How to propagate Michelia alba? A detailed guide to common propagation methods

Michelia alba is a well-known ornamental flowering tree, with elegant white flowers, a captivating fresh fragrance, a long blooming period, and dense, emerald-green foliage. It has very high ornamental and landscaping value, is relatively easy to care for, and offers quite a few propagation methods. The most commonly used are grafting and layering, while seed sowing and cuttings are used less often. For home growing, though, grafting and layering are enough.

Sowing propagation of Magnolia denudata

For sowing and raising seedlings, do it in late September or early October. Harvest the mature fruit, take out the seeds, soak them in wood-ash water for 1—2 days, then rub off the waxy aril and wash them clean with water before sowing. Alternatively, after washing the seeds, stratify them in damp sand and keep them refrigerated, otherwise the seeds easily lose their ability to germinate. Sow in pots indoors in March of the following year, and seedlings emerge in about 20 days.

Cutting propagation of Michelia alba

Michelia alba can be propagated by cuttings, but it has poor regenerative capacity, and cuttings do not easily root and survive, so this method is mostly not adopted.

Grafting propagation of Michelia alba

Michelia alba is quite often propagated by grafting. Generally, 2-3 year old strong plants of Magnolia biondii or Michelia champaca are used as rootstock. There are two grafting methods: approach grafting and cut grafting.

1. Approach grafting: The timing for approach grafting runs from spring to autumn; it can be done throughout the entire growing season. It is mostly done from April to July. The best spot for approach grafting is 70 cm above the ground. After binding, wrap it with a ball of mud and cover the outside with leaves to prevent rain from washing it away. After about 60 days it can be cut apart. Approach grafting is a relatively easy method to succeed with, but the growth is not as vigorous as with cut grafting.

2. Cut grafting: In mid to late September, choose well-developed Magnolia branches as scions. The cut surfaces of the rootstock and scion should be tightly joined, bound with plastic film strips, smeared with mud, and the scion buried with soil to keep the soil moist. In northern China, the scion needs to be covered with straw and the like in winter; remove the covering the following spring, and after sprouting, keep 4-5 buds on the upper part of the branch and remove all the rest. After 2-3 years of routine care, it will bloom.

Layering propagation of Michelia alba

Layering is also one of the more commonly used propagation methods for Michelia alba, mainly divided into simple layering and air layering.

1. Simple layering: Simple layering is best done in February to March. Cut halfway through the base of the branch to be layered, then cut upward a further section, insert a piece of tile in the middle, then gently bend it into the soil without breaking it. Use a thick U-shaped wire pushed into the soil to hold it in place and keep it from springing up, then heap soil on top. For spring layering, once root buds appear it can be cut apart and planted separately.

2. Air layering: Before the start of the dog days, choose vigorous, disease-free young branches (1.5-2 cm in diameter) on the mother plant. Make a split cut in the lower part at a fork in the branch, then cover it with a bamboo tube or a bottomless clay pot, fill it with potting soil, and tie it tightly on the outside with fine string. Be careful not to disturb it, spray a little water often to keep it moist, and by around May of the following year new roots will have formed; take it down and plant it in place.