Populus (tremuloides)

Tara Luna USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana 59936 (406) 888-7835 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc

---

Family Scientific Name:	Salicaceae
Family Common Name:	Willow family
Scientific Name:	Populus tremuloides Michx.
Common Name:	Aspen
Species Code:	POPTRE
Ecotype:	Aspen Forest, Saint Mary, 1585 elev.
General Distribution:	P. tremuloides occurs from Alaska to Labrador south to California, Arizona, and northern Mexico, through the Rocky Mountains to Texas, the Great Basin states, and from the Dakotas and Nebraska east across the upper Mid-West and south through New England to Virginia.
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	vegetative
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Stock Type:	3 L containers
Time To Grow:	2 Years
Target Specifications:	Stock Type: Container cuttings<br> Height: 30 cm<br> Caliper: 8 mm <br> Root System: firm plug in containers.
Propagule Collection:	Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting Type of Cutting: Root cutting.
Propagule Processing:	Lateral Roots 1 to 2.5 centimeters in diameter are collected from healthy clones in early June. Suckering ability may vary considerably. It is best to take several root cuttings from many lateral roots from younger trees. Sections collected nearest the bole of the donor tree produce more shoots.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Roots are cut into 10 to 20 centimeter sections> The ends of each root cuttings are sealed with paraffin, and root cuttings are placed in a 2 minute Domain fungicide bath to kill surface pathogens. Root sections are placed in a mist bed with bottom heat set at 21C until shoots emerge and are are 5 cm tall. Shoots are excised with a razor blade from the root cuttings and treated with 2000 ppm IBA rooting hormone powder before sticking shoot cuttings in the mist bed with bottom heat setat 21C for 8 weeks until an adequate root system is generated. Rooting %: 95% of excised shoots produce roots.
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 buried 12 cm beneath rooting medium. Rooting medium 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.
Establishment Phase:	Cuttings that were pre rooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequate root systems were formed. Roots generate from the nodes below the surface of the rooting medium.
Length of Establishment Phase:	8 weeks
Active Growth Phase:	After cuttings were lifted from the mistbed, they were potted into 3L containers. Growing medium used is 6:1:1 milled spaghnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite 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:	10 weeks
Hardening Phase:	Containers are leached with clear water to remove excess salts prior to winterization of nursery stock.
Length of Hardening Phase:	4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Total Time To Harvest: 2 years Harvest Date: September of the second year. Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage:	5 months
Other Comments:	Aspen is easily propagated by seeds and root cuttings. Seed production is rare in the northern Rocky Mountains. Root cuttings appeared to have better vigor than seed propagated material.
References:	Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1973. Seeds of the Woody Plants in North America, Young and Young, Dioscorides Press, 1992. Seeds of the Woody Plants in the United States, Agriculture Handbook No. 450, U.S.F.S., Washington D.C., 1974. Vegetative Propagation of Rocky Mountain Aspen, Schier, G., U.S.D.A. Forest Service General Technical Report INT-44, August 1978. Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished. 1996 Revegetation Monitoring Report, Glacier National Park, Asebrook, J., Lamb, B., and Funk, T., unpublished.

Citation:

Luna, Tara; Evans, Jeff; Wick, Dale; Johnson, Kathy. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Populus tremuloides Michx. plants 3 L containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/07/02). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.