Here you will find everything you need to know about successfully propagating hydrangeas. It can be propagated either by offshoots, cuttings or by division.

You can easily propagate your hydrangeas yourself for a beautiful garden

For any Hydrangea species (Hydrangea) found in our home gardens, sowing is not a suitable form of propagation. The flowers are very small and so are the seeds - if any can be harvested at all. In addition, the complex sowing is rarely crowned with a presentable germination success. It is therefore more practical to resort to so-called vegetative forms of propagation.

For vegetative propagation of hydrangeas (Hydrangea) you already need access to a hydrangea plant that you want to propagate. Accordingly, vegetative propagation creates clones of the beloved hydrangea from your own garden. We show which propagation methods for the hydrangea work and how.

Propagating hydrangeas by division

Hydrangeas can certainly be propagated by dividing the rootstock, but the type of hydrangea is decisive here. The snowball hydrangea (Hydrangea arborecens), for example, can be easily propagated by division. In the case of the panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), however, this form of propagation is rather problematic.

InstructionsPropagating hydrangeas by division:

  • Right time for division: spring or autumn
  • Carefully dig out the mother plant with generous root balls
  • Cut the root ball as gently as possible into equal parts
  • Transplant the divided plants separately to suitable locations and then water them well
The divided plants are planted and watered well

Propagating hydrangeas via sinkers

Offshoots and sinkers are two forms of propagation that are very similar and are often confused. In the case of offshoots, whole shoots are placed in a depression in the ground, fixed and covered with earth. Then exactly as many new plants emerge as there are buds on this buried shootcast out In the case of sinkers, a shoot is fixed in the ground at one point in such a way that the tip of the shoot looks out of the ground again. Only one new plant develops, which can be detached from the mother plant. With hydrangeas, the propagation method of the sinker has proven its worth.

Instructions for propagating hydrangeas using sinkers:

  • Suitable time: April to June
  • Choose a he althy, strong shoot, if possible without flowers or flower buds and not too woody
  • Test if the drive can be bent
  • Bend the shoot so that it touches the ground at one point and the shoot tip is sticking out
  • Remove the soil about 5 cm deep where the shoot touches the ground
  • Carefully cut the bark of the shoot on the underside at this point
  • Fix the shoot in the dug hollow with a peg and cover it with earth; alternatively, a large stone can also serve as a fortification
  • The protruding shoot tip is stabilized with a bamboo stick
  • In order to achieve sufficient root formation, the sinker should remain in place for at least a year
  • Then it can be separated from the mother plant (including new roots!)
  • Cultivation in a pot is initially recommended, but the hydrangea reducer can also be planted directly in the bed

Propagating hydrangeas from cuttings

Propagation via cuttings is a simple and quick method of propagation for many plants. This also applies to hydrangeas. In terms of time, the propagation of cuttings is clearly superior to the cuttings, because in most cases a result can be seen after 4 weeks.

For the propagation of cuttings, the shoot tips are cut off from the hydrangea

Instructions for propagating hydrangeas from cuttings:

  • Right time: June and July
  • The shoot tips with 2 pairs of leaves are separated from the mother plant with a sharp knife; the cuttings should be 5 to a maximum of 10 cm long and have no flowers or flower buds, as this would significantly reduce the rooting success
  • The cuttings should be planted immediately and not stored if possible
  • A special substrate for propagating cuttings is also perfect for hydrangea cuttings
  • In the first two to three weeks, you must always ensure high humidity, as the cuttings are not yet able to water themselvesto record; you can use a mini greenhouse for the windowsill for this
  • Rooting can be observed after three weeks at the earliest; then the hood of the mini greenhouse can be removed again and again to slowly get the cuttings used to the normal environment
  • If the root ball is completely rooted, the successfully propagated hydrangea cuttings can be repotted in a larger container

In this special article you will find out how to properly care for and strengthen your hydrangeas after propagation.

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