How to propagate white magnolia? An introduction to white magnolia propagation methods
White magnolia is a famous ornamental flowering tree, with pure white and elegant flowers, a captivating fresh fragrance, a long flowering period, and dense, emerald-green branches and leaves. It has very high ornamental and landscaping value, is relatively simple to care for, and has quite a few propagation methods. The most commonly used are grafting and layering, while seed sowing and cuttings are used less often. However, for home cultivation, grafting and layering are enough.
White magnolia propagation by seed sowing
For sowing and raising seedlings, at the end of September or the beginning of October, harvest the ripe fruit, take out the seeds, soak them in wood ash water for 1—2 days, then rub off the waxy aril, rinse clean with water and sow. Alternatively, after washing the seeds clean, stratify them in moist sand for cold storage, otherwise the seeds easily lose their ability to germinate. Sow in pots indoors in March of the following year, and seedlings will emerge in about 20 days.
White magnolia propagation by cuttings
White magnolia can be propagated by cuttings, but white magnolia has poor regenerative capacity, and the cutting method does not easily produce roots and survive, so it is mostly not adopted.
White magnolia propagation by grafting
White magnolia is often propagated by grafting. Generally, 2-3-year-old vigorous plants of Magnolia biondii or Michelia champaca are mostly used as rootstock. There are two grafting methods: approach grafting and cut grafting.
1. Approach grafting: The time for approach grafting is from spring to autumn; it can be done throughout the entire growing season. It is mostly done from April to July. The best grafting position is 70 cm above the ground. After binding, wrap it in 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 off. Approach grafting is an easier method to achieve survival, but the growth is not as vigorous as with cut grafting.
2. Cut grafting: In mid-to-late September, select a well-developed magnolia branch as the scion. The cut surfaces of the rootstock and scion should be tightly joined, tied with plastic film strips, smeared with mud, and the scion buried in soil to keep the soil moist. In northern China, in winter the scion needs to be covered with straw and the like; remove the covering the following spring. After sprouting, keep the upper 4-5 buds on the branch and remove all the other buds. Through 2-3 years of routine care, it will bloom.
White magnolia propagation by layering
White magnolia propagation by layering is also a commonly used propagation method. It is mainly divided into ordinary layering and air layering.
1. Ordinary layering: Ordinary layering is best done in February-March. Cut halfway through the base of the branch to be layered, then cut upward for a section, insert a piece of tile in the middle, then gently press it into the soil without breaking it. Use a thick "U"-shaped iron wire inserted into the soil to fix it in place and prevent it from lifting up, then pile soil on top. For spring layering, once root buds appear it can be cut off and planted separately.
2. Air layering: Before the dog days, select a vigorous and disease-free young branch on the mother plant (1.5-2 cm in diameter), cut a slit at the lower part of a fork, then cover it with a bamboo tube or a bottomless clay pot, fill it with potting soil, tie it tightly on the outside with fine string, being careful not to disturb it, and frequently spray a small amount of water to keep it moist. New roots can grow around May of the following year; then remove it and plant it in place.
How to grow white magnolia: An introduction to white magnolia propagation methods
The white magnolia plant has an upright, branching form and an elegant bearing. In the south it can be cultivated in open courtyard ground and is a backbone tree species in southern gardens. Potted plants can be placed in courtyards, halls and meeting rooms, and small and medium-sized plants can be displayed in living rooms and studies. It has very high cultivation value. Let us take a look below at the cultivation methods for white magnolia!
The growth habits of white magnolia
1. Habits: White magnolia prefers light, fears high temperatures, is not cold-tolerant, and is suited to slightly acidic soil. It likes warmth and humidity, is not tolerant of drought or waterlogging, is relatively sensitive to toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide and chlorine, and has poor resistance.
2. Propagation: The propagation methods for white magnolia include grafting, layering, seed sowing and cuttings. The more commonly used propagation methods are grafting and layering, while seed sowing and cuttings are used less often. However, for home cultivation, grafting and layering are enough.
The cultivation methods for white magnolia
1. Soil: White magnolia likes acidic soil, with a soil pH requirement of 5.5-6.3. It is best to use fertile, loose, well-drained potting soil. It can be prepared with 5 parts pine needle leaf mold, 2 parts coarse chaff ash, 2 parts coarse sand and 1 part rotted barnyard manure. Avoid fine sandy soil or heavy clay soil with poor air permeability.
2. Sunlight: White magnolia is a sun-loving flowering plant and needs ample sunlight. During the growing period it should be cared for in a sunny place with long sunshine hours and strong light, especially during the flowering period. Daily sunlight must not be less than 6 hours. If it is kept in a shaded place, it will only grow leaves and not bloom, or bloom very little, with slender branches, pale leaf color, thin leaves and no luster, which is unfavorable for growth. But in summer, avoid direct sunlight; provide shade from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at the same time spray water on the leaf surfaces and the ground to increase air humidity.
3. Temperature: White magnolia likes warmth and fears cold, so special attention must be paid to protecting it so it can overwinter safely. Generally, move it indoors in late October and place it in a sunny spot. It is best to keep the room temperature at around 10°C, and it must not be lower than 5°C.
4. Watering: White magnolia has fleshy roots. If the potting soil is too wet, the leaves will wither and fall, or even the roots will rot and the plant will die; if it is too dry, the leaf tips will dry up and the leaves will curl. It is a flowering plant that fears both waterlogging and drought. During the flowering period, if the petals open outward excessively, it indicates insufficient water; when water is suitable, the buds remain in a bud-like state. When the surface of the potting soil looks dry and the soil is hard and cracked, water immediately. Watering requires that the water temperature and soil temperature must be consistent; do not suddenly water with cold or hot water. In spring and autumn, watering once a day is generally enough. In summer, when it is hot, evaporation is high and growth is vigorous, so the frequency and amount of watering can be appropriately increased. When moving it indoors to overwinter in winter, watering should be restricted.
5. Fertilizing: White magnolia has a long flowering period and likes fertilizer. If fertilizer is insufficient, it will bloom less; if fertilizing is not timely, it will cause excessive growth of branches and leaves and poor flowering. Before new buds sprout in February-March, apply rotted cake fertilizer as a base fertilizer. During the flowering period, apply dilute human manure, or a liquid fertilizer made from fermented and rotted bean cake, tea seed cake and fish bones, diluted with 9 parts water, applying once every 3-4 days. Stop fertilizing half a month before moving it indoors to overwinter.
6. Pruning: During the growth of white magnolia, the plant should be shaped and pruned, cutting off diseased and dead branches and leggy branches, and removing some lower leaves, so as to suppress the plant's vigor and promote more flower buds and more blooms.
7. Pests and diseases: The main pests and diseases of white magnolia include yellowing disease, anthracnose, red spider mites and scale insects. For anthracnose, use 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 500 times dilution, or 50% thiophanate wettable powder at 500 times dilution, spraying once every 5-10 days for control. If red spider mites or scale insects are found, scrape them off with a bamboo strip. For red spider mites, use 20% tetradifon at 1000 times dilution, or 50% trithion at 1000 times dilution, sprayed for control.
Precautions for white magnolia
1. Soil requirements: Use fertile, loose, well-drained potting soil, which can be prepared with 5 parts pine needle leaf mold, 2 parts coarse chaff ash, 2 parts coarse sand and 1 part rotted barnyard manure. Avoid fine sandy soil or heavy clay soil with poor air permeability. For potting, use a tile pot (unglazed pot) with good ventilation and air permeability. Avoid glazed pots, porcelain pots, purple clay pots, etc. It is best to use a relatively deep cylindrical flower pot, with an empty pot placed underneath and raised on bricks, to prevent poor drainage; line the bottom of the pot with about 5 cm of cinder and crushed stone.
2. Suitable moisture: White magnolia has fleshy roots. If the potting soil is too wet, the leaves will wither and fall, or even the roots will rot and the plant will die; if it is too dry, the leaf tips will dry up and the leaves will curl. It is a flowering plant that fears both waterlogging and drought. During the flowering period, if the petals open outward excessively, it indicates insufficient water; when water is suitable, the buds remain in a bud-like state. When the surface of the potting soil looks dry and the soil is hard and cracked, water immediately. Watering requires that the water temperature and soil temperature must be consistent; do not suddenly water with cold or hot water. Watering must be thorough; frequently giving half-waterings will induce shallow roots. In spring and autumn, white magnolia should not be watered much; in the height of summer, water daily and it must be done in the evening; from late autumn, begin to reduce the amount of watering; after entering winter, water once every 10 days. In the rainy season, it should be moved to a place sheltered from rain.
3. Likes acid and fears alkaline: White magnolia likes acidic soil, with a soil pH requirement of 5.5-6.3. In northern regions, white magnolia is not easy to grow, precisely because most of the water and soil there tends to be alkaline, which dissolves the protoplasm of the white magnolia cells, causing slow development and poor growth of the plant. Frequently watering with fermented rice-washing water gives better results.
4. Do not apply concentrated fertilizer: White magnolia likes phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, but avoid too high a concentration, otherwise reverse osmosis will occur, causing "physiological drought" in the plant, with mild cases wilting and severe cases burning it to death. The fertilizing principle for white magnolia is: "apply diluted, apply often, apply in the evening." Practice has shown that using dilute human manure or bean cake water, mixed with smashed fish scraps, rotten shrimp, chicken innards, etc., after rotting, at a ratio of 1:9 fertilizer to water, applying once every 3-5 days, and adding calcium sulfate when applying, gives better results and can make the white magnolia's fragrance stronger.
How to propagate white magnolia: The feng shui effects of white magnolia
Many people choose to plant white magnolia in their home courtyards. How is white magnolia propagated? Below we will talk about the feng shui effects of white magnolia.
Propagation methods for white magnolia:
I. White magnolia propagation by grafting
White magnolia is often propagated by grafting. Generally, 2-3-year-old vigorous plants of Magnolia biondii or Michelia champaca are mostly used as rootstock. In June, approach grafting can be done on the branches of a white magnolia plant. The cuts on both should be 3-5 cm long. After joining, bind tightly with plastic strips so that the cambium layers of the two are tightly joined. After about 3 months, the rootstock and scion have basically grown together, and it can be cut away from the mother plant, and the upper part of the rootstock removed, becoming a new plant.
II. White magnolia propagation by layering
White magnolia propagation by layering is also a commonly used propagation method. It is mainly divided into ordinary layering and air layering.
1. Ordinary layering: Ordinary layering is best done in February-March. Cut halfway through the base of the branch to be layered, then cut upward for a section, insert a piece of tile in the middle, then gently press it into the soil without breaking it. Use a thick "U"-shaped iron wire inserted into the soil to fix it in place and prevent it from lifting up, then pile soil on top. For spring layering, once root buds appear it can be cut off and planted separately.
2. Air layering: Before the dog days, select a vigorous and disease-free young branch on the mother plant (1.5-2 cm in diameter), cut a slit at the lower part of a fork, then cover it with a bamboo tube or a bottomless clay pot, fill it with potting soil, tie it tightly on the outside with fine string, being careful not to disturb it, and frequently spray a small amount of water to keep it moist. New roots can grow around May of the following year; then remove it and plant it in place.
III. White magnolia propagation by seed sowing
For sowing and raising seedlings, at the end of September or the beginning of October, harvest the ripe fruit, take out the seeds, soak them in wood ash water for 1-2 days, then rub off the waxy aril, rinse clean with water and sow; alternatively, after washing the seeds clean, stratify them in moist sand for cold storage, otherwise the seeds easily lose their ability to germinate. Sow in pots indoors in March of the following year, and seedlings will emerge in about 20 days.
IV. White magnolia propagation by cuttings
White magnolia can also be propagated by cuttings, but white magnolia has poor regenerative capacity, and the cutting method does not easily produce roots and survive, so it is mostly not adopted.
There are quite a few propagation methods for white magnolia. The more commonly used are grafting and layering, while seed sowing and cuttings are used less often. However, for home cultivation, grafting and layering are enough.
The feng shui effects of white magnolia:
1. Optimizing home feng shui
White magnolia likes warmth and humidity, prefers good ventilation and ample sunlight, fears cold, avoids dampness, and neither likes shade nor tolerates sunscorch. Such living requirements give the owner a standard for judging whether the home environment is suitable for warmth, humidity and ventilation. If a home's white magnolia grows well, it proves that these conditions have all been met, and these conditions are precisely the criteria for judging whether a house has good or bad feng shui. If you do not know whether your home's feng shui is good, plant a white magnolia and judge for yourself.
2. Enhancing marital affection
The flower language of white magnolia is pure love and sincerity, and as a white-colored flowering plant, it is relatively suitable for planting in the bedroom. Planting white magnolia in the bedroom is, from a feng shui perspective, beneficial for enhancing marital affection.
3. Bringing good luck
People whose Chinese zodiac signs are the rat or the pig are best suited to planting flowering plants belonging to metal and water. At the same time, in years of yi and geng, people whose five elements belong to metal, such as those born in 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1980, 1985 and other years ending in 5 and 0, are best suited to planting white-colored flowering plants in the bedroom, or plants that look relatively austere. For such friends, white magnolia is a good choice and can, to a certain extent, bring them good luck.