Asexual Plant Propagation: Increasing Your Odds of Success
An important consideration in the asexual propagation of woody stem cuttings is the management of stock plants, which the propagator can manipulate to improve adventitious rooting. Selection depends on the condition of the potential donors as well as project-specific criteria such as sample size and geographic distribution. Decisions regarding cultivation reflect crop value; anticipated demand; project scope and duration; and the accessibility, physiological condition, and longevity of wildland donors. Projects requiring numerous local ecotypes may present unique selection and cultivation challenges. Optimal stock plant environment varies by species but includes proper timing of cutting removal, photoperiods that avoid flowering and dormancy, an appropriate level of cutting irradiance based on stock plant intensities, moderate levels of nutrition, threshold levels of carbohydrates, and a satisfactory water balance. Stock plant manipulation via light exclusion and the arresting or reversing of ontogenetic aging are reliable techniques for improving the rooting of numerous difficult-to-root species.
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Author(s): Joseph D. Scianna
Publication: Native Plants: Propagating and Planting
