The monkey tree with the botanical name Araucaria impresses in home gardens with its exotic appearance and scale-shaped needles. But can it be propagated from seeds or cuttings purchased or from your own tree? Read everything you need to know here.
How to propagate araucaria?
The araucaria, a very rare ornamental fir, isrelatively easy to propagate. The seeds of the female flowers can be sown directly in the garden, but it is better to plant them in the winter and then plant them in the spring.
Can the monkey tree be propagated?
The monkey tree, another name for the decorative fir tree that is becoming increasingly popular in Germany, can be propagated from seedswithout any major problems The seeds required for this can either be obtained from an already grown tree Take or buy araucaria in your own garden. Dried seeds are highly recommended; if you don't have your own monkey tree, it's much better to get fresh seeds from specialist retailers in the fall.
How does araucaria multiply?
The Andean fir can be propagated using theseeds of the female fruits. Follow these steps:
- Collect the approximately 5 centimeter long brown seeds (come from the female flowers, which turn brown and break open after a year).
- Stratify the seeds packed in moist sand in the refrigerator for a few weeks to remove their germination inhibition.
- Prefer the stratified seeds in a container over the winter.
- Plant the early seeds in spring.
Sowing seeds directly is another option for propagation.
What needs to be taken into account when propagating araucaria?
It is important that the seeds collected in autumndo not dry out under any circumstances and then are sown outdoors. In this case, propagation would be doomed to failure because dried seeds no longer have the ability to germinate.
Does propagation also work via offshoots?
Propagation of araucaria via cuttings isnot recommended Although the cuttings from the roots of the main stem and also cut cuttings would establish roots, they would then no longer develop and ultimately even die. The reason for this is that the araucaria, which generally thrives without much care, is one of the plants that has an extremely poor tolerance to pruning: where the tree has been pruned, no new shoots appear.
Tip
Buy early plants as an alternative
Since it takes a very long time to grow reasonably tall trees from self-propagated araucarias, buying an adult plant is a real alternative. After all, ornamental firs only grow an average of 20 centimeters a year, which can turn into a game of patience. However, when buying adult plants of a certain height, you can expect quite high prices - up to several hundred euros.
