# Blueberry Sucker/Water-Spout Propagation



## dheat (Jul 27, 2005)

I have a couple of small blueberry plants and would like more. One plant has produced some suckers/water-spouts. Can I remove these, root them, etc. and expect the mature plants to produce? That is, can I propagate productive blueberries from suckers/water-spouts?

If so, can I do so now or do I need to wait until spring?

Thanks for your help,

Doug


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

dheat said:


> I have a couple of small blueberry plants and would like more. One plant has produced some suckers/water-spouts. Can I remove these, root them, etc. and expect the mature plants to produce? That is, can I propagate productive blueberries from suckers/water-spouts?
> 
> If so, can I do so now or do I need to wait until spring?
> 
> ...


Yes.Most of my blueberry bushes I propogate from pups and cuttings,and they are very productive.
If you want to dig pups from the base of the plant,you can do that now or in the spring,but I'd wait 'til spring.
If you still have tender,green growth on the bushes,you can take cuttings now,but they may need protection during the winter.It would help alot to know your climate zone.
My preferred method of propagation these days is cuttings,mostly because it doesn't disturb the roots of the mother plants.Blueberry cuttings root out very easily.
There's a ton of ways to propogate cuttings,but this is my favorite way I've tried,and I get nearly a 100% success rate.
You'll need an aquarium with the oxygenator pump.Yard sales and thrift stores have 'em all the time.Get some styrofoam sheets,maybe an inch thick,and cut it into 3"x3" squares using a hot knife,or whatever,and use a hot nail to burn a hole through the center of each square.Take your cutting from green growth that hasn't gone "woody" yet,maybe six or eight inches long.Strip all the leaves from the cutting,except for the leaves on the first few internodes at the top,poke the stem through the hole in the styrofoam,and float it in the fishtank.Add just a bit of rooting hormone to the water,and you're off.I like to see at least a coupla' inches of root growth before tranplanting to a soil based medium.When you do transplant,keep them wet,and try to make the transition from water to soil as gradual as possible.
If you dig pups in the spring,you can probably plant them directly,but you'll need to water them very often.It helps alot to amend the planting hole with an organic matter that holds a bit of moisture,and mulch heavily.


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## dheat (Jul 27, 2005)

swamp_man,

thanks for the info. BTW, I'm right on the line of zones 8 and 9.

The growth is completely green. So I like your aquarium method.

I have an aquarium with fish in it currently. I'm concerned adding rooting hormone may adversely effect the fish. Do you think this method would work without the rooting hormone? I guess I could try it and see: I'd rather lose the cuttings than the fish.

Also, what's a "pup"?

Thanks again,

Doug


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## dheat (Jul 27, 2005)

swamp_man,

also, can you elaborate on making the "transition from water to soil as gradual as possible"? What precisely do you mean by that?

Thank you,

Doug


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## swamp man (Dec 25, 2005)

dheat said:


> swamp_man,
> 
> thanks for the info. BTW, I'm right on the line of zones 8 and 9.
> 
> ...


I've never had fish in the aquarium,I just use it for cuttings.I dont know alot about fish,but I wouldn't use the hormone in a tank with fish.....they tend to be pretty sensetive to chemicals.Part of what is in most rooting mixes is a lot of phosphorous,and the fish my provide alot of that by themselves.If your species of fish won't nibble at the plants too much,it's worth a shot.
The "pups"are the little sprigs that come up from roots around the base of the plant.
As far as the transition from water to a soil medium.....
It's a matter of not making a plant have to adjust to a new environment more rapidly than it can handle.If a plant is rooted in water,it needs to at least be kept in a constantly moist soil medium for a while upon transplant.If ya' root 'em in water,they are accustomed to a whole lot of moisture,and need frequent watering to slowly adjust to soil conditions.The trick is to sloooooooooowly decrease the moisture level,and not change the environment all at once.
I'm in zone 8b,but the microclimate is more like zone 9.It's just outside of Petal,MS.If you're anywhere nearby,I'll gladly hook ya' up with some cutting and pups from my plants.


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## dheat (Jul 27, 2005)

swamp man,

Thanks for elaborating. Also, thank you for the generous offer of pups. Unfortunately, I'm not nearby--I live in north east FL.

Thanks again,

Doug


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