leaf fall and until early spring). The average length of planting material is 30 centimeters. Shoots cut in autumn are stored in a cool place until spring, when they are planted in a box or open ground saturated with peat.
Air layers. This method of vegetative propagation is effective, but undeservedly forgotten by modern gardeners. In summer, a branch is selected with annual growth, which differs significantly from earlier parts of the plant. 2 circular cuts are made on it, removing the bark between them. The damage is treated with a solution that stimulates growth, and wrapped in a plastic bag so that there is room for soil in it. In this way, it is possible to grow layering, which, when ripe, is separated from the branch and planted separately.

Propagation by grafting

This method is most preferred by gardeners, as it allows you to experiment by crossing varieties. As a rootstock for grafting, seedlings of not only apricot, but also almond, peach, plum, and mirabelle are used. However, good compatibility is not always the case. Through trial and error, you will have to select a rootstock that is suitable for climatic conditions and the taste preferences of the gardener.

The preparation for vaccination is done in the fall. A strong, he althy, one-year-old shoot is chosen as a cutting, and its upper part is cut off with an oblique cut. The shoots are stored in a refrigerator or a bucket of cool water until the graft.

Vaccination is done in the spring, in early May. This time is considered successful due to the active movement of juices through the plant, which improves fusion.The stalk is attached to the scion, on which the same vertically oblique cut is made. The slices must be beveled at the same angle and have the same diameter. The joint seam is smeared with garden pitch and fixed with electrical tape.

The cuttings quickly take root to a new plant, after a month you can see the appearance of new leaves.

Helpful advice: before the growing season, the grafted stock is cut to 1-2 centimeters. Such actions will help the apricot to properly distribute forces on old and newly acquired shoots.

How to care for a rooted cutting?

Home-grown apricot tree seedlings perfectly adapt to growing conditions. Care comes down to the following points:

Formation of the crown. The tree grows upward, and is not able to form on its own. Lateral branches are pruned annually to maintain quality and longevity.
Soil selection. The best soil for planting apricot seeds is loamy or slightly loamy. The only condition is that the soil must have high drainage properties, and be sprinkled with humus on top.
Feeding. It comes in two types:

root (fertilizer is applied to special near-stem circles). Root dressings are applied before and after flowering. Nitrogen-containing substances and organic fertilizers sold in specialized stores are excellent for this. Before the wintering period, the soil is saturated with potassium and phosphorus;
foliar (liquid fertilizers are sprayed onto stems and leaves). Used mainly in summer. The crown is sprayed with complex fertilizer solutions.

Plentiful watering. Trees are watered in the near-stem circle 4 times a year - during flowering, fruit ripening, hardening of the seeds and before the hibernation period.
Protection of sprouts from mechanical damage and pests. To do this, a young plant is covered with a two-liter plastic bottle with a cut off bottom or neck.