Thuja can also be grown yourself. Whether it's worth it is another question, as the Tree of Life is offered relatively inexpensively. If you have a lot of patience and maintain a hedge of arborvitae in the garden, the best way to propagate thuja is through cuttings.
How to propagate thuja via cuttings?
To propagate Thuja via cuttings, harvest cuttings from the plant in early summer, shorten them slightly, use rooting powder and plant them. Cultivation takes place in pots or greenhouses; the cuttings must be kept moist.
Harvesting cuttings for propagating thuja
For propagation, do not use cut cuttings, but so-called cracklings. These are torn off by the Thuja in early summer. A small piece of bark must remain on the cutting.
Be sure to wear gloves when tearing off (€13.00 on Amazon). Thuja is poisonous. The escaping plant sap can cause inflammation of the skin.
Tear off more cuttings than you actually need. Not all cuttings will produce roots. The failure rate can be quite high even with the best care.
Prepare cuttings correctly
- Tear off cuttings
- shorten slightly
- Use rooting powder
- Planting cuttings
- keep moist
The suitable location for cultivation
If you only want to grow a few thujas yourself, pots or a small greenhouse are ideal. For larger quantities, for example for a hedge, place the cuttings directly in the desired location outdoors. Then you no longer need to transplant the thujas later.
Put the pots or greenhouse in a bright place where the temperature is around 20 degrees. Do not place them directly in the blazing midday sun.
In the open air, the place should definitely be protected from the wind and not be too exposed to the sun.
How to care for the cuttings
Put transparent foil or freezer bags over the pots with the cuttings. This protects the earth from drying out. But ventilate once a day to avoid mold formation.
In a greenhouse, cover the cuttings with the lid and keep the cuttings well moist but not too wet. In the open field you must ensure that the soil never completely dries out. Protect the young plants from too much sun.
If new shoots appear, roots have formed and the tree of life can be transplanted.
Tip
Growing from seeds is of course also possible. However, this method is more complex and it takes longer until you get sufficiently large specimens. There is also the possibility that a different type of thuja will result.
