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The Forest Service National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) is a leading source of technical information for nurseries and land managers regarding production and planting of trees and other native plants for reforestation, restoration, and conservation.

 
NPN Protocol Details Image

Rhamnus (alnifolia)

Tara Luna
USDI NPS - Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936
(406) 888-7835
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc
Family Scientific Name: Rhamnaceae
Family Common Name: Buckthorn family
Scientific Name: Rhamnus alnifolia L'Her
Common Name: Alder buckthorn
Species Code: RHAALN
Ecotype: Gravel bar of stream; adjacent to Pine/ Fir forest, Many Glacier, Glacier National Park, Glacier Co., MT. 1585m elevation.
General Distribution: R. alnifolia occurs east of the Cascades, from B.C. to California, east to Quebec and Maine, and to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Propagation Goal: plants
Propagation Method: vegetative
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: 800 ml containers
Time To Grow: 15 Months
Target Specifications: Stock Type: Container cutting<br> Height: 15 cm<br> Caliper: 7 mm<br> Root System: Firm plug in conetainers.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting
Type of Cutting: Summer softwood stem cutting collected in late June.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pre treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Cuttings were 17 cm in length and were taken in late June. Cuttings were treated with 8000 ppm Hormex rooting powder and struck in sand media under mist with bottom heat for 7 weeks. Cuttings produced well branched roots. Cuttings were potted in 800 ml pots and were root tight in 4 weeks.
Rooting %: 50%
Growing Area Preparation/
Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:		 The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Misting frequency is increased or decreased according to daily outdoor temperature and wind. Bottom heat is maintained at 21C with heating cables 12 cm beneath rooting media. Rooting media is 50% perlite and 50% sand. Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting. After cuttings are potted, they are moved to an outdoor shadehouse for 4 weeks. They are later moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery and are irrigated with Rainbird automatic irrigation system in early morning until containers are thoroughly leached. Average growing season of nursery is from late April after snowmelt until October 15th. First average frost is September 5th, although freezing temperatures can be expected anytime in Glacier National Park.
Establishment Phase: Time to Transplant: 8 weeks.
Cuttings that were prerooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequate root systems were formed. Roots generate from the nodes below the surface of the rooting media.
Length of Establishment Phase: 7 weeks
Active Growth Phase: After cuttings were lifted from the mistbed, they were potted into 800 ml containers. Growing media used is 70% 6:1:1 milled spaghnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite and 30% sand with Osmocote controlled release fertilizer (13N:13P2O5:13K2O; 8 to 9 month release rate at 21C) and Micromax fertilizer (12%S, 0.1%B, 0.5%Cu, 12%Fe, 2.5%Mn, 0.05%Mo, 1%Zn) at the rate of 5 grams of Osmocote and 2 grams of Micromax per conetainer. Cuttings were irrigated after potting and placed in the shadehouse for 4 weeks. After establishment in the shadehouse, plants were moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery.
Length of Active Growth Phase: 8 weeks
Hardening Phase: Plants are fertilized with 10-20-20 liquid NPK at 200 ppm during August and September. Irrigation is gradually reduced in September and October. Plants were given one final irrigation prior to winterization.
Length of Hardening Phase: 4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: Total Time To Harvest: 1.3 years from cuttings
Harvest Date: September
Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage: 5 months
References: Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, 7th edition, University of Washington Press, 1973.
The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation, Dirr and Heuser, Varsity Press, 1987.
Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Baskin and Baskin, Academic Press, 1998.
Glacier National Park Propagation Records, unpublished.

Citation:

Evans, Jeff. 2001. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Rhamnus alnifolia L'Her plants 800 ml containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/07/01). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.