Every gardener has his favorite plants. Often the main attraction and darling becomes a tasty sweet plum growing in the garden.
Plum is good not only for its taste, it has a lot of healing properties. This fruit is rich in magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin C, and in the process of growth accumulates vitamin B2, promoting carbohydrate metabolism. In addition, B vitamins protect the nervous system from external stimuli, prevent stress and promote the removal of harmful substances from the body.
Important! There is more vitamin B2 in the sink than in other garden crops.Fruits of plums are composed of substances that strengthen blood vessels and reduce pressure, remove excess cholesterol and promote proper intestinal function. But not only plum fruits have healing properties, but also bark, wood, as well as flowers. This tree is simply indispensable at the dacha.
If you are a gardener with little experience, you are probably interested in the question of how to grow a good variety and how prunes multiply. Consider the basic rules.
Features of reproduction plum
There are several methods of propagation of plums: root shoots, cuttings, grafting or germination of the stone. From seeds rarely grown varietal plum. They are used only for the production of plants, to the trunk of which grafts or buds of different plant varieties are grafted. Such plants are called stocks. 
To grow rootstocks, you will need selected healthy seeds. Soak them for 4 days, changing the water and stirring. After drying the seeds and transfer to a jar for further storage. Before planting, plum seeds must be stratified. To do this, mix them with wet sand or sawdust and soak for six months at a temperature of from +1 to -10 ° C. Seeds should be sown at the end of autumn or in spring after frosts. A year later, you will have ready seedlings to which you can be vaccinated.
The nuances of pruning plum
Plum is best grown by cutting. This is one of the most reliable ways to produce healthy trees with tasty fruits. Correctly rooting cuttings, in a few years you will receive a root-bearing, fruit-bearing tree. Reproduction of plums in this way should be done by lignified and green cuttings.
Pruning green cuttings plum has become popular with gardeners recently. Previously, this method was used only in production. Its main advantages are rapid reproduction and a high percentage of rooting cuttings, which gives a good increase in trees per unit area. Green cuttings can quickly grow a lot of trees of a particular variety. But it is worth noting that not all varieties of plum trees are rooted easily. For this method are good specimens that develop a large number of root shoots. Factors such as equipment, quality of planting material, fertilizers, grafting periods, and plant conditions influence the breeding result. Reproduction of lignified cuttings is considered to be the easiest vegetative method. To grow a plum from a woody cutting, prepare them in a dormant period. The main factor in this matter is the preparation of the mother plant - short pruning a year before cutting. After this procedure, shoots appear on the tree, which can take root and develop independently.
Deadlines for Procurement
It is very important to keep the cuttings in a healthy state before vaccination. Green samples should be harvested at the intensive stage of growth (in mid-July), and lignified ones, on the contrary, during the rest period.
If plum trees grow in a region where cold winters, cut lignified cuttings in late November or early December, but always before the onset of severe frosts below -20 ... -25 ° С.
If the winter was not very frosty, you can prepare cuttings in early spring, before the buds swell. In this case, there will be no problems with the storage of planting material.
How to prepare plum cuttings
Before planting a plum stalk, it is important to properly harvest the planting material. In diameter, the cutting should be the size of a pencil. If it turns out to be thinner, it will dry before it grows together with the stock. To prepare the cutting take a strong annual growth of 40-50 cm in length. If the plum, from which you decide to take cuttings, is frail, then in the spring you will need to make a rejuvenating pruning of skeletal branches.
The most optimal temperature for storing the cuttings is 2-4 ° C.
In areas where there is a lot of snow, cuttings are recommended to be stored under a layer of snow 50-70 cm high. But in an area where there are often thaws in the middle of winter, you need to fill the cuttings with wet sawdust and take it out in the cold. After the sawdust freezes and forms a cocoon, take them to a place inaccessible to the sun's rays and sprinkle them with a layer of 30-40 cm in dry sawdust. Cover with plastic tops and store until grafting. Sawdust retains heat well, so the cuttings will be frozen until the desired date. A couple of days before the procedure, transfer the bag with the cuttings to a warm place, where the future shoots will slowly melt.
If you have a few cuttings, you can keep them in the refrigerator. Put in a plastic bag, wrap around the bundle and pull off with a rope. Put another bag on the other end and tie it too.
Important! We do not recommend storing plum cuttings in the freezer - they may freeze there.Ensure that the cuttings are not very wet in the storage area. This can bring the cuttings out of rest and, consequently, make them unsuitable for inoculation. The lack of moisture is less dangerous than its excess.
If the cuttings are dried during storage, they should be soaked in water and put for three days in a cold place. But before soaking, be sure to update the slices.
Did you know? In order for the cuttings to settle down faster and better, update the lower sections a day before the inoculation and place them in water in a cool place.
Rooting cuttings
Now let's see how to root a plum stalk. First you need to plant the green cuttings to a depth of 3 cm so that the bottom leaf of the seedling is above the ground. The distance between the cuttings and between the rows, try to maintain 5 cm. Cover the seedlings with foil. The frame on which you will stretch the film, make of wire arcs. The temperature under the film should be 25-30 ° C. Water cuttings 2-3 times a day.
In easily rooted plum cultivars, adventitious roots are formed on the 12th – 18th day, and in those that take root slowly, in a month. When the roots only appear, lift the film during the daytime to get more oxygen in the greenhouse. A month later, feed the cuttings with mineral fertilizers, and then pour it abundantly.
To seedlings endured the winter, in the middle of autumn, sprinkle the beds with a layer of peat or dry leaves.
The following varieties of plums reproduce well by green cutting: Tula black, Memory of Timiryazev, Early red and Hungarian Moscow.
Lignified cuttings should be planted so that the third kidney is located underground, but as close as possible to the surface. Plum roots are formed on the base cut and along the stem. And those that appeared on the stem of cuttings, gradually die off. Thus, the root system of the new plum is formed from the basal roots that are at the base of the seedlings. In order for the basal roots to grow faster, you need to process the cuttings of the cuttings with a growth regulator and provide them with a good flow of air. The most favorable mode for growth is in the first 5 cm of soil.
In order for the stalk to be well rooted, to not get sick and not to dry, its length must be at least 15 cm.
Planting a young plant
Plum to the composition of the soil is not demanding and grows well on any soil. Only stagnant moisture is detrimental to it, so do not plant a tree very close to the groundwater. And plum should not grow in the shade. There the fruits deteriorate, and the leaves are brightened by the lack of sun.
If you purchased the saplings in the fall, then you need to prikopat and cover with spruce branches, and then with snow. In the spring, dig out seedlings before planting and plant them as soon as the buds begin to swell. If you miss this moment, the trees will take root badly. The place where the plum grows should be sunny and windless. The distance between seedlings and between rows is 3 m. 
Pits for seedlings are prepared in autumn or dug in the spring, two weeks before planting. The depth of the hole should be half a meter, and its diameter - 70 cm. In the center of the fossa strengthen the stick, around which scatter the mixture for planting. In order not to damage the bark, its neck should be at a height of 5 cm from the ground level. Spread the roots of the seedling in the fossa and cover it with a layer of soil without adding fertilizer. The seedling should be strengthened from the north side of the stick at an angle of 90 ° from the ground. After planting, pour the plant abundantly (4 buckets per sapling), grumble with humus, dry soil or peat.
Planting mix:
- land;
- humus;
- ammonium nitrate;
- superphosphate;
- river sand;
- potassium chloride;
- gravel.
How to multiply the plum by layering
This method also applies to the plum vegetative propagation. It has its advantages in comparison with reproduction by cuttings. For example, constant control over external conditions is not needed until the plant takes root. With the help of breeding layers, you can save favorite varieties.
For cuttings, it is necessary to choose the right shoots and create conditions for the formation of roots.
The best time to breed
The best time to create layers is spring, and they should be planted with the roots formed in autumn.
How to multiply the plum by layering
On the shoot, at a height of 15-20 cm from the top, remove the rind of the bark or cut it into wood. Then take two handfuls of wet sphagnum and make a lump of them. Secure it in place of the cut and wrap it in black polyethylene. If the weather is warm, the roots will appear very quickly. Branch with the formed roots must be cut off from the mother plant, along with the substrate, and landed on a permanent place. 
Did you know? The method of propagation by layering was known in China 4000 years ago.In the spring, you need to take last year's shoots for cuttings, and in August you can use semi-woody shoots of this year. If you decide to breed plums at the end of summer, then at a distance of 15-30 cm from the top of the stem, remove the leaves and do all the same procedures. To form roots, you will need to wait for the next season.
Features of reproduction of plum root shoots
The easiest way to reproduce plum - root shoots. To grow plum from overgrowth, you need to know a few rules. Unsuitable for planting are sprouts located near the mother plant. Choose those that are far away. In order for the sapling to take root without problems, you need to carry out the preparatory process. If all the procedures are done correctly, then it will be possible to enjoy delicious fruits in a year, maximum in two.
When to propagate plum root shoots
In the fall, chop up the root connecting the mother tree to the seedlings, and in spring dig up the shoots with the roots and plant them in a new place. The second option: perform the whole operation in August-September or in early spring, before the buds bloom. 
How to remove the process
Dig out the ground from the mother plant and find the main root. Use a sharp spade to sever the root on the opposite side of the uterine tree. After two weeks, remove the seedling and immediately transfer it to the prepared well.
Important! The main root, from which you have separated the seedling, needs to be smeared with garden pitch or sprinkled with ashes so that it does not get infected.
The process of planting a young plant
In the spring of next year, a well-shaped plum seedling can be transplanted to a permanent place. The plant will take root successfully if you dig it from all sides and transplant it with a clod of earth. Be sure to consider all the features of the old place of growth of the seedling: the cardinal points, the sun, the shadow.
The landing fossa should be of such size that the roots of the seedling can comfortably sit in it. Be sure to sprinkle fertile soil and fertilizer into the hole. Ram the soil around the seedling and pour it.
