How to properly grow honeysuckle from berries: step-by-step instructions

The seed method of propagating honeysuckle is used when it is necessary to obtain a large number of plants. It is widely used by landscape designers to create unpretentious hedges and by breeders in their scientific work. When sowed correctly, the plant quickly germinates and develops, and adapts more easily to growing conditions. We'll tell you how to plant and grow honeysuckle from berries.

Is it possible to grow honeysuckle from berries at home?

Freshly harvested honeysuckle seeds have almost 100% germination rate, which is why it is so important to begin pre-sowing preparation and sowing itself immediately after picking the berries.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

Both fruit and ornamental plant varieties are propagated by seeds.

This method has a number of advantages:

• the resulting seedlings adapt more easily to environmental conditions in contrast to seedlings obtained from cuttings or layerings;
• seeds germinate under conditions close to ideal for the crop, which protects seedlings from death;
• simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the method.

Among the negative features, gardeners highlight:

• frequent discrepancy between varietal characteristics and the mother plant (which is especially undesirable when propagating honeysuckle);
• dependence of seed viability on the quality of pollination of flowers on the queen cell;
• late fruiting of honeysuckle grown from seeds - after 5-6 years;
• the need to pay increased attention to tender seedlings (only 50% survive to the stage of 1-2 year old seedlings).

The key to good germination and further formation of seedlings is proper preparation of seeds and soil.

Suitable honeysuckle varieties

All are suitable for propagation by seeds decorative types of honeysuckle: Brown, curly, Honeysuckle, golden, eastern, Tatar, Korolkova and others. Fruit hybrids and varieties also germinate well, but whether they will fully meet expectations is unknown. According to statistics, 50% of the total number of seeds sown will sprout with some differences from the mother bush.

Seeds are available for sale edible honeysuckle the following varieties: Bakchar giant, Yugana, The Giant's Daughter, Narymskaya, Indigo Jam, Morena, etc.

How to get seeds from berries

Honeysuckle berries in full botanical ripeness tend to fall off. Overripe fruits are no longer suitable for fresh consumption, but are ideal for propagation. If you plan to propagate honeysuckle by seeds, when harvesting, leave 20-30 berries on the bush until they are completely ripe. Lay a film under the bushes so as not to lose them when they fall off.

Each fruit contains 5-18 small seeds. To extract them, the berries are carefully ground through a sieve or simply crushed by hand. Pour water into the container with the fruits and shake vigorously, then drain. The seeds are carefully selected and laid out on paper to dry.

Reference. Honeysuckle seeds remain viable for a long time. After a year, 70-75% of seedlings emerge, after 3 – 20-50%.

Landing dates

Gardeners practice different timings and methods of sowing seeds:

1. Winter. At the end of October - beginning of November, dry seeds are sown on the prepared bed and covered with a mixture of humus and peat (1:1) with a layer of 1-1.5 cm.It is believed that winter seedlings are more resistant to temperature changes, unfavorable factors, and diseases, since they have undergone natural hardening (stratification).
2. In the spring, when warm weather sets in and daylight hours lengthen. In central Russia this is mid-April - early May. Honeysuckle seedlings are not afraid of lower temperatures, but a lack of sunlight will lead to their death.
3. In summer. Sowing occurs immediately after harvesting early varieties (in mid-June). The seedlings still have time before winter to grow a sufficient number of root balls and become stronger. For comfortable growth, seedlings need a constant level of humidity and a supply of nutrients.
4. For seedlings. This growing method makes it much easier to create ideal conditions for plant growth. Indoors they are protected from sudden weather surprises. It is convenient to sow the seeds immediately into peat pots, 2-3 pieces at a time.

When growing seedlings, do not forget to moisten the soil in the pots in a timely manner, preventing it from drying out.

Preparation

Before sowing, everything you need should be at hand: equipment, seed material and pre-prepared soil mixture.

Seeds

Seeds do not require special preparation for sowing. They are sown dry.

The soil

The soil for germinating honeysuckle seeds is dug up onto a spade a few days before sowing with the addition of humus (0.5 buckets per 1 m² soil) and complex mineral fertilizer, for example, nitroammophosphate (20 g/m²). The soil must be disinfected from diseases and pests. The soil is spilled with a hot (+70…+80°C) dark pink solution of potassium permanganate. The next day, the plot is completely ready for sowing.

If honeysuckle is grown by seedlings, make a substrate with the following composition:

• garden soil (2 parts);
• humus (1 part);
• peat (1 part);
• river sand (1 part);
• complex mineral fertilizer.

All components are mixed until homogeneous and poured with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Attention! If fertilizer is not at hand, it is replaced with sifted wood ash - a source of phosphorus and potassium.

Container for sowing

When growing seedlings, boxes (wooden or plastic) are used. Before sowing, they are washed and scalded with boiling water.

Germination instructions

Freshly harvested seeds do not require additional pre-sowing preparation and germination. If the seed material is old (with a shelf life of 2-3 years), it is soaked in warm (+20...+30°C) water for 4-5 hours.

Reference. To increase germination, seeds are soaked in a solution of growth stimulator "Epin" or aloe juice.

How to plant honeysuckle seeds correctly

Honeysuckle seeds are small and resemble poppy seeds in appearance. The bed is leveled with a rake and grooves 1.5-2 cm deep are made. The seeds are laid out manually in increments of 2-3 cm from each other. The distance between the rows is maintained at least 10 cm. The spread seeds are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil (no more than 1 cm).

After sowing landings needs to be moistened. To avoid eroding the soil, use a watering can with a sieve.

When propagating honeysuckle by seeds at home, sowing is done in boxes, peat pots or pallets. The last seeds are placed in 1-2 pieces.

To speed up germination, the crops are covered with film.

Further care

Shoots appear on 15-18 days. Young shoots are still very weak and need especially careful care:

1. Watering. Seedlings are watered more often than seedlings in the garden.Pots contain less soil, so they dry out faster - once every 2-3 days. Water for irrigation is used at room temperature.
2. Hardening. Relevant for preparing seedlings or seedlings under film for transfer to natural conditions. To do this, air the crops daily for 2-3 hours, opening the film.
3. Feeding. The first is carried out in the phase of 3-4 true leaves using Kemira Universal fertilizer or other complex fertilizer for seedlings. To do this, dissolve 15 g in 10 liters of water. Further feeding is regularly repeated every 14 days, alternating with a weak solution of mullein.
4. Weeding. Young shoots grow slower than weeds in the first days. Deprived of food and light, seedlings may die among weeds.
5. Formation. When 4-5 true leaves appear on the seedlings, the growing point is pinched to provoke lateral branching. The next pinch is done when the side branches have 3-4 buds. Proper crown formation will make the plant beautiful and productive.

By the end of the summer of the first year, the young plants will get stronger.

Protection from diseases and pests

Decorative and edible honeysuckle has many enemies in the garden. The most dangerous of them:

1. Honeysuckle mite. It actively develops in humid conditions with thickened plantings. Brown shapeless spots appear on the leaves. The leaves curl at the edges and dry out.
2. Aphid. It attacks en masse, causing abundant yellowing of the bush and leaf fall.
3. Shield. These are small pests, covered on top with a protective shell - a shield. The insect completely covers the trunks of the bush, sucking the juices from the plant.
4. Butterfly caterpillars. They gnaw holes in the leaves, reducing the overall decorative value of the shrub.

If any of the listed pests are detected, the plantings are treated with systemic insecticides (Actellik, Confidor). To prepare the working fluid, 2 ml of the drug is dissolved in 1 liter of water.

In cold and rainy weather, fungal diseases (ramularia, cercospora, powdery mildew) are dangerous for honeysuckle. The best means of treating them is preventive irrigation (once every 3 weeks) of the plantation with a “HOM” solution or Bordeaux mixture.

Useful tips on the topic

Agronomists advise planting at least 4-6 varieties of honeysuckle on a plot. The whole secret is in cross-pollination: the more different pollen that gets on the flower, the more abundant and better the harvest of berries will be.

Honeysuckle has poor resistance to severe frosts. After wintering, frost damage is often observed on the stems of shrubs: the bark on the shoots bursts, and a fungus settles in the cracks that appear. If your honeysuckle has such shoots, they must be cut out and the bush treated with Bordeaux mixture.

Plants, planted in the ground not with seeds, but with ripe berries, they will begin to bear fruit a year earlier.

Conclusion

Honeysuckle is an unpretentious and beautiful plant for the garden. Extensive species and varietal diversity allows the summer resident to grow a harvest of delicious vitamin berries and decorate the plot with decorative forms of the crop.

Many gardeners cannot afford to buy a large number of varieties. If it is not possible to obtain a shoot or cutting of the desired variety from friends, honeysuckle is propagated by seed. This distribution option is the cheapest and most accessible, but does not always meet the owner’s expectations.