Propagating Japanese Andromedas

We are actively propagating Japanese Andromedas, in fact, it was one of the first plants we ever took cuttings from that rooted. They are beautiful plants with the following characteristics.

Common Name: Japanese andromeda, Japanese Pieris, Lily of the Valley
Botanical Name: Pieris japonica
Plant Type: Shrub
Mature Size: 9-12 ft. tall, 6-8 ft. wide
Sun Exposure: Full, partial
Soil Type Moist, well-drained
Soil pH: Acidic
Blooms: Spring
Flower Color: White to pinkish
Hardiness Zones: 5-7 (USDA)

We happen to have over 10 large mother plants to take cuttings from in addition to taking cuttings we have taken many new plants by air layering, most with good success. Japanese Andromedas are beautiful shrubs and make a bold statement in your yard. Growing a few large plants will give you plenty of cutting material each year. Growing Japanese Andromedas is yet another good addition to your Retirement Investment Plant Portfolio.

Propagating Japanese Andromedas from cuttings.

You can take cuttings from larger Andromeda plants at two times of the year. After new growth has hardened off or becomes stiffer, you can take softwood cuttings that will root. In our zone, northern New Jersey that timing is around the end of June. It’s important to take soft wood cuttings fairly early to give plants time to root and become established before winter. You will want them in pots by winter time.

Hardwood cuttings from Andromeda will also root. We take these in the winter, hoping they will form roots sometime in the coming year. The hardwood cuttings can take a very long time to develop good roots however you do end up with a much larger plant. The plant is at least as large and probably larger than a one year old rooted cutting from a soft wood cutting.

When we take a softwood cutting we just snip off a cutting and peel off a few leaves. It is not a bad idea to also reduce the remaining leaf size to reduce the cuttings ability to lose moisture through its leaves. Now dip in a rooting hormone, tap off the excess, and into your medium. We recommend semi clear plastic totes with tops, with a soil mix of about 50% perlite and 50% peat moss. This is a nice light mix,perfect for the very fine roots of the Andromeda.

How many Japanese Andromeda’s can you produce each year?

Since we have so many large plants, we seem to be propagating Andromedas all the time , we might take 2-300 cuttings in June and another 2-300 during the winter. Not all of these will root however it is possible to get several hundred new plants per year without a tremendous amount of effort. At only a 50% success we still expect 2-300 new plants to be growing each year.

What planting media should you use when Propagating Japanese Andromedas?

We have tried several different growing mediums when propagating Andromeda’s. We have used perilite, sand, and regular soil potting mix. Our best results have come from a mix of 50 to 75% perlite and 25 to 50% peat moss. This is a nice light soil mix for plants like Andromedas with very fine roots.

Multiply Andromedas by air layering

Andromedas can be very easy to propagate by using the air layering method. Depending on the size of the stem where you make your, will have an effect on how long it takes the plant to form roots. Cutting a smaller stem during the active growing season might produce roots in just a few weeks . Using a larger stem of around an inch in diameter may take longer. Even as long as several months, one important note is to make sure you keep the moss used in the air layering moist at all times. We grew some new Andromedas last season by using plant propagation pods. These are convenient and work well. We got about 12 very large new plants using these! You can buy Air layering pods in a variety of sizes and quantities. You can also just wrap your cuts with a white or clear plastic which we find holds moisture well.

 

Once you have propagated a new Andromeda from a cutting or air layering you must prune it to create an attractive plant. We find that pruning early is best to train the plant to push out new shoots, and thus become much fuller. The sooner you do this before the plant will be closer to the ground. Sometimes it feels difficult to do this early pruning however, if you do not, you will just end up with a tall and lanky plant. To grow plants that people will buy. You must make them full and make them have a good size. People will even buy a smaller plant if it is nice and full.

Growing Japanese Andromedas can be profitable.

We expect to eventually produce at least 300 Andromedas per year. We expect to sell them as small plants in 1 gallon containers and later larger plants in 3 gallon containers. Our expected selling price is $20 and $40 respectively. The time to produce these is approximately two years for the smaller plants and 3 to 4 years for larger plants .

With an average selling price of $30 times 300 plants per year equals $9,000 less approximately $600 in costs related to containers and dirt. This one plant will contribute significantly to our total annual sales. In addition we also happen to love them, and they are a joy to sell .