Traditional timing of the division of pions – from the beginning of the third decade of August to mid-September. You can't delay this, otherwise the plant may not have time to take root and prepare for winter.
Division of peonies
The main causes of division
- Reproduction.
- Aged 4-5 years - for interspecific hybrids and 5-6 years - for grades P. lactoflower, ITO-hybrids.
- Rejuvenation - if the bush is very old, does not bloom.
- Due to illness - affected by gray rot, lost more than a third of shoots during the season.
- Moving to a new location.
Tools for dividing peonies with rhizomes
Curved shovel, kok lever, handle and sharp bayonet, secateurs and aux. Narrow blade for cleaning rhizomes, container with water. For dividing - a stable table, field, sharp knife (I am using grafting or cleaning vegetables, can be foldable with straight blade). For ITO hybrids - chisel, a hammer, small saw.
METHODS OF DIVISION OF PIONE
With full digging.
Cut the stems at a height of 10cm.
Stepping back from the base 20-25 cm (for ITO hybrids - 30-35 cm), dig a trench around on a shovel bayonet.
Remove dirt from the base of the bush. Walk the entire perimeter with a shovel, deepening it to the center and at the same time raising the bush. If it is very large, use a crowbar. Taking out the rhizome, do not pull the stems - you can cut off the buds.
Wash the dug out peony with a strong jet of water. A small specimen can be simply rinsed in a barrel.
By attaching the name tag, leave the bush in the shade for a day, so that the roots wither and become flexible.
Bend the rhizome with your hands several times (4-5-summer) at the base, at the same time you will see the place of joint of the roots. Make incisions, so that the peony disintegrates into pieces.
At the old rhizome (more 5 years old) shorten roots to 15-18 cm and separate young horizontal with large buds. Usually, voids from dead stems are visible on the rhizome., along them and cut it into several pieces. Shorten strongly entangled roots in the center to 8 cm.
Each division should have two to five well-developed buds and the same number of roots with a thickness of at least 0,8-1 cm. When planting a large delenka, the peony develops actively in the first year or two due to old roots, but practically does not form new. In the future, its growth and flowering fade, and it has to be divided again.
Partially excavated (for old bushes of Peony lactic acid).
Select sector, where the stems are at some distance from each other.
Approximately at 25 see from the bush dig a trench, remove excess land.
Naiskosok, directing a shovel deep into the bush, trim the roots and cut off a piece of rhizome on both sides.
Clean the place of the cut near the bush, let it dry for a couple of days and fill the hole with a mixture of compost, earth and sand. Next year, it will be possible to cut off the division from the other side.
Rinse the removed rhizome and divide.
ITO hybrids
They often have all their kidneys "sitting” on a large thickening, and on the lignified part of the stems, and the main roots grow from a thick "trunk- - and there are no horizontal young. To split such a "torso- at least in half. need a chisel and a hammer. First, mark the cut with a marker, file the rhizome from above and below. Then, on the notch line, set the chisel vertically and, hitting her with a hammer, move it along the markup.
Next, trim the cuts and clean up all spots on the roots and root collar. Cut the shoots above the developed large buds. Soak the roots on 2 hours in Vitaros solution(according to instructions). dry and rub the sections with crushed charcoal or sprinkle with "HOM". Experienced peony growers fill very large sections with hot garden pitch.
DIVISION OF PIONES – VIDEO
© Author: Svetlana MOVCHAN, garden center consultant, r. Moscow. Photo by Valentina BONDAR
We propagate peonies by cuttings
If you dig up a whole bush of your favorite peony variety, it's a pity, and
I really want to multiply, you can grow seedlings from cuttings with buds. This method is not fast, but true, besides, the mother bush does not deprive the decorativeness.
"Extraction" cuttings
Terms of harvesting cuttings - late summer-early autumn. We find an escape on a bush remote from the center (maybe a few, from different sides). Carefully rake the soil around it to the buds at the top of the roots. Separate with a knife together with the kidney, while grabbing part of the root - with the heel. On the bush, we process the cut site with crushed charcoal and fill it with the removed soil.
Landing
Powder the lower part of the cuttings with dry "Kornevin" or crushed coal.
Rooting soil needs loose, drained and not too nutritious (predominance of sand), top dressing is best applied later with watering. We deepen the cuttings by about 3 cm, squeeze the soil and water. No need to moisturize until spring.
Shoots will appear in the spring. And the smaller was the "heel", the weaker the escape will be, but the main, what is he. And it is important to help him grow a good root system..
Care
“In the first year we actively feed the plants with rooting stimulants(I alternate "Epin" with "Zircon", according to instructions) on the leaves - in the evening, about once a week.
- In autumn, we apply complex mineral fertilizers to the soil.
- Next spring we start feeding with organic matter (diluted mullein, infusion of nettle in the ratio 1:10) or solutions of mineral fertilizers with a high proportion of nitrogen (according to instructions). It is advisable to water the seedlings three times - once every 10-14 days during May-early June. In autumn, we again apply mineral complex fertilizers.
From the time of planting the cutting to obtaining a good seedling, it usually takes 3 of the year (sometimes 2).
Lyubov MELNIKOVA, collector of peonies, r. Moscow. Photo by Valentina BONDAR
