Some popular garden perennials yield low numbers of viable cuttings per stock plant or produce cuttings that are slow to root, preventing propagators from meeting demand for rooted liners. We quantified the effects of a range of nitrogen (N) rates from 0 to 300 mg·L−1 N applied to stock plants on the number of cuttings (yield), rooting percentage, and subsequent root development of cuttings. Species studied include ‘Siskiyou Pink’ gaura (Gaura lindheimeri), ‘Pixie Star’ dianthus (Dianthus alpinus), perovskia (Perovskia atriplicifolia), and ‘Mainacht’ salvia (Salvia ×sylvestris). We found 100 to 150 mg·L−1 N to be the best rates for producing quality rooted cuttings. Little benefit was obtained from the higher rates, and the 0- and 50-mg·L−1 N treatments produced the lowest number of potential cuttings across all species.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.