Proceedings Library

Etiolation is known to play a definite role in enhancing the rooting potential of many plants. A number of references attest to this fact in the literature, several of which will be cited below.

Sachs (1864) noted that adventitious roots formed in great abundance in darkness on portions of stems of a variety of plant species, but that this phenomenon would not occur in light (23).

Mevius (1931) found that light inhibited the rooting of cuttings of Tradescantia species (14). Gardner (1937) successfully rooted cuttings of McIntosh apple made with the basal cut in an etiolated area (3). Reid (1922) and Blackie, Graham, and Stewart (1926) used similar methods as Gardner to affectively root a difficult clone of camphor (21, 1). Smith (1924) found that etiolation enhanced rooting in the genus Clematis (25). Etiolation was proven was proven very beneficial in rooting avocado cuttings according to Frolich (1961) and Johnston and Frolich (1957) (2, 10).

The process of etiolation is

The discussion centered around certain key points which I will now attempt to summarize. One of these was the use of various chemicals as disinfectants in the various propagation steps. There appeared to be considerable use of Morton Soil Drench and Pano Drench either as a drench for the rooting medium or for the cuttings themselves. Some applied

Does this mean to produce smaller cuttings, grafts, or seedlings, or to crowd more cuttings into a given area, or to produce cheaper, easier to grow varieties. It could mean to use cheaper, less experienced help, or to use cheaper, more easily worked understock regardless of the quality of the resulting plants, or to increase the volume of propagation to cut the cost of the individual item and then hope that the material produced can be sold.

We concluded that cutting the cost of propagation is only a very small part of the answer to production cost control.

The following points were presented to be of prime consideration along with actual propagation costs.

1. Change in consumer demand.
2. Change in marketing procedures and outlets.

These enter into cost control much more than trying to produce a plant cheaper than your competitor.

The experiment was all under one mist system which was controlled by the balanced arm and screen wire mechanism. The mist was on when the screen wire weight was dry. It did not usually operate at night or in cloudy weather.

The first variable was the rooting media. There was not a significant difference between rooting results of the four following mixtures: (1) half bank sand and half German peat, (2) half bank sand and half Canadian peat (this peat was

Budding requires a minimum amount of handling and labor.

Budding takes advantage of the natural cycle of rest and growth that takes place in a plant during a year.

Budding produces the maximum size plant in the minimum amount of time. And a true union of tissues takes place during the first growing season.

I have found much to my amazement that different practices are employed in different parts of the country, as for example along the Eastern Seaboard and up around Long Island most nurserymen practice grafting and they don't have the technique or the help to establish a budding practice. In Lake County everybody practices the budding methods and budding help is generally available.

There was a time when young boys 10 and 12 years old were winders behind budders and before they had finished high school they were doing the budding and some of

A very dense, globular, slow growing form of the Common European Hedge Maple. Scions were obtained from Arnold Arboretum in 1950 and grafted onto Acer campestre during the winter and grown in a grafting case. These plants are now 3 feet high and wide. The plants on the slide were grafted in the winter of 1954 and now measure 2½ feet high and 2 feet wide.

Acer Ginnala Durand Dwarf.

In 1954 a large witches broom was found on an old Acer Ginnala in Durand Eastman Park, Rochester, New York. In 1956 we made a few grafts on Acer Ginnala and grew them in a grafting case. What you see is now a plant 3 feet high and 5 feet wide. Growth when small is short and slow but increases with age. This year's growth was 9–12 inches. Anyone can speculate about the ultimate size of this round shrub-like plant. The same brilliant fall colors of orange, scarlet and purple appear in this cultivar.

Berberis

A second view shows the site and gives some idea of its immediate surroundings. In the foreground, with the broom-bearing tree situated at its edge, is a fifty yard wide clearance cut through the woods to accommodate high-tension electric lines. As a result of this unnatural opening in the woods, seeds shed from the broom had a better chance of developing into plants than would be the case in natural woodland where any abnormal

Cultivars of M.

In the following paper, which is an updating of the talk I gave at the Cincinnati meeting of the International Plant Propators' Society in 1962, I discuss my own crosses involving so far the two Sweet Bays, M. virginiana L. (synonym: M. glauca) and M. australia Ashe with other species; mention crosses which several other breeders have made with American Magnolia species; and outline some of the possibilities of further breeding to secure new hybrids worthy of propagation as evergreen or deciduous ornamentals. Though one prominent botanist told me that he thought any two magnolia species were fertile to each other's pollen, experience indicates the situation to be less simple. We may not in the foreseeable future cross between the two subgenera of Dandy's classification, but there are enough interspecific crosses and even intersectional and 3-sectional hybrids (within both subgenera) to indicate that much more may be done with breeding in this ancient genus. In the North

One of earlier uses of arcillite was its incorporation in the soil of golf greens. It has proven quite resistant to break down by freezing and thawing and as reported by Montgomery (1) greatly stimulates the uniform growth of grass apparently by allowing air to penetrate to the root zone.

Arcillite is a satisfactory medium for the cutting bench, either used alone or mixed with peat. It requires more frequent watering than other media due to its higher degree of porosity, but is ideal under mist systems. It has also

The recommended control measures for iron-deficiency chlorosis involve the application of iron-containing compounds such as ferrous sulfate, ferrous citrate, or chelates. These compounds are soluble in water and may be applied as a foliar spray, which gives only temporary

A few years back while working with chestnut propagation at Auburn University, cuttings made from young seedling plants rooted readily while cuttings from old trees were very difficult to root.

This led to the belief that there were substances in the germinating seed that caused the young or juvenille wood to root readily.

Seed cotyledons enclosed in the old seed coat were removed from several young seedlings, and a simple hardwood scion from bearing trees, trimmed to a point at the base, was inserted into each of the removed cotyledons. These grafts with the cotyledons attached were placed in a medium of sand to see if the scion would absorb enough of the substances from the cotyledons to induce rooting. Checks were used without cotyledons attached.

Within a few weeks some of the scions began to grow vigorously while others put out weak growth and died in a short time. When the grafts were examined, it was found that those making good growth had formed a union with the

"Studious inquiry or examination, specifically and usually, critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation having its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation; the revision of accepted conclusions, theories or laws in the light of newly discovered facts; or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions."

In the area of the arts and the humanities, research is most frequently accomplished by diligent investigation, comparison, criticism and interpretation of the writings, the paintings, the sculpture, the musical scores or other products of an individual or groups of individuals whose accomplishments may be related. By contrast, in the area of the sciences, research is most frequently accomplished by experimentation. Since the propagation of plants is primarily a science, we shall be concerned with the experimental approach.

Classically, two levels of

We are all familiar with fungus diseases such as those causing damping-off and we can readily diagnose the cause and take steps to prevent or correct it. If all diseases initiated in the propagating phase killed the plants at this time it would be fine, but the initiation of pathogens, which are evidenced later in the life of the plant, can prove to be very costly. The decline of plants in later phases of growth often results in death, or weakened plants of poor

The use of the mist techniques in the research projects including plant propagation at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station presented considerable difficulties due to the high soluble salt content in the available water supply. (This was largely due to sodium accumulation on the leaves.) This condition resulted in severe marginal burning of the leaves on most cuttings placed in this environment for periods exceeding 15 days.

Another well-known propagating technique for the propagation of cuttings and grafts is the use of a closed case covered with glass,

The most obvious requirement of an inexpensive plastic structure is that it cover the most area or furnish the most cubic feet of space at the least cost per square foot or cubic foot. On this level, it is an engineering problem in which local snow and wind loads must be taken into consideration. If this were the only problem this audience would be better served by having an architect or engineer furnish structural data that I am in no way qualified to present.

I would like to depart to a large extent from the structural aspects of "Inexpensive

The Tree Improvement Program of the Texas Forest Service is concerned with the selection and breeding of superior strains of southern pines for paper pulp and lumber. One of the problems encountered in this program has been the vegetative propagation of selected trees. Since only mature trees are selected, rooting capacity is low (6, 7) and the selections have been propagated by grafting in the past. For our purposes, this has the disadvantages of (1) a different genetic constitution of the stock and scion, (2) possible incompatability between the stock and scion, and (3) higher cost.

Attempts at working out a satisfactory technique for propagating older pines from cuttings met with little success. Accordingly the decision was made to begin a basic investigation of rooting in pines. The purposes were, first, to study root initiation in pines and, second, to determine the relationship between juvenility and root initiation. The first phase of the research has been to

In answer to the request for participants I received two replies, one from Paul E. Case of Pleasant Grove Nursery, Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania. The other Robert L. Ticknor, Associate Professor of Horticulture, Oregon State University.

Paul Case reported the following: the cuttings were stuck in a greenhouse bed with a depth of 5 inches of sharp, washed sand. A heat cable maintained a temperature of 72° – 75° F. The cuttings were under a tent of plastic supported 10 inches above the sand by a wire frame. A 50 percent slat shade plus the usual whitewash shading covered the glass. The greenhouse temperature was generally under 75° with a night temperature 10° lower. The cuttings were watered heavily

Berries are collected when ripe in November and December. They will vary in size and shape depending on the species, the largest being about ½ inch in diameter on Ilex macrocarpa and also Ilex opaca variety Emily, a selection of the late Wilfred Wheeler.

Inside the berry there are generally four individual nut like seeds, which if you carefully remove the pulp, appear as a single stone. The skin and pulp are removed from the seeds by fermenting in water with a small amount of sugar and rubbing over a screen or by using a commercial seed cleaner. The seeds of the various species vary in size in definite relation to the size of the berry. The imperfect seeds which are plentiful in some species are floated off and discarded. A bulletin which describes and illustrates the seeds of thirty some species was written some years ago by Dr.

The plants were propagated at a commercial nursery in 1955 and 1956. Six-inch rootstock pieces were grafted to three-inch nurse root pieces of Western apple seedlings, using the whip and tongue technique. The grafts were callused and field grown for one season. In 1956, "two eye" stem pieces of the scion varieties were bench grafted to five-inch sections of the interstem varieties. The grafts were callused until bud break in the spring and then grafted, in the field, onto the rootstocks.

It is estimated that 95% of European growers use this stock extensively. However, in Britain and Holland, nurserymen seem to be equally split on the merits of R. canina and R. multiflora strains and much argument is heard on both sides. In Germany and Belgium, R. canina flourishes almost 100%. In British Columbia, the Rosecroft Nursery works on a fifty-fifty basis to meet trade requirements.

Rosa canina may be distinguished mainly by the dog-tooth thorns which are borne in profusion; it is from this characteristic that the species derives its name.

The growth is of medium vigour, whilst the structure is

In Oregon, California, and the Southwest rose growing areas, cuttings are used for rootstocks, while in the Northeast, seedlings of Rosa multiflora are used. In the past, mixtures of different R. multiflora types were used as rootstocks for hybrid tea roses in Oregon. At present, most rose growers in Oregon, as well as in Texas, are using clonal lines of R. multiflora, while in Arizona and southern California the variety, Dr. Huey is used. Growers in all of these areas have made rootstock selections. In Addition to grower-selected lines, Dr. G. J. Buck at Iowa State University, Ames, has a breeding program to develop better rose rootstocks.

Cuttings of two California, one Iowa, nine Oregon, and four Texas rootstocks were used in this trial, which was started in

As little information was available on the use of misting as an aid in rooting cuttings, I had to learn the hard way. For example, such items as amount of water, duration, drainage, rooting medium, hardening off cuttings after rooting, etc. had to be learned by the trial and error method.

I have observed a number of different misting nozzles but for my purpose still prefer the original Thompson #215 (made in Los Angeles by Thompson Sprinkler Co. and available through various dealers). It is relatively inexpensive and trouble-free.

These heads operate on low pressure (our's varies from 40–60

Our first method was to cut the buds in late fall, put them in a peach box with a layer of peat moss, another layer of buds, and another layer of peat moss, and then dip them in a pail of water and freeze them solid at 25 degrees. However, they were hard to thaw out. So, finally, we decided to start wrapping them in newspaper and butcher paper and from there we went to newspaper and polyethylene bags, which we

Our climate is best divided into the dry season and the wet season. From June 15 until October 1, less than 10% of our rain falls. The rest of the year is cool and moist with our coldest weather arriving about the middle of January. By employing the attributes of our climate to best advantage and devising protection from severe weather, we are able to produce one of the finest quality plants at the lowest possible cost per unit.

Our cuttings are shorter than usually planted, being only eight inches in length. We use the Clarke strain of Rosa multiflora for early budding, and the Burr strain of R. multiflora for mid-summer

This is the first of Plant Propators' Society meetings I have attended. I have belonged to the Eastern organization since it started, but I have never been close enough to attend their meetings. I understand from those who have attended over the years that one of the finest parts of the program is the question and answer periods where you have a change to quiz one another and get some of your questions answered. And so with these few words we are going

Leslie Hancock has twice described before this society his Burlap Cloud Method of rooting soft cuttings in soil (1). Harvey Templeton has given us the details of the Phytotector Method for rooting cuttings (2). C. W. M. (Charlie) Hess, Sr., talked on the subject in 1955 (3), as did Jack D. Hill (4) and Kenneth W. Reisch (5) in 1957. In 1959 I very briefly described some little work we had done that year in rooting some woody ornamentals inserted directly into peat-moss pots (6).

In our latest installation we made and used this plastic-insulated cable under two inches of sand. Since we use perlite for our rooting media, we are having the best results by placing the cable in sand which gives better lateral distribution of heat. To protect the cable from being moved or broken we use saran screening on top of the sand and the perlite is then placed above that where it can be cleaned out easily without disturbing the cable.

I first heard about low voltage bottom heat in a short note stating that the Europeans were using it; I wondered why didn't we use it. At the time, I was installing 1000 sq. ft. of propagating area and, after pricing lead-covered heating cable, I thought the subject worth looking into. Cornell University a little later

Juniperus horizontalis

This plant was selected from some seedlings of J. horizontalis. A good many had to be discarded. I kept three that were very compact and of a different shape. This plant is blue all summer, but when cold weather comes, it turns to lavender. It is a fast grower and resembles Bar Harbor, but the winter color is entirely different.

Juniperus horizontalis

This is another juniper from the same lot as the other one. This is very low-growing, compact, and takes less shearing to make a nice plant. It has finer foliage than the first one. It is also a slower growing plant and lower than Bar Harbor. It is very dense

First, location; this can be either inside of a lath house, or out in the open, provided the frames are shaded. The shade can either be permanent or controlled manually.

The construction of these frames is not expensive; in fact, this is an ideal way for young people, who are starting out on a shoestring, to get started in plant propagation. The frames are generally built, in length, of multiples of three-foot sashes. A frame, six feet in width by fifteen feet in length, seems to be the most advantageous. Whenever two frames are constructed together, back to back, they should be twelve feet in width, with the center four inches higher than the outside edges. Instead of using glass sashes, we find it more economical and easier to lift, to use a cover constructed of two pieces of angle iron put back

When the cuttings are ready for rooting, that is, if they are brittle enough to snap off rather than bend, our customers bring them to us, often in clean wet burlap bags or, better yet, in plastic sacks. This test does not always hold good, as a few types actually should be put in when they are soft or even sticky, but it is a general rule. We urge that they be brought to us as soon as possible after cutting, so they will be fresh for making up. We usually make our cuttings about 4½" or 5" long with a slanting cut on the end and a single, medium-deep wound. We pull off the bottom leaves and any flower buds leaving the top 6 or 7 leaves, which we cut into half, so as to allow the air to circulate through the flat. We root our cuttings in flats and use a mixture of two-thirds sharp river sand, one-third peat moss, well

We grow all our plants in flats, 20 to a flat, and keep them in the greenhouse or plastic house until all our field work is done, generally by the 15th of June. By the time we are ready to plant, the flats are a solid mass of roots and have to be cut into squares for planting.

We line the plants out in beds 7 ft. wide with 6 plants to the width of the bed, same spacing both ways; that gives them enough space for two season's growth. After planting, we spray with Simazine, at the rate of two pounds per acre, for control of weeds.

From then on they are watered and fertilized just like large nursery stock. Our soil is heavy clay, not too good for growing

These azaleas, like most other deciduous ones, do not propagate readily from cuttings in commercial quantities. Grafted plants of deciduous azaleas are not very satisfactory in that they tend

We grow seedlings in two places, one growing ground is located in Sunnyside, Washington, and one is located here in Oregon on Sauvie Island.

I'll begin with our plant up in Washington where we grow all our apple and pear seedlings. Of course, some of the seed is imported, some from France, some from Austria or China or Japan while some is local seed. We import Pyrus calleryana, P. ussuriensis and French crabapple seed. Our domestic apple seed is locally grown and is mostly of the Winesap variety. Our Bartlett pear seed is from local canneries.

Some of the seed is planted in the fall

This situation caused us to consider various ways of getting a combination of a compatible variety between the rootstock and pear variety. Knowing that both Buerre Hardy and Old Home were compatible, we made up some grafts consisting of Bartlett grafted on B. Hardy or Old Homes using grafting tape to hold the grafts together. We then put these in moderately warm storage for approximately thirty days to start the callusing action at the graft union. After this thirty-day period, we either put them in cold storage or graft them in the field onto quince rootstocks. We were not entirely sure what growth

Let us, then, consider three topics:

1. Why are we interested in clonal apple rootstocks?
2. What clonal apple rootstocks command our major interest and what do we know about these rootstocks?
3. How do we propagate clonal apple rootstocks?

Why Are We Interested In Clonal Apple Roostocks?

The tremendous interest in dwarfing rootstocks comes about because (a) we are historically due for the next step in the refinement of growing fruit, which is to adopt predictable clonal rootstocks to combine with our predictable scion varieties ; and (b) we sense the solution to many of the modern problems of the

In 1958, Dr. H. T. Hartmann and Prof. C. J. Hansen at the University of California, Davis, reported that cuttings of Old Home rooted quite well if taken in November, the bases soaked 24 hours in 200 ppm indolebutyric acid (IBA),

In using rented greenhouse space, several problems occurred. (1) The cuttings had to be made in advance in large quantities, and some drying out occurred before the cuttings could be set. (2) Alternating temperatures, such as when the cuttings were brought in from the cold, made up in a room at moderate temperature, and out in the cold again to be transported to the greenhouse before being set in a controlled temperature environment. (3) However, the most critical problem was the inability to oversee watering and care after the cuttings were set. At best, using rented space was inconvenient, but much better

Seedlings of Mazzard and Mahaleb are still the principal rootstocks used for sweet and sour cherry varieties, respectively. Since both species require cross-pollination for production of fertile seed, their seedling progeny are quite heterogeneous. The extent of this variability is dependent on the genetic make-up of the two parents and the degree of isolation provided the seed orchard. Led by plant pathologists seeking virus-free rootstock materials,

Two houses have been in use for the last six years. The smaller one has an overall dimension of 10' × 40' and the larger one is 20' × 40'. They were placed in a north-south direction in order to utilize the more direct rays of the sun in the early morning and late afternoon. This may be a superior position for October and March. It did not allow enough sunlight during the four winter months when heat and light are at a minimum in this area. Future houses will be built in an east-west direction.

A 20' × 40' plastic house using a concrete foundation and rafters has a material cost of less than $200. A 32" rafter spacing was designed for future use of fiberglass sheets for a permanent roof. Experiments with fiberglass the past three years proved to be very successful for propagation. It would be more adaptable to summer propagation when regular plastic becomes brittle.

At the present time

Three hundred and sixty plants from June cuttings were used in this test. They were potted in 3-inch square plastic pots in August. The growing mixture by volume was 45% friable loam, 45% coarse nursery grade Canadian peat, and 10% coarse washed sand. From August to early October the potted plants were grown outdoors under heavy shade after which they were transferred to a heated plastic house. The minimum temperature was 45° F. Though air and soil were almost saturated with moisture, these conditions apparently had no ill effects on the plants. At the time of housing, 60-watt incandescent lights at 3-foot centers were placed 20 inches above the tops of the plants. Within three weeks, it was apparent that growth was unsatisfactory, so it was decided to try

Our first experience in the use of polyethylene was in 1953 for growing azaleas for the final year, or the final season of spring and summer, to bud them up for market. After having good results the first year, we continued the following year with more such structures for azaleas.

In building the first structure we checked to see which widths of polyethylene would be available in our area in four-mil thickness. We found the 20' × 100' in four-mil was most popular in wide sizes. We constructed our houses 24' wide with about 5 to 5½ foot on the eaves.

Let us first list the advantage of this type of mix:

1. Good drainage: In an area of heavy winter rainfall, this is particularly important. It also provides a safeguard against overwatering, both of which brings on fungus problems.
2. Lightweight: This feature provides ease of handling of material and economizes in the shipping of the finished product to the customer.
3. Weed free: The fact that the material is for the most part free of weeds in its natural state eliminates (at least for most crops) the need for fumigation.
4. Stimulates a fibrous root system.
5. Materials relatively inert and chemically uniform. This is a desirable quality which enables one to use standard fertilizer formulae for all batches of mix.
6. Mix does not pull away from the sides of the container when dry.

We have used both Douglas fir bark and hemlock bark and have found little difference between them as far as growth is concerned. Hemlock

MIXTURE — Compound formed by mixing.

SOIL MIXTURE — Several ingredients mixed together.

Soil mixtures for containers should have four important qualities:

1. SUPPORT
2. MOISTURE
3. AERATION
4. FERTILITY

1. SUPPORT — Firm enough mix to hold up the plant.
2. MOISTURE — Soil mix should have ability to hold moisture between irrigations … it also should have good drainage.
3. AERATION — Soil mix should be porous enough to let the gases in and out of the soil. If the soil mix is too fine, water will fill up these pores arid will reduce aeration.
4. FERTILITY — Mineral nutrients: Most green plants are known to require at least twelve chemical elements:

1. Nitrogen
2. Phosphorous
3. Potassium
4. Calcium
5. Magnesium
6. Sulphur
7. Iron
8. Zinc
9. Manganese
10. Copper
11. Boron
12. Molybdenum

A review of American and English rhododendron publications reveals much information on general cultural practices but very little specific information on fertilizing rhododendrons that could serve as guides for this region. Since grower practices and experiences in fertilizing this crop vary widely, information from this source is not always reliable. Therefore, a research study to determine the fertility requirements for rhododendrons when grown under field conditions as measured by plant growth, flower bud formation, and chemical composition of the plant was initiated at the Western Washington Experiment Station in 1957.

Before I show the slides and discuss some of these shrubs and small trees let me comment briefly on the "Quality" of plants. Quality is somewhat of an elusive term, but as it applies to ornamental plants for landscape purposes it should include the characteristics of 1) Hardiness, 2) Adaptability, 3) Durability, 4) Requiring little maintenance, and 4) Possess good habit of growth, outstanding foliage, attractive flowers and prominent fruits.

With these points in mind, I will turn to the slides and plant discussions. The following are comments about some of the plants illustrated and discussed.

LOW SHRUBS — 1½ – 4 feet

1. Caragana frutex ‘tidy’

Instead of proposing a program with definite forms and plans to implement a testing program, I will review briefly the past, present and future of work with woody ornamentals.

A tremendous amount of effort by many agencies and individuals has been devoted to testing woody ornamentals. New programs and new areas for future development appear each year.

One of the leaders in the introduction and dissemination of new plants has been our Department of Agriculture. In 1898 a separate section was created in the Department for the introduction of plants new to this country. This section is now called, "New Crops Research Branch." Mr. C. O. Erlanson is the director. This agency has brought in more than 285,000 new plants to date. Most of these new introductions are agriculturally economic plants, grains, grasses, forage, fiber, oil, vegetable, nuts, fruits etc., But there have

One of the first subjects was the storage of hardwood cuttings. Most members reported that their hardwood cuttings were made in the October – November period and that they were stuck in April. However, a few members reported putting the cuttings out in the fall. They overwintered either covered or mounded with soil.

For storage, the medium should be moist, but not wet. The medium could be peat moss, fresh sawdust or sphagnum moss. The temperature which seemed to do the best was 34° F. In subsequent discussion it was worked out that 32° F.± 1° F. was actually the optimum temperature.

The question of crown gall came up. It was concluded that the crown gall did not come from the medium in which the cuttings were stored, but came in with the cuttings. It was suggested that a dip to kill the