RHODODENDRONS FROM CUTTINGS

Evening Star, Issue 20137, 30 March 1929, Page 22

RHODODENDRONS FROM CUTTINGS

During recent years there has been a tendency for. growers to try to ob- | tiii 11 rhododendrons on their own root 1 ? | (.says tlie ' Cardencrs' Chronicle'). ! Propagation by vegetative means-- ' otherwise than by grafting—should be encouraged, and in addition to tlie better-known and more widely used method of layering: cuttings of many kinds, if of the right type of growth and inserted at the correct time, give excellent results. j Plants raised from cuttings possess | certain definite advantages over those I raised by seeds, layers, and grafts. Cuttings reproduce the true characteristics of the parent plant, whereas seedlings, even of the true species, vary; and although layers would give plants of flowering size more quickly than cuttings, it is possible to raise many more young plants from a stock plant by cuttings, as only a few of the lower branches of a rhododendron may lie layered. The greatest advantage cuttings have over grafted plants lies in the elimination of the flickering nuisance, which spoils so many rhoch> dendron and azalea, beds unless they are being constantly attended to anil the suckers removed. Unfortunately, it is fully realised that grafting must still constitute the most convenient method of_ increasing in quantity the majority of our larger and more showy garden- hybrids. During the past four or live years I have tried the propagation of" many kinds of rhododendrons from cuttings-, and l'oiind_ that from tlie propagator's point of view they sort themselves out into different groups, the governing factor of each being the time of tak" ing and inserting the cuttings. The small-leaved rhododendron.?, mainly classified bofanically under the lapponicum series, are particularly responsive to propagation by cuttings. 1 and _ anyone who has grown Mich species as It. achroarithutn, |{. chrvseum, Pi. J'astigiatum, It. fhividmn, ft. hippophaeoides,_ H. impeditum, j?.' intricatum, It. nigro-punctatum, it. orthocladum. It. rupicola, and It. scintilians, belonging to that series: and It. calostrotum, ft. campylogynum, It. ledoides, It. radinum, It. sphaeranthuiM, and R. saluenense, belonging to other series, must have found that nearly every one of these species lias developed desirable forms which are outstanding among the others; therefore, as the perpetuation of the best forms is of the utmost importance; cut-

tings should he used to increase the - There are two (lefimto periods when cuttings of this group succeed best, and the method employed must correspond to the time of inserting the cuttings. . . ,2 (]) Cuttings of the young tips should he secured, citljer with a slight liccl of older wood, or at the junction of the current and previous years’ growth :■ these cuttings may be from lin to Ijin in length, and should be inserted in late June or early July, in a warm frame with a temperature of -about TOcleg, in a mixture of peatmoss Jitter and sand, and kept watered with rain water. Cuttings treated in this way will produce roots and he readv for transference to boxes in from* three to five weeks; they will make quite an appreciable amount of now growth before tho winter sets in. (2)° Cuttings of the current year’s wood, about Jin to 2in long, taken with a slight heel, in late August or early September, and inserted under a bell-glass in a- cold ! frame, in very sandy peat, will produce roots, and may" be left undisturbed until transplanted early the _ following spring. This method is quite successful with the more vigorous species, such as R. hippopbacoidcs and R. seint-ilhins, but such species as R. intricatum—now, unfortunately, becoming a scare plant should bo' inserted indoors.—F. R. Knight.