Can You Plant Wisteria Suckers?
Plants propagate in different ways. Some, like the wisteria vines, send up offshoots called “suckers” from their underground roots. If you allow these suckers to grow, they form a close-knit hedgerow. Can you plant wisteria offshoots? Yes, you can. In addition to propagating wisteria seeds or cuttings, you can dig up suckers and use them as young wisteria plants ready for a new home. Moving wisteria shoots is not difficult if you know how and when to do it.
Moving Wisteria Shoots
Suckers are not difficult to dig up and transplant. The best time to transplant your wisteria suckers is in late winter or early spring before bud break. Before you start removing a sucker, however, you should prepare the planting location. Pick a spot that gets at least six hours a day of sunlight. Dig out a hole for each sucker. The hole should be 2 feet (0.5 m.) across and 2 feet (0.5 m.) deep. Fill it with water and let it drain through. Then mix well-rotted compost into the soil. Pick a healthy sucker that is between one and two feet (0.5 m.) tall. Push your shovel into the area between the mother plant and the sucker. Sever the root holding the two together, then carefully pry out the sucker and its root ball. Gently remove any weeds that are on the sucker dirt. When transplanting wisteria suckers, place the root ball into the planting hole, adding soil on the bottom of the hole to make sure that the top of the root ball is level with the soil. It’s important to plant the wisteria shoot to the same depth as it was originally growing. Tuck the amended soil into the hole around the sucker. Pat it into place to eliminate air pockets. Then give the wisteria vine a generous drink of water. Keep the soil moist the first year after planting.
