Topic: Buddleia cutting ??

[paul-ukp]

Is it possible to take cuttings from a buddleia now, or can I layer a branch in the ground? Or what?

Advice/instructions gratefully received, to allow me a few more of these lovely bushes around my garden.

Thanks

Paul

[Hyacinth]

Easy to do Paul - that's how I've got all mine :) From the Botany site:-

Cuttings that are made from half-ripe or semi-woody side shoots, 5 or 6 inches long, can be inserted in a closed cold frame, or outside under a hand light in July or early August. Cuttings that are made from the mature shoots of the year, 12-18 inches long, are taken off with a thin "heel" of the old wood at the base and inserted in a sheltered border outside or in a frame in late September or October.

So, old wood at the base with a 'heel' for you, then.

Hope this helps, Lishka

[Ricado]

i took some recently, but wasnt aware of the heel part. I would add what i was advised and that was to choose non flowering shoots (there will be some there ( i had to look quite hard)

 I thought you had to make a fresh clean cut just before the cuttings were placed into the compost.

Still, they appear to all have taken, i have had them on the mist bench.  They did wilt for a start, and they all came back turgid again, so this raised my hopes.  They look good, but i did try taking them off the bench for a short time and they quickly wilted again.  Im sure they just need a little longer.

[fluffygrue]

I usually take cuttings in Spring when I chop the beasties down - I usually poke about 4/5 cuttings in the ground, leaving a few leaves on top.  It took a year for the babies to grow to flowering size.. I used flowered shoots without a heel, and they've done fine.

[Garden Manager]

Buddleia are dead easy to take hardwood cuttings from. I have propagated from them this way very sucessfully over the years. They should be taken within the next few weeks as the leaves drop.

Take cuttings of young but ripe wood about pencil thickness. They should be between 6 and 9 inches long and be 'nodal' ie pruned with a bud each end of the cutting. Insert in a slit trench with a bit of sand in the bottom in a sheltered spot or alternatively insert cuttings into a deep pot of compost. In either case the cutting should be buried with only a couple of inches above the surface and keep the cuttings watered.

Leave for about 6 to 12 months to root. You should have a new plant by this tme next year.

I hope this helps