Rooting Climbing Hydrangeas
I always enjoy growing my own plants, but there’s something even more exciting and gratifying about propagating them - producing plants by dividing, grafting, or rooting cuttings from existent stems.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have many hydrangeas including beautiful climbing hydrangeas with their large, lacy white flowers and attractive lush foliage that can be found meandering up the trunks of various trees in warmer months. Recently, my gardeners, Ryan McCallister and Wendy Norling, gathered about 300-climbing hydrangea cuttings and rooted them in pots. It's an easy process that should produce strong roots within weeks.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Native to Asia, climbing hydrangeas are flowering deciduous vines that bloom from late spring or summer until fall.
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- Climbing hydrangeas add visual interest to walls, fences, pergolas, and even trees. I have them vining up the trunks of many trees at my farm. Because these plants grow large and heavy, it’s important to make sure the host structure can support the plant’s weight.
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- These climbing hydrangeas are outside my greenhouse. As true climbers, these plants have aerial rootlets that allow the branches to climb without assistance.
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- Once a climbing hydrangea is established, it can reach a height of 50-feet or more.
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- Ryan and Wendy cut the stems now when there are no flowers on the vines.
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- Wendy cuts stems several inches long right above a leaf node. This is where the new roots will form.
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- The cuttings are placed into a tall container of shallow water to keep them hydrated until they are planted.
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- Here is one of the healthy cuttings showing new growth.
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- Wendy fills the pots with a rich, moist, organic soil mix with good drainage.
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- The pot should always be filled to just under its to ensure nothing is lost when watered.
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- Wendy fills the pots in a production line process, which is faster and more efficient when potting many cuttings.
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- This is rooting hormone. A rooting hormone stimulates root development on the hydrangea cuttings and encourages vigorous, uniform root growth. It’s a good idea never to dip directly into the original container – always transfer small amounts into a dish to avoid any contamination.
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- Using a spare branch or stick, Wendy makes holes in the soil about three-inches deep and wide enough to insert a cutting without dislodging the rooting hormone powder.
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- Wendy dips the bottom inch of each cutting into the rooting hormone powder…
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- The cut end does not need a lot of rooting hormone, but it should be evenly coated.
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- … And then inserts the cutting into the soil mix.
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- Wendy inserts three cuttings into each pot. They will be transferred to bigger pots as needed.
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- Once each pot is done, Wendy lines them up in one section of our seedling “nursery,” where they can be properly maintained.
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- The entire process takes just a few hours to get all 300-cuttings potted. Similar to other hydrangea plants, climbing hydrangea likes the soil to be consistently moist. These will get about an inch of water weekly. It will be exciting to see these climbing hydrangeas develop and flourish.
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