Winter hydrangea cuttings propagation budding

January 30 2012 I have searched the web for a photo record of the growing stages of hydrangea macrophylla(mophead) cuttings in zone 6 and have been unsuccessful. I wanted to know if what I was doing was going to result in a beautiful display of blossoms this summer or the next. I wanted to know how indoor cuttings vs outdoor cuttings performed, as well as the rate of growth, and how rooted vs non-rooted overwintered cuttings fared. Since I was unable to find these answers I decided to record my findings via photos. Hopefully I can upload pictures weekly with a few notes. This is my first time propagating hydrangea. Note: the propagation of patented hydrangeas is illegal, so identify what hydrangea you have first.

I hope the pictures help answer any questions you may have.

I have 6 cuttings growing indoors. They were placed in an unheated room this winter. The rooted cutting was rooted in september of 2011. The thin stems were hardwood cuttings taken in november of 2011. The thicker cuttings were semi-hardwood cuttings taken in November of 2011. I checked for roots on these cuttings and none were visible at the time however we do see the buds on the stems beginning to show growth.

I have 4 hydrangeas growing outdoors. All four have been covered for winter. Luckily the winter has been very mild. Two of these hydrangeas are 2 year olds and the other two are 1 year olds. I also have 3 cuttings outdoors. The uncovered cutting was rooted in august of 2011 and the covered cuttings were rooted in september.

We shall see what becomes of them.



Here are the 6 cuttings originally all in one pot.