How to propagate Helleborus

Propagation by division

Helleborus can be propagated by division. When dividing the plant, you should do it according to the growth conditions of the hellebore.

When dividing the plant, you should first dig out the hellebore, remove the soil and trim the roots, and keep as many roots as possible. Generally, one hellebore can be divided into several plants, and the cluster should not be larger than 20 cm. Plant immediately after division, with the planting depth matching the soil of the cluster, and trim the leaves to remove any remaining leaves. If the environment is dry, newly planted plants need to be watered thoroughly and marked.

When propagating hellebore by division, please note that the plants after division generally will not bloom in the first year and their growth will be weak, but this situation will only last for two years. Removing all flower buds in the first year of division can promote strong root growth.

Seed propagation

Most species of hellebore can be propagated by sowing.

Generally, after hellebore produces seeds, you can find a large number of seedlings around the mother plant and transplant them in early autumn or late spring.

The next step is harvesting and sowing. Hellebore seeds can be harvested in late spring or early summer. The method is very simple, just shake the fruit a few times and the seeds will separate from the bursting part of the skin. Note that seeds should be sown immediately after harvesting.

After collecting seeds, plant the seeds of hellebore in a culture dish or seedbed. The culture dish or seedbed should be placed in a shaded place outdoors. If there are pests, the culture dish or seedbed needs to be covered with a mulch to keep the substrate moist but not too wet. After sowing, the seeds will not germinate until mid-summer at the earliest, but will not emerge from the ground until the following spring.

Remove the covering as soon as the seedlings emerge and transplant them into pots after a few weeks. Fertilization is needed 6 weeks after potting, and then the plant can be moved to a larger pot after it grows bigger.