Taking cuttings is a very good way to reproduce thuja. In this way, we can cheaply obtain a greater number of plants needed, for example, for a hedge.Breeding thuja from cuttingsis quite easy, so everyone can try it for themselves. You have to be patient, because the plants take root slowly, but if you do - the joy will be great! Seehow and when to take tui cuttings , how to plant them and how to care for them to take root. Here is a step-by-step instruction on how to propagate thuja from cuttings.
Thuja seedlings rooted in pots
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Thuja, or thuja , is currently one of the most popular plants used for planting gardens. The sale includes both varieties with yellow and green color of scales, as well as with various shapes - from columnar and conical forms, eagerly planted for hedges, to low spherical shrubs, perfect for borders or planting as single specimens in flowerbeds.
Due to this popularity,seedlings of various varieties of tuiare widely available in stores and garden centers. However, if you need a lot of cuttings, e.g. to surround your garden with a thuja hedge, the cost of purchasing the seedlings may be decisive. Therefore, it is worth knowing that when you already have thuja in the garden, you can take cuttings from their shoots and get new plants for planting yourself. Although it takes patience,we will have tui seedlingsmuch cheaper than buying them in a store in this way.
How and when to take tui cuttings
The best time to pick thuja seedlings is the end of summer- the period from August to September. Then the non-lignified tips of the young shoots can be torn off the thuja shoots. Of course, shoots for seedlings are obtained only from he althy plants, preferably the most fertile ones. The selected fragment of the shoot should be gently torn from the mother plant by pulling it downwards, in such a way that a piece of the mother's branch, the so-called heel. This is very important as it depends on the heel whether the seedling will take root well.The length of the entire seedling should be 6 to 10 cm , and the heels - 1 cm.
From the detached thuja cuttings, cut off the lowest branchesso that the lower stem is without any branches. This will reduce the intensity of transpiration and photosynthesis, which will compensate for the initial lack of the root system. For the same reason, seedlings should not be longer than 10 cm. We should also remember to quickly put the obtained legs into a plastic bag, transfer them to the seedbed and put them there in the ground where they will root.The time from detachment from the parent specimen to insertion into the substrate is crucial and should be as short as possible.
Collection of thuja cuttings: 1. collection of the stem with a heel, 2. removal of lower twigs, 3. immersion in rooting
Placing thuja cuttings in the substrate
Pots with substrate for tui seedlingsshould be prepared in advance. Thanks to this, when we bring the shoots intended for cuttings, we will be able to immediately plant them into the ground. For thuja cuttings, you can prepare plastic pots with a diameter of about 7 cm or boxes with a height of 20 cm filled with substrate (then, only after rooting, the cuttings are planted into separate pots).Garden peat is a good substrate for thuja cuttings mixed with sand or perlite in a proportion of 1: 1. After taking them out of the plastic bag, place the cuttings next to the wall of the pot with the heel down and cover them with the substrate.Before planting into the substrate, to facilitate rooting, it is worth immersing the heel of the cuttings in a rooting agent, i.e. a preparation that facilitates rooting.
Note!Seedlings must not be forced into the ground. First, use a stick or a pencil to drill holes and then insert the thuja cuttings into them.
After planting, our new thuja seedlings should be wateredThe winter should be spent in a warm and bright place, but not in direct sunlight, so that the strong sun does not burn them. Remember that the substrate is constantly moist. The idealtemperature for rooting tuicuttings is between 18 and 22 ° C. It is also good to have the pots with the seedlings under the foil or glass to help keep the air warm and moist around the seedlings. Thujas can take root quite easily and the roots should appear within two months.
Thuja seedlings planted in a multi-pot
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How to check if thuja cuttings are already rooted
Whether the cuttings have already taken root can be checked in two ways. The first one is to lightly pull the seedling up - if it comes out hard, it means that it already has roots. The second way is to gently squeeze the needles with your fingertips. When we feel a slight coolness (humidity), it means that the seedling is fine.
Transplanting thuja seedlings into larger pots
After the winter, in April or May,the thuja seedlings can be transplantedinto larger pots, so that there is only one seedling left in each pot. If the seedlings are still small, transplanting can also be done in autumn.
Properly rooted thuja seedling
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Only those plants that have become established are transplanted into new pots. If we have fewer pots than seedlings, choose the best ones.Then water the plants and set aside. After a year in spring, thuja seedlings are transplanted into larger potsAfter 2-4 years, depending on the size of the seedlings, they will be suitable for planting in garden beds.
Katarzyna Matuszak
