Everyone knows that garden bushes and trees can be propagated in several ways: cuttings, seeds, grafting, and layers. But in practice, it turns out that some plants - for example, apple trees are very reluctant to propagate by cuttings, more accurately, give bad roots and do not get well after planting.
What can I do to get a few copies of the apple tree that I love, and I do not have a few years left to grow a tree from seed? Let's try to understand why there are failures in the propagation of apple trees cuttings and how to avoid them.
Planting material
Before selecting cuttings of apple trees for breeding, you must make sure that they are not older than one year, but also not younger. To do this, it is necessary to monitor the growth of the tree for at least six months, in advance, to outline the branches suitable for cutting.
Reproduction of apple trees is carried out only by green cuttings, that is, they must be guaranteed not frozen after winter, otherwise there will be no success. On the cut, this branch has a greenish-white color. But if the shade is yellowish-brown, then such a stalk does not fit.
The length of the cut should not exceed 20 centimeters and on each it is desirable to leave three kidneys, if there are more, then it is necessary to remove these growth points with a sharp knife.
When to cut the apple tree?
The best time for cutting cuttings is the end of February - the beginning of March, that is, before the active sap movement begins. This is done so that the sleeping buds do not have time to wake up and go to growth, because, as is known, when all the force is used to build up the green mass, the root system remains practically without nutrients and does not develop.
Planting cuttings
After the cutting is cut, it will be prevented for a couple of hours in clean water, dipping 2-3 cm, no more. Further actions depend on where and in what conditions it is planned to grow apple trees from the handle. Just like the cuttings of grapes, apple twigs can be stored in the cellar until they can be planted in the ground, and this is about May.
Then the stalk is placed in a loose ground, covered with a transparent plastic bottle and waiting for root formation to occur. Usually the young plant begins to show signs of life within a month.
Another method involves immediately landing in a wooden box with an air-permeable light soil and placing it in conditions with a temperature of about 10 - 12 ° C. When the roots are warm, and the tip is relatively cold, optimal conditions arise for a rapid build-up of the roots.
With the onset of autumn, the young tree can be moved to the open ground to a permanent place and sheltered for the winter with lapnik and nonwoven material - lutrasil or spunbond . During transplantation, the earthen should not be removed, since the rootlets are very fragile and easily injured, after which the young plant can be ill for a long time.