Growing nectarines form cuttings will be the clone of the parent trees and will grow fruits of the same quality as the parent trees. The nectarine (Prunus persica var. nucipersica.) may also be propagated from seeds, but can also be grown from cuttings quite easily.
Many fruit trees may not propagate from cuttings, but nectarine tree cuttings have a naturally high rooting potential than many other fruit trees.
How to grow nectarine in containers | Growing nectarines from seeds |
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| Nectarine Tree |
Propagate Nectarine Trees From Cuttings
Can Nectarine Cuttings be rooted in water? It is not likely, as the cutting does not get enough oxygen in water needed for root growth, so it is best to root cuttings in soil.
When to Take Nectarine Cuttings For Propagation
Take cuttings from late winter to early summer, although cuttings taken in summer will also root if the cuttings are not too hard.
How to Take a Cuttings From a Nectarine Tree
- Look for a healthy nectarine tree in your area or friend's house. Take nectarine cuttings in early morning.
- The nectarine tree will not root from softwood cuttings.
- Take semi-hardwood cuttings from the nectarine tree. Select a branch on the tree that has grown in the previous year, this branch is semi-hardwood, it is not green and matured and can be bent easily. The success rate for rooting nectarine is quite high for semi-hardwood cuttings.
- Take cuttings from the one year old stem, about 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) long which will have at least 2-3 leaf nodes. Leaf nodes are points where a leaf is attached or was growing or may grow.
- The cuttings should be 3 to 5 mm thick. Thick nectarine cuttings will take longer to root.
- Wrap the cuttings in a damp newspaper while you carry cuttings to your house or prepare for other things.
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| Taking nectarine Cuttings |
Prepare Nectarine Cuttings for Rooting
- The bottom of the cuttings should have at least one leaf node where the roots will grow.
- Remove the lower leaves and keep a few at the top.
- Remove the bark at the lower portion of the cutting lightly by scraping with a knife.
Rooting Medium for Rooting Nectarine Cuttings
- The rooting medium should be free-draining, standing water will rot the cuttings (best soil mix for rooting cuttings).
- You can make the rooting medium by mixing river sand or perlite and potting mix equally. Only river sand works well.
- Now take a small pot having many drainage holes at its bottom. Fill this pot with free-draining rooting soil as mentioned above.
- Water well, move the soil and water again to ensure that the rooting soil is thoroughly wet at all places.
- Keep the pot side in shade for some time to drain excess water.
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| Nectarine Cuttings Planted in free-draining soil |
Planting Nectarine Cuttings
- The nectarine cuttings may roots without rooting hormone. But the rooting hormone at the bottom of the cutting will grow roots quickly.
- You can use a chemical rooting hormone or just rub an aloe Vera gel on the lower end of the cuttings.
- Now make a hole in the soil by a stick. Place the nectarine cutting in the hole, about 1 to 2 inch deep in soil, and press the soil around the cutting.
- You can plant more than one cutting in the same pot.
- Enclose the pot in a plastic bag. This acts as a mini green house, providing high humid environment to the cuttings.
- Place the nectarine cutting bag in shade at a warm place. The cuttings need a temperature of around 21°C (69.8°F) to root. You can place the cuttings indoors on a heating pad to maintain this temperature.
- Open the bag every 10 days and give a few drops of water to soil and close bag again.
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| Nectarine Cuttings enclosed in a Bag creating a Mini Greenhouse |
How long will it take for nectarine cuttings to root?
The nectarine cuttings should root in 3 to 8 weeks depending on temperature, cutting thickness and humidity. Just tuck the cuttings lightly with your fingers, you will feel some resistance if roots have grown. You may see roots coming out from the bottom holes.
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| Rooted Nectarine Cuttings |
When the cuttings grow 2-3 sets of new leaves, open the bag and keep it in morning sunlight for next 10 days, after that you can transplant in a bigger pot or in ground in a sunny spot.
Video on Growing Nectarine Tree
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