Ornamental curly honeysuckle - growing, reproduction and care

More than 200 types of honeysuckle are known. However, only a few of them produce edible oblong blue berries. The fruits of the remaining varieties are not only inedible, but also poisonous in large quantities. Such cultivated varieties have found application in our plots due to their attractive appearance.

Decorative curly honeysuckle refers to lianas. The plant looks attractive and aesthetically pleasing throughout the growing season. Blooms profusely with large delicate inflorescences. During fruiting, it is covered with bright round berries, which seem to sit on the leaves. Despite its decorative appearance, weaving honeysuckle is unpretentious. Even a novice gardener can handle planting and growing it. The main thing is to know the basic rules and nuances.

Breeding methods for curly decorative honeysuckle

Climbing decorative honeysuckle is an unpretentious, hardy plant. It is suitable for growing in any region of our country. It quickly takes root in any landing method.

Reproduction of decorative honeysuckle is possible both in vegetative and generative ways. In the first case, cuttings are used, layering or a bush is divided, and in the second, seed planting material is used. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Cuttings

Cuttings - the most popular breeding method for honeysuckle. It requires a minimum of labor from the gardener and is easy to implement.

The main advantage of cuttings is the ease of obtaining planting material. The gardener does not need to carry out any preparatory work - it is enough just to cut the independently formed shoots. Next year they will be ready to land at their permanent location.

When honeysuckle propagates by cuttings, the varietal characteristics of an ornamental plant are preserved. The disadvantage is that not all planting material takes root. In addition, a vegetatively propagated plant is not as hardy as when using generative technology.

Annual branches with still elastic, but already lignified bark are best suited as planting material. Old and green shoots do not take root well, take root slowly.

Preparation of planting material:

1. A stalk 15-20 cm long and 0.7-0.8 cm thick is cut from a branch of last year. It should have at least 3-4 living buds. The absence of traces of defeat is important infections and pests, frostbite.
2. Before planting, the cutting is disinfected. It is soaked in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes or in a solution of "Fitosporin" for 6-12 hours.
3. Then root formation is stimulated. To do this, the cutting is soaked in Kornevin or Solvent for 12-24 hours.

Rooting of cuttings begins when the soil thaws and warms up. This usually happens in late March or early April.

Note! Planting material from one-year-old shoots is cut in late autumn or early spring before the buds wake up.

The stalk is buried in the soil disinfected and poured with a solution of copper sulfate or "Fitosporin" in a shaded area of ​​the garden so that one or two buds are underground, one at the ground level and one above the ground level.

The first 2-3 weeks, the cutting is kept under a film, plastic bottle or bag. The greenhouse is ventilated daily for 30-60 minutes. The stalk is sprayed with warm water from a spray bottle, watered at the root as the soil dries,

Rooting occurs in a month.This is evidenced by awakened buds, from which leaves or shoots began to form.

When the planting material takes root, the duration of airing is increased, gradually completely disassembling the greenhouse. Caring for the plant until next spring consists of watering, loosening and removing weeds. In early spring, the rooted seedling is transplanted to a permanent place.

Note! Rooting of green cuttings is also possible, but it is more difficult to work with them. You will need a full-fledged greenhouse or greenhouse to maintain high levels of humidity and heat. Such planting material is cut in the middle of summer.

Seeds

Honeysuckle is also capable of propagating by seeds. In this case, the first flowering will have to wait from 3 to 4 years. At the same time, the varietal characteristics of the parent plant are rarely preserved.

The main advantage of the method is the ease of obtaining planting material and high germination. Vines grown in a generative way are more hardy. In rare cases, it turns out to bring out an improved version of honeysuckle, which has retained useful varietal characteristics (this method is used by breeders).

Planting material is harvested when the berries are ripe. To prepare it, use one of the following methods:

1. Hardening of the planting material to stimulate growth. The seeds are cleaned of pulp, washed in a solution of potassium permanganate, then soaked there for 30 minutes. The disinfected planting material is dried and aired. Then they are placed for 1-3 months in a room with a temperature of + 2 ... + 3 ℃. Hardened seeds are soaked in a growth stimulator (Epine) and then planted.
2. Landing in pulp. Gardeners' reviews indicate that honeysuckle, planted directly in the berries, sprouts the fastest. To do this, fully ripe berries are ground. The seeds are planted in the ground along with the berries.
3. Pre-germination. To do this, the collected seeds are cleaned of pulp, disinfected, soaked in a growth stimulator. After that, they are laid out on a saucer shaded with gauze. From above, the planting material is covered with another layer of gauze. The material is moistened with warm water, the container is covered with a film. The seeds are moistened as the gauze dries. After germination, they are planted.

Honeysuckle seeds are sown in boxes with a disinfected soil substrate prepared from mixed in equal proportions peat, sand and garden soil. The seeds are buried by 0.5-1 cm.The distance between the seeds should be 3-5 cm.

The first month crops require high humidity. To create optimal conditions, they are covered with foil. Water every other day or as the soil dries. The soil must be covered with a layer of mulch (straw, hay, peat, humus).

After the first shoots appear, the mulch is removed. The soil is moistened daily with warm, settled water.

If the planting material was a mixture of crumpled berries with seeds, then in autumn the height of the seedlings will reach 5-7 cm. At this stage, they are dived into separate pots (only the strongest seedlings continue to grow). Honeysuckle is transplanted to a permanent place next spring.

Note! Some gardeners keep boxes of honeysuckle in their garden throughout the summer and fall. In this case, seedlings overwinter under the snow. Even young plants of this culture tolerate frost well.

Layers

You can propagate honeysuckle by layering. In this case, by autumn, 1-3 rooted seedlings are obtained from one branch. This method will preserve the varietal characteristics of the mother plant and obtain healthy planting material.

How to propagate curly honeysuckle by layering:

1. In early spring, one-year-old shoots are chosen at the bottom of the bush. They should not be damaged by diseases and pests.
2. A groove is dug at a distance of 10 cm from the branch. The shoot is laid in it (without separating it from the bush) and fixed with a metal bracket.
3. Sprinkle the shoot with a mixture of soil and rotted sawdust so that its edge and part of the base are above the ground.
4. During spring and summer, a dug-in branch is watered, mulched every 1-2 days. Top dressing is applied three times per season (usually a 10% solution of rotted cow or horse manure is used, with the addition of 1 tbsp. Ash per bucket). The soil near the shoot is weeded.
5. By autumn, the cuttings form a developed root system. This will be evidenced by the shoots formed on the dug area.
6. The cuttings are dug up, separated from the bush and divided into parts according to the number of branches formed.

Layers are planted in a permanent place in the fall. From one bush, you can get up to 20 units of planting material per season.

By dividing the bush

By dividing the bush, weaving honeysuckle is propagated by the age of 3 to 20 years. This method allows you to get a small amount of planting material, which will immediately be suitable for transplanting to a permanent place.

Disadvantage of the method: partial pruning of the entire bush will be required. After this procedure, honeysuckle starts to bloom and bear fruit only for 2-3 years.

Bush divide in early spring (before the buds wake up) or after leaf fall. In order for the planting material to take root, the entire bush is cut to a height of 10-15 cm. The roots of the plant are dug out of the ground, trying to cause a minimum of damage.

The dug out bush is divided into 2-4 parts, cutting off the roots in the right places with a sharp disinfected pruner. The resulting planting material is immediately planted in a permanent place.

Honeysuckle care standard. For the first few weeks, a root stimulator is used for watering.

Note! From a bush up to 4 years old, it is possible to get up to 3 seedlings, from a plant over 4 years old, 4-6 seedlings are obtained.

Planting seedlings to a permanent place

After the seedlings have been grown in one of the ways described, honeysuckle is planted in a permanent place. To make the plant feel comfortable, bloom profusely and bear fruit, choose a suitable place.

Curly honeysuckle needs support. It is recommended to plant it near fences, building facades, gazebos or specially installed trellises.

For decorative honeysuckle, choose well-lit or partially shaded areas. It is better if the selected location is protected from the wind.

Liana is not demanding on the composition of the soil. It does not feel comfortable only on swampy or sandy soils. It is not recommended to choose places where groundwater is located too close to the surface.

The plant loves slightly acidic soils. If the acidity is increased, ash or dry lime is added, high-moor peat is added to alkaline soils.

Planting seedlings in a permanent place:

1. Dig holes at a distance of 2-3 m from each other. The size of the recess is 40x40x40 cm.
2. A 5 cm drainage layer is poured into the bottom of the pit. Expanded clay, broken ceramics, fine gravel, and shell rock are used.
3. The garden greens taken out of the hole are mixed with 50 g of superphosphate, 1 kg of ash, 2 buckets of compost.
4. In the center of the recess, a small mound is formed from a nutrient mixture. A seedling is placed on it. The root system is evenly distributed around the earthen mound.
5. The hole is covered with soil residues, without deepening the root collar.
6. The seedling is watered with a light pink solution of potassium permanganate at room temperature.
7. If the soil has settled, add the missing amount. Then the area around the vines is mulched with humus or peat.

Necessary care of young plants

In order for honeysuckle to develop rapidly, bloom profusely and bear fruit, it is important to properly care for it. An unpretentious plant does not take long for gardeners. The main thing is to know the basic rules and nuances.

Treatment procedures for decorative honeysuckle:

1. Watering. The first two months after planting the seedling in a permanent place, the honeysuckle is watered as the soil dries up and regularly sprayed with warm water. Older vines are watered only if there is no rainfall, no more than once every 2 weeks.The tree is sprayed with the same frequency.
2. Loosening and weeding. The soil is loosened the next day after each watering or rainfall to destroy the earth crust. In the process of loosening, weeds are removed.
3. Mulching. To slow down the growth of weeds, abandon loosening, protect the roots from diseases and pests, insulate their soil around the plant with a layer of mulch. Use peat, humus, hay or straw.
4. Formation. Weaving honeysuckle tolerates pruning well. During formation, the plant is given the desired shape. Liana is formed in early spring. To force the honeysuckle to eject more shoots, remove the ovaries immediately after the creeper blooms.
5. Sanitary pruning. Sanitary pruning is carried out after leaf fall. All dry, damaged and affected by pests and diseases are removed.
6. Garter. As it grows, curly honeysuckle is necessarily tied to a support or leaned against the facade of the building.
7. Top dressing. Top dressing is started 2 years after planting. In the spring, rotted manure is embedded in the soil. In the summer, they are fed 2 times with a solution of nitrophoska (15 g per 10 l of water) and 1 time they are embedded in the soil with 0.5 kg of ash, The ash feeding is repeated in the fall before wintering.
8. Wintering. Young plants are additionally mulched for the winter, raising the protective layer by 10-15 cm along the trunk. It is recommended to remove the vine from the support. If the winter is snowy, it is helpful to cover the plant with snow.

Conclusion

Curly honeysuckle is widely used to decorate areas. It occupies a significant place in landscape design. A richly blooming and beautifully fruiting plant adorns the facades of buildings, fences or gazebos. It is often used for zoning a site as a green fence.

Despite its decorative effect, climbing honeysuckle remains a hardy and unpretentious plant. It has high winter hardiness, is undemanding to care and can grow even in regions with cold climates.