Severe Cutback of Stock Plant Influences Rooting in Shoot of Quercus Bicolor and Quercus Macrocarpa

Abstract

<jats:p>Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of severe stock plant cutback on rooting in two oak species <jats:italic>Quercus bicolor</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Quercus macrocarpa</jats:italic> using two propagation systems, layering and cuttings. In experiment 1, field grown plants were either cutback leaving a 0.04 m (1.6 in.) stump above soil level or left intact (not cutback) ≈1.7 m (66.9 inches) tall. Shoots arising from cutback treatments and intact plants were layered using a field layering technique and air layering respectively. Results showed significantly higher (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.01) rooting percentages in layered propagules arising from severely cutback plants in both species [≈77% in <jats:italic>Quercus bicolor</jats:italic> and ≈70% in<jats:italic>Quercus macrocarpa</jats:italic>] compared with air layered shoots arising from intact plants [1% in <jats:italic>Quercus bicolor</jats:italic> and 0% in <jats:italic>Quercus macrocarpa</jats:italic>]. In experiment 2, shoots arising from three stock plant heights (severely cutback 0.04 m, cutback 1 m and intact ≈1.7 m plants) were either etiolated or grown in full light and cuttings rooted in a perlite medium under mist. Of the two species studied, propagule position was found to have no significant effect on rooting in <jats:italic>Quercus macrocarpa</jats:italic> cuttings, but significantly (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.0001) influenced rooting in <jats:italic>Quercus bicolor</jats:italic>. Rooting was highest 59.3% in cuttings taken from cutback-etiolated stock plants. Comparing just the three cutback levels, rooting was highest (45.2%) in cuttings arising from 0.04 m stumps followed by those from 1 m stumps 7.5% and lastly intact plants 3.8%. The best rooting results were observed in shoots arising from severely cutback stock plants (0.04 m) using the field layering technique.</jats:p>

In Vitro Propagation of Oriental White Oak Quercus aliena Blume

“…However, it is very difficult to vegetatively propagate most oaks by cutting, and the rooting ability decreases significantly with the age of oak tree, though grafting, cutting back, and etiolation are usually adopted to improve rooting [19,20]. Micropropagation from shoot tips or nodal explants is an efficient way to produce uniform quality oak clones with desired traits and is helpful for further improvement through genetic transformation [21].…”

Tissue Culture Clonal Propagation of Hybrid White Oaks for the Urban Environment

“…Propagation using grafting methods has had limited success with a wider variety of species primarily because of the occurrence of delayed graft incompatibility (Coggeshall, 1996;Dirr, 1987;Santamour and Coggeshall, 1996). Cornell's UHI has successfully developed a rooting protocol that uses a modified stool-bed method offering an alternative means of clonal oak propagation (Amissah and Bassuk, 2009;Griffin and Bassuk, 1996).…”

“…The development of a modified stool-bed method of clonal oak propagation has removed a key technical barrier to initiating an oak breeding program (Amissah and Bassuk, 2009;Griffin and Bassuk, 1996). With the propagation constraint overcome, a white oak breeding program was undertaken by the UHI from 2004 to 2006 and resulted in the development of 345 unique interspecific genotypes.…”