Hydrangea Life Cycle

All cuttings have died

2012-06-11T12:09:00.001-07:00

We moved towns and in the rush to get them in the ground I didn't pick the right location for them. Looking forward to trying winter cuttings again this year.

April 2012

2012-04-20T08:19:00.001-07:00

In mid march we experienced a week of warm weather. With temps in the 80's to high 70's all the hydrangeas broke dormancy they must have thought it was summer! This of course was followed by a quick drop in temp. We were back to 40's with night lows in the mid 20's for several days/nights. My outdoor cuttings suffered, 3 of 4 had severe damaged, killed all the buds. The only one that survived was under a couple of inches of mulch. Lesson learned, cover and cover well. I keep watering all the cuttings. Never know when one of the presumably dead ones will come back.

I have been a bit negligent. I have been busy with the veggie garden. Seed starting and ordering more seeds has been exciting. My DD has so much fun seeing her seeds grow.

The indoor cuttings suffered some negligence as well. I have lost an additional cutting to lack of watering. Only two cuttings have survived and I am hardening them off. They have been outdoors in the shade for two days. I will let direct sun hit them soon.

Winter cuttings: outdoor vs indoor

2012-04-20T08:18:00.001-07:00

Outdoor: 1 of 4 survived

Indoor: 2 of 5 survived

If I had covered the outdoor cuttings well with mulch I am certain that all if not most would have survived. If I had watered the indoor cuttings well I most definitely could have had 3 of 5 survive.

Rookie mistake

2012-03-13T06:59:00.001-07:00

I took my hydrangea cuttings outdoors and left them unprotected from the wind. They look pitiful. I really set them back. They will probably not do better than the cuttings I plan to take later this spring early summer.

Outdoor rooted Todi hydrangea

2012-03-03T05:44:00.001-08:00

It snowed. I went outside to play in the snow with the kids and I found one of the cuttings was uncovered and under 3-4 in of snow. I didn't even know where it was. I think I found something that resembled my hydrangea cutting. I removed the snow and covered it with the pot once more. Will it survive? We will just have to wait and see. I did all I could to salvage it.

Cutting of plant 2:: 4.5 weeks after waking up

2012-02-29T07:19:00.001-08:00

This hydrangea cutting started to show signs of growth about 4.5 weeks ago. The photo shows continual growth even though it does not get much sunlight. It is still located in the kitchen near a window. This cutting was a winter hardwood cutting. Below are pictures from today(2.29.2012) and from 4 weeks ago.

Hydrangea Cutting taken in winter 3 months old

2012-02-17T11:45:00.001-08:00

Feb 17 2012 I overwatered the hydrangea cuttings and one of them has root rot.

Luckily the others are doing well. This cutting is showing a bit of green from the rest of the buds. Buds I thought were not going to bud out.

The days continue to warm up. May they stay warm.

Hydrangea cutting two week progress plant 2

2012-02-14T07:07:00.001-08:00

Feb 12 2012 This plant is showing the most progress of the non rooted cuttings. This cutting was originally in a jar of tap water for a few days.

Winter hydrangea cutting Two week progress

2012-02-14T07:02:00.001-08:00

Feb 12 2012 It took about two weeks for this bud to show its first set of leaves. My DS yanked the stem out of its container 4 days ago but as you can see this plant has survived the trauma. No sign of roots but I didn't inspect closely.

Winter Hydrangea cuttings awake budding

2012-02-12T07:12:00.001-08:00

February 11 2012 I need to get the pictures of the cuttings organized. I plan to label the cuttings so that it is easier to compare the progress. For now I will post the pictures I have already taken. By next week you should see progress on my part and the cuttings.

Outdoor hydrangea cuttings rooted sep 2011

2012-02-12T07:06:00.001-08:00

Below are photos taken feb 10 of my outdoor hydrangea cuttings rooted in September of 2011. I covered them using the pots they were rooted in and I placed the rocks to keep the wind from blowing the pots away. The first cuttings shows two very plump buds. I hope for not late frosts this spring. I will keep these covered well into April.

Semi hardwood hydrangea cuttings propagation

2012-02-10T04:35:00.001-08:00

Correction my indoor cuttings were not all hardwood cuttings. The thicker cuttings were semihardwood cuttings that I initially had in a jar of tap water in my kitchen(usually warmest room except at night). Once I noticed signs of growth I dipped the cutting in rooting hormone and placed them in soil. I didn't loose a single cutting by doing this, did it help? Unclear, no control group.

Winter hydrangea cuttings

2012-02-09T19:15:00.001-08:00

Feb 8 2012 Cuttings are surviving. All showing signs of growth

Winter hydrangea cuttings budding

2012-02-09T19:04:00.001-08:00

Feb 2 2012 The following pictures show the start of the budding process of the non-rooted cuttings taken in November 2011

Feb 2 2012 Winter hydrangea cuttings

2012-02-09T19:01:00.001-08:00

The cuttings have been placed in their own containers. Here is the rooted softwood cutting from sept 2011

Winter hydrangea cuttings propagation budding

2012-02-09T18:56:00.001-08:00

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.