Reproduction of peonies

Every garden owner wants to have lush peonies, so many people are interested in how to reproduce them. Having learned how peonies are bred, flower growers choose the most acceptable method.

Now the Internet suggests various tips on how to grow dozens of peonies on the basis of one copy. For breeding peonies use the division of the rhizome, rooting cuttings from stems or spring shoots. The most laborious is the seed method of reproduction, only specialists can do it. The propagation of peonies by seeds is more often practiced by breeders.

Rhizome division

Most lovers get their peonies by planting cuttings from rhizomes. Reproduction of peonies by dividing the mother bush almost always guarantees good survival and abundant flowering after 2-3 years. Perennial plants often need replanting and rejuvenation if the intensity of their flowering decreases. At the beginning of August, buds form on the rhizome, which will develop the next year. By the end of September, white, rather thick roots that store nutrients will have fully formed. In the interval between these processes, vital for the plant, the rhizome is divided in order to select fragments with a sufficient number of buds and developed old roots.

Division of peony rhizome

For different regions, the dates are shifted, usually the division of peonies is done from mid-August to mid-or late September in the south. It is important that the plant has time to take root before the soil freezes. Spring separation of peony tubers often ends in failure, as the bush begins to develop the aerial part to the detriment of the rhizomes.

Algorithm of actions:

1. They dig in a bush with a pitchfork, stepping back from it by 35-40 cm, and remove it from the ground, clearing it from the soil and cutting off the stems to 9-14 cm.
2. With the help of a stream of water from a hose, the tubers are washed and left for 1-2 days in the shade so that the fragile roots dry out and become limp.
3. The rhizomes that have become more elastic are divided with a sharp disinfected knife.
4. Examine the segments and remove rotten places.
5. Slices are sprinkled with wood ash.

Requirements for planting material for peonies:

• strong segments of rhizomes, 8-13 cm long;
• each fragment bears 2 to 8 buds, since more stems weaken the young root system;
• the rhizome has 3-4 storing roots, 8-10 mm thick and up to 7-9 cm long.

Cuttings

Root cuttings

Carry out at the same time as plant transplantation. The rhizome of the peony is either completely cut into small pieces, 5 cm long, or the remains are picked up after selecting large pieces that remained after transplantation. Tuber pieces should contain 1 bud and a storage root.

Peony cuttings

Root cuttings processing:

1. The material must be disinfected in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for one and a half to two hours.
2. Lay out to dry for 2-3 hours.
3. Places of cuts are sprinkled with wood ash.
4. The cuttings are left for 16-20 hours to dry the slices.
5. Before planting, the rhizomes are treated with a growth stimulator, guided by the instructions.

The segments are placed on a plot of a garden with loose soil, with an interval of 18-24 cm to a depth of 4-5 cm. Mulch is applied on top, which is removed in spring and carefully looked after the sprouts. Transplanted in the fall for 2-3 years of growth.

Stem cuttings

The method of stem propagation is labor-intensive and troublesome, difficult at home. Interspecific hybrids cannot be bred with this method. When preparing for the propagation of peonies, one must tune in to the fact that even 30% of the obtained seedlings are already a success. No more than 4-7 stems are cut from 5-year-old and older bushes only in a short period of their most powerful development: a week before flowering and 2-4 days after blooming.

1. The branches are cut with shears so that each fragment contains 2 internodes and is at least 10 cm long.
2. The leaves are shortened, leaving a third of their area.
3. The cuttings are placed with the lower slices in a container with a growth stimulator, following the instructions.
4. Better to land in a box in the shade. Loose soil enriched with compost will stimulate root formation.
5. The cuttings themselves are planted in a 6-centimeter layer of sand on top of the substrate, deepening by 5 cm.
6. A mini-greenhouse is installed on top to better germinate the cuttings.

Peony stem cuttings

Pruning propagation

This method looks promising, but peony seedlings are constantly looked after. From a large bush, you can plant several dozen new plants in early spring and autumn. The old bush is restored after 2 years.

1. In April, after the snow melts, or at the beginning of September, they clear the ground around the bush, exposing the root to a depth of 9-18 cm.
2. A horizontal cut of the rhizome is made with a disinfected and sharp shovel, retreating from the level of the buds by 6 cm.
3. The fragments are collected and processed for planting.

Reproduction by layering

For those gardeners who are interested in how to propagate peonies, a fairly easy method of cutting stems is suitable. The beginning of work falls on May, when full-fledged branches are formed at the peonies:

1. A shallow groove is dug near the selected stems, where the branches are bent, leaving several upper leaves above the ground.
2. Sprinkle the stems with soil and watered.
3. The area with layering around the mother bush is kept in order, weeds are removed and watered.
4. Sprouts appear after a while, in summer. The soil near them is slightly loosened.

Reproduction by layering peony

At the end of August, the seedlings can be moved to a new place, covering them with mulch for the winter.

Seed propagation

If a gardener decides how to grow peonies from seeds, you need to know that this is a difficult process. Peonies are grown from seeds only for breeding purposes, because the plants differ sharply from the mother bush. The seeds give hybrids, planted by delenki or wild species. Grains with a hard shell sometimes germinate after 2 years, and from tree peonies - up to 5 years.

The first stratification is carried out by sowing peony grains in wet sand and heating the substrate to 30 degrees. The cooled substrate is placed in a refrigerator for a day, then heated again. In moderately wet sand, by the end of 3 months, roots appear from burst seeds. Sprouted peony seeds are placed in a peat substrate and provide a temperature of 5 to 10 degrees for 3 months.Or they open the seeds and cover them with a cloth impregnated with a growth stimulant so that it touches the rudiments of the sprouts. Seedlings of peonies are kept at temperatures up to 18 degrees Celsius until disembarkation in May on a site that is in partial shade in the afternoon.

Seed propagation

A pit is prepared for the sprouts, as for the dells, enriching the soil with mineral and organic fertilizers and creating the required substrate. The neck of the seedling is arranged at ground level. The shoots are treated with a copper-based preparation, watered regularly and moderately, loosened the soil, and freed from weeds. With good care, the bushes bloom after 5 years.

Gardeners are convinced by personal experience of the effectiveness of different methods of increasing the number of peonies. The survival rate of the material largely depends on the correct processing of the sections or preventive spraying of seedlings. The style of the Russian garden allows you to arrange picturesque bright clumps of peonies and peony poppies or other bush flowers against the background of coniferous crops or high fences.