Thuja or tree of life can be multiplied by yourself. However, you have to be patient and take care of healthy mother plants in the hedge or as a solitary plant. How do you propagate thuja correctly?

Propagation from cuttings is faster than from seeds

Methods of propagating thuja

There are two methods of propagating thuja: propagation by seeds or by cuttings.

Growing a tree of life from seeds is very time-consuming and is therefore rarely practiced. Propagation from cuttings is less complicated and you are sure to get offshoots that have the same traits as the mother plant.

Whether you want to harvest seeds from your thuja or use cuttings for propagation, remember that the tree of life is highly poisonous. This is especially true for the seeds, which should not be eaten under any circumstances. Be sure to wear gloves when tearing off the cuttings.

Propagating tree of life from seed

Some varieties of the tree of life bloom profusely in the spring and develop fruit bearing the seeds in the fall. Trigger these carefully in October.

Sow the seeds immediately in prepared pots of potting soil and leave them outside over the winter. Thuja is a cold germ and needs low temperatures to overcome the germination inhibition. If you only want to sow the thuja in the spring, store the seeds in a little damp sand in the fridge over the winter.

It takes months for the seeds to germinate. They must always be kept moist but not wet during this time.

Thuja propagation by cuttings

  • Tear off cuttings
  • shorten something
  • Treat cut with rooting powder
  • put in prepared pots
  • alternatively stick directly into the open air
  • keep moist but not wet
  • Cover the cuttings in the pot with foil
  • Plant out after new growth

To grow thuja from cuttings, tear - do not cut! - They so-called cracklings from the young twigs in early summer. A piece of bark from the branch must remain at the lower end. Then the cutting will root faster.

If you root the cuttings in the pot, a small greenhouse is ideal. You can also pull clear plastic sheeting over it.

Coat the cutting with rooting powder and ensure it does not dry out. The successful root formation is shown by new shoots.

Transplant self-sown thujas

If you do not remove the flowers or later the fruits of the thuja, the seeds will ripen inside. The fruits open, dropping the seed to the ground. Under favorable conditions, they will germinate there over the course of the next few months.

You can carefully dig up such self-sown thujas and transplant them to the desired place in the hedge or as a single tree.

tips

In contrast to Thuja Brabant, Thuja Smaragd flowers only very rarely. You can therefore almost never harvest seeds yourself from this tree of life variety. If emerald blooms, it is better to remove the seeds to give the tree of life more strength for foliage formation.

Category:

Trees