Populus (deltoides)
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Gregory Hoss Nursery Manager George O. White State Forest Nursery PO Box 119 Licking, Missouri 65542-0119 573-674-3229 GIF-native-plants@prodigy.net |
| Family Scientific Name: | Salicaceae | ||
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| Family Common Name: | Willow Family | ||
| Scientific Name: | Populus deltoides Bart. ex Marsh | ||
| Common Synonym: | Populus angulata Ait. | ||
| Common Name: | Eastern cottonwood | ||
| Species Code: | POPDEL | ||
| Ecotype: | South Central Missouri | ||
| General Distribution: | Eastern cottonwood is found from Quebec to southern Alberta and south through the Great Plains states to Texas, and throughout the eastern United States from Maine to Florida. It is found in riparian habitats, along rivers and lakeshores and in upland open forest in the mountains and plains. Our cuttings are from south central Missouri. | ||
| Propagation Goal: | plants | ||
| Propagation Method: | vegetative | ||
| ProductType: | Bareroot (field grown) | ||
| Stock Type: | 1+0 | ||
| Time To Grow: | 1 Years | ||
| Target Specifications: | Height: 6 ft<br> Caliper:0.50 to 1.0 in<br> Root System: Root system must balance top growth. | ||
| Propagule Collection: | Cuttings are collected from stooling beds that are hedged to maintain juvenile wood that is straight and for ease of handling and sticking in field beds. Wild collections are also grown at our nursery and kept separated according to source. | ||
| Propagule Processing: | Hardwood cuttings are collected from stooling beds or from wild collections in late winter before budbreak and cut to 8 to 10 inch lengths. Cuttings can be wrapped, bundled and stored in the cooler until they are stuck into field beds. | ||
| Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops: |
Soils: Our field soils are silty clay loams. The spring before planting, we amend the soils with 700 lbs/acre of 1N:3 P205:5K20, grow a soybean cover crop, and fumigate in the fall. We use Roundup Ready soybeans so we can control weeds by using glycosate herbicide without harming the cover crop. During early August, we disk under the cover crop and disk the soils several times during the next 6 weeks to obtain a smooth soil surface. Soils are fumigated in late September. Field Bed Preparation: We mark out and form beds as needed. Beds are prepared with a rototiller/seedbed former and are typically 4 to 6 inches high and 4 ft wide. Fields are cultivated for weeds as needed throughout the growing season. Irrigation: We use overhead irrigation with two inch pvc pipe that can be moved from field to field each year. Our principle water source is from 3 on-site wells and is very good quality water. |
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| Establishment Phase: | Cuttings are stuck by hand in prepared field beds during early spring to a depth of 6 inches. Soil is firmed aroundstems after sticking to remove air pockets and irrigated after planting. Beds are irrigated as surface begins to dry. Rooting occurs when field soils warm in later spring and rapidly produce root growth. | ||
| Length of Establishment Phase: | 1-2 months | ||
| Active Growth Phase: |
Year 1: Fertilization: We apply ammonium sulfate 21-0-0-24 with a mechanical spreader. We put on the first application the last week of May and to only those cuttings that have been established for at least 5 or 6 weeks. We put down our last application during the last week of July. We apply fertilizer at the rate of 125 lbs/acre. Frequency of application depends on the species and how they look that season. We irrigate for at least 45 minutes following all fertilizer applications. This insures that foliage will not burn and incorporates fertilizer into the root zone. ROOT PRUNING PROCEDURES: Seedlings are root pruned during June. Pruning depth is at least 10 inches for 1+ 0 stock. Irrigate heavily for 2 to 3 days prior to pruning to saturate the root zone. Set pruning blade to slightly wrench seedlings as they are pruned. Check pruning depth frequently and adjust as needed. Irrigate for a minimum of 2 hours following root pruning to settle soil back around roots. This step is critical to eliminate post root pruning mortality. Irrigate field heavily for 2 to 3 days to further settle the soil. TOP PRUNING PROCEDURES: We top prune only to keep seedlings from being damaged by the mechanical lifter. Our clients prefer seedlings that have not been severely shoot pruned. |
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| Length of Active Growth Phase: | 4-5 months | ||
| Hardening Phase: | Hardening begins during August. No fertilizer is applied after August. Irrigation frequency and duration is shortened and applied only when needed. | ||
| Length of Hardening Phase: | 3 months | ||
| Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: | Lifting window is from late November to April, depending on species. We try to obtain a large a root mass as possible. We try to lift when the majority of leaves have dropped.Lifted nursery stock is immediately stored in cooler until graded and bundled. The majority of species are graded, bundled and shipped during February. | ||
| Length of Storage: | 3 months | ||
Citation:
Hoss, Gregory. 2005. Propagation protocol for production of Bareroot (field grown) Populus deltoides Bart. ex Marsh plants 1+0; George O. White State Forest Nursery Licking, Missouri. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/02/24). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
