Content
- To take roots from lilac cuttings
- Cut lilac cuttings and pot them
- Select and prepare cuttings
- Plant cuttings
- Maintain cuttings properly
- Repotting rooted cuttings
- Tips
The best time to cut cuttings is in May
To take roots from lilac cuttings
Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) prefers moderately nutrient-rich, rather dry soil and as sunny a location as possible. There are numerous types and varieties that can be propagated only with cuttings. Propagation over seeds is rare in Lilac.
Cut lilac cuttings and pot them
The best time to cut a lilac stick is spring. In May or June, cut 15 to 20 centimeters long, young side shoots as far as possible so that a piece of last year's main branch is kept at the cutting. In addition to these armpit cuttings, lilacs can also very well propagate via shoot or head cuttings, as long as they are young shoots. Of course these must not have any flowers.
Select and prepare cuttings
The mother plant from which you take the cutting must be absolutely healthy and normally vigorous. Over-fertilized lilacs often show an exaggerated vigor, moreover, these cuttings are usually very weak. Do not use any parts of the plant that are too meager and make sure that the lilac is not affected by any diseases or pests. After cutting the cuttings, remove most of the leaves so that the loss of water from the evaporation does not become too great. It is sufficient if one or two pairs of leaves stop.
Plant cuttings
Fill the planter with a mixture of lean seed soil and sand. Instead of sand, perlite, expanded clay or peat are also good. Pour the substrate into a small pot and insert the cuttings up to a third of its total length. If you want, you can dip the bottom end into a rooting powder, but this is not absolutely necessary. Lightly water the planted cuttings and put a cut, translucent PET bottle or plastic bag over them.
Maintain cuttings properly
Moisture is the deciding factor for rooting. The cuttings must be watered and sprayed regularly, avoiding excess moisture in any case - otherwise the cuttings will rot instead of pulling roots. For this reason you should ventilate the protective cover daily.
Repotting rooted cuttings
Once the first roots form, the cuttings begin to grow and form young leaves. Now you can quickly transplant the young plant into a nutrient-rich substrate. This is usually the case with lilacs already in the fall, whereby you should overwinter the minis frost-free and plant out only in the following spring.
Tips
Propagation is also quite simple via root extensions. However, this method only works with root-resistant lilacs, while refined varieties develop wild-shoots.