The peony is considered to be one of the most beautiful flowering plants. The reproduction of this beautiful shrub has its own characteristics, but there is nothing complicated in them, even inexperienced lovers can master them. Today, both ordinary types of peonies and tree peony are popular with gardeners. Consider several ways to reproduce them.
Tree peony: propagation by grafting
This method is perhaps the most time-consuming. As a stock, the roots of grassy peonies are taken, more precisely, their segments are 10-15 cm long. For grafting, only shoots of the current year are taken.
Cuttings are cut from them, each of which should have two eyes. Cooked roots are kept in a cool place for about 3 weeks. Now you need to take a scion (stalk) and make a cut on its lower part from both sides, give it the shape of a wedge. A cut of the same shape is made on the stock (root), into which the cutting is tightly inserted. The grafting site is coated with garden pitch or tied with plastic wrap. The resulting plants must be laid in a horizontal position in a layer of moistened sawdust andput it all in a shady place. A month later, you can plant an already rooted peony in a greenhouse. Reproduction in this way is done in early August. And you can plant the resulting plant in a permanent place only after a couple of years.
Propagation of peonies by cuttings
This method can be called the easiest. To do this, in the summer, semi-lignified shoots are cut obliquely under the kidney. Be sure to make sure that the kidneys are well developed. The leaves located on the shoot are shortened by 2/3. All sections are treated with root stimulants, and the cuttings are planted in a mixture of river sand and peat at an angle of 45º. The kidneys must be completely buried, a layer of sand (1.5 cm) is poured on top to retain moisture. The boxes are covered with film or glass, you constantly need to make sure that the soil is in a wet state. By October, rooted cuttings are planted in separate containers and should be kept in the greenhouse until spring.
Peony: propagation by layering
In the spring, before the flowers bloom, well-developed shoots are selected. An incision is made on the lower part of the shoot (facing the ground). The shoot is carefully bent to the ground, a small spacer is inserted and sprinkled with earth (8-10 cm layer). All the time before rooting, you need to monitor the soil moisture, it should not dry out. Roots will appear sometime in late August or early September.
Peony: reproduction by dividing the bush
This is the most common and effective method of propagation for both herbaceous andtree peonies.
For division, you should take an already overgrown bush that has been growing in one place for at least 3 years. This is done from mid-August to the end of September. The bush needs to be dug up, its stems cut off at a height of 10 cm and dried for a couple of hours. If the bush is still young, then you can pull it apart with your hands in different directions. Otherwise, it is done with a sharp knife. It should be cut so that part of the root remains on the delenka. The cut points can be treated with manganese or charcoal. Then each division is planted in a permanent place.
Peonies can also be propagated using seeds, but this is a rather laborious process. Only freshly harvested seeds are taken and subjected to two stages of stratification before planting. In general, it will take a long time to mess around with this. If you want to get a fast and reliable result, then it is best to use both the method of dividing the bush and propagation by layering.
