I had brought home a hydrangea twig from a friends garden and put it in water. Now after 2 weeks, I see about 3 roots. YAY!!! But now what do I do? When should I plant it? It came this far - don't want to kill it now. ( photo / image / picture from Tina's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Tina's Garden )
Hmmm... Usually I don't root in water. Water produces tiny, feeble roots that are hard to keep without bearking once you put the cutting in soil/pot/ground. Your two choices are keep it in water until roots get bigger and stronger. OR pot it now, hoping those roots kick off. I am not sure how much this is helpful. (I have rooted hydrangea cuttings directly in the garden, with a plastic bottle on top for a very long time - I thought they took forever to start growing)
Tina, I agree with Calin...pot it up now with a medium such as vermiculite or perlite and some fine potting mix. as the roots grow in water they tend to get very fragile/brittle and when you go to pot it up they break right off. If you have some rooting hormone dust the roots with that before you pot it up (which I would encourage you to do so, if you don't have any run and get some) and put a plastic bag over the whole thing, sealing in the humidity. (Place a stake of some kind in with the cutting to keep the plastic off the foliage of the hydrangea. I blow air into the bag, like a balloon, too.) Your cutting looks nice. Hoping you can get out in the flowerbed soon, too.
Thank you both! I will put this in a pot today. The cutting was from a friend, so I will run and get more to put directly in the garden
Well, be careful! You might cut off this year's blooms and your friend might scold you! I am not sure it's the best season to take cuttings... but you can try, if your friend's got a huge bush
Tina--Good luck with it! I hope you have success! Last year, I tried layering my hydrangea bush. I checked recently and the branch looks healthy. Once the weather warms up her more, I will check to see if I have roots (hope hope). Do you know what color/kind your hydrangea is?
