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In this paper I give preliminary results from experiments on two aspects of potting mixes. Not all of the relevant analytical data are yet available, nevertheless, the results so far are so clear cut that I am confident that further data will not alter the broad conclusions.

Research in Australia and overseas has confirmed that the quality of planting material used in orchard establishment has far-reaching effects on subsequent plant vigour, fruit production and quality, and other crop characteristics.

Of prime importance in determining the potential productivity of planting material in many fruit crops is freedom from harmful virus diseases. These viruses may result in reduced vigour, yield, fruit quality, and orchard life. A list of some deleterious virus diseases of fruit crops is given in Table 1.

Primary reasons for using companion grasses at Forest Keeling have been: erosion control; stabilization of mulching materials; prevention of crusting of mulch materials; and protection from a number of spring weather conditions including torrential rains, desiccating winds, and late spring frosts.

Stem cuttings of deciduous woody plants such as Acer, Cornus, Hamamelis, Magnolia, Prunus, Rhododendron, and Viburnum root satisfactorily but either do not survive the first winter or die after spring bud break (1,2,3,4,8,11,14). Inadequate carbohydrate levels to sustain plants during the winter or to support bud break in the spring have been postulated for the overwintering problem (1,11). Shoot growth following rooting improved survival of some species (1,3,4,8), supposedly by carbohydrate replenishment (1,11), but in other studies it had no effect (3,11,19).

Studies have been inconclusive as to the effect of fertilizer applications on cold acclimation. Fuchigami and Weiser (5) reported that plant health and carbohydrates may not be as important for development of vegetative maturity and cold acclimation as plant nutrition and cessation of growth. Salix purpurea grown without nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur resulted in early growth cessation and early onset of

Our method of preseason propagation begins with the propagation medium. This mix is two parts pine bark, two parts styrofoam or its equivalent, and one part sand. Good drainage is the most important factor in this mix; however, it must also serve as a growing mix that will hold together as a root and soil plug.

The propagation containers are sheets of 72 count cell pacs held in a plastic tray. This size cell pac seems to work best for two reasons. First, the cost averages out to less than 0.5 cents per plug. Secondly, the small soil volume is quick to fill with roots, thus producing a solid plug faster.

The hormone used is not critical as

The three gene pools of these complex tetraploids can be stated in taxonomic terms as: Lobelia siphilitica L. var. siphilitica; L. cardinalis L. subsp. cardinalis var. cardinalis; and L. cardinalis L. subsp. graminea (Lam.) McVaugh var. propinqua (Paxton) Bowden cv. Queen Victoria and cv. Illumination. While the original plants were diploid (2n=14), the tetraploids (2n=28) originated spontaneously in several hybrid populations or the tetraploids were induced by colchicine treatments of diploid plants followed by selfing and selection.

In 1962, I (Bowden) grew a large population of

However, there are many other natives that deserve wider recognition and use by growers. There are two main reasons why more natives are not in greater use:

1. Image — Wildflowers have been looked upon as being only for specialty gardens that contain unusual habitats. With the increasing sophistication of the

There are many plants that produce underground

We have 20,000 seedlings at our nursery that range in age from 2 to 21 years. Most of these seedlings are from witches'-brooms found on: two Larix species, one Picea species, one Tsuga species, and six Pinus species.

Although we could obtain dwarf shrubs by merely grafting scions from witches'-brooms, we prefer to collect and grow seeds from the brooms. We do this because with seedlings we obtain a highly variable population from which we could select some unique forms.

Although the variation among seedlings obtained from witches'-broom is, most likely, similar to the variation obtained with normal seedlings, the

Natural grafting has been around at least as long as plants have had cambium layers to unite, and this natural grafting probably stimulated the early practitioners by way of approach grafting.

References are available to show that grafting techniques were used by the Chinese 3000 years ago (9). At approximately 2000 years ago Aristotle (9) (384 to 322 B.C.), Virgil (4) in his "Georgics" or "The Art of Husbandry" (30 B.C.) and Pliny the Elder (4), in his "Historia Naturalis Volume II" (77 A.D.) all discussed grafting with considerable understanding. Paul the Apostle (9), in his Epistle to the Romans (Chapter XI, Verses 17 to 24) "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root…

To understand why we grow hemlock seedlings the way we do in Western North Carolina (WNC), you need to know something about us. Although we are nearly as far south as Los Angeles, WNC has nursery production areas in hardiness zones 5, 6, 7 and 8. Such dramatic differences in climate in a relatively small area are due to elevation and slope. Most of our hemlock seedling production is in the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains at elevations between 1500 and 3500 feet. Most hemlock field production is in Zone 7 while most seedlings and transplants are grown in Zone 6.

The mountains contribute to regular rainfall, abundant high quality irrigation water and morning fog, almost daily during mid-summer and early fall, in the coves and valleys where we grow hemlock seedlings. Our southern latitudes give us a frost-free growing season from about May 10 to October 10. This very closely parallels the period of active growth for above ground portions of hemlock seedlings. The southern

According to the literature, the main factors affecting the rooting ability of Tsuga canadensis, the Canada hemlock, are the time of year when the cuttings are taken and the type and concentration of auxin used. With regard to proper timing, the literature is ambiguous. Thimann and Delisle (12) had success with rooting both the species and the cultivar Pendula in October and December. Deuber (3) had good success rooting cuttings of the species in November, and Jenkins (9), in reporting the works of nurserymen, variously recommended March, July, December, and August. In 1941, Doran (4) reported success in rooting cuttings from a species plant as well as the cultivars Pendula and Minuta at all times of the year, except early summer. In a later work (5), with the species, he narrowed his recommendation down to any time from mid-August to late January. Swartley (10) recommended February as the optimal time, provided bottom heat was available. In 1984, Swartley (11)

Medium temperatures during two study periods dropped only to 29°F with a typical minimum difference of 2.1° over a normal unheated overwintering structure. Preliminary liner observations showed some benefit with Euonymus alata ‘Compacta’ and Rhododendron ‘Hino Crimson’, but none with Ilex crenata ‘Hetzii’ which was successfully overwintered in both structures.

A year prior to planting a field with root cuttings, it is seeded with a clover cover crop. A relatively sandy soil is preferred. The field is prepared for spring planting by fall plowing, adding required P and K according to a soil test, and cultivating. An

Optimum soilless medium properties alone will not eliminate all production problems, but understanding physical and chemical properties is a key component to improve rooting and subsequent plant growth. In addition, utilizing these factors will assist a grower in evaluating the cost benefits of a particular medium.

Some suggested medium

The common pawpaw or papaya (Carica papaya) has been cultivated in Australia for many years but has not become of much commercial importance. Part of the reason behind this has been the problems involved with maintaining good lines and the inability to take advantage of a chance superior type(s) which may appear in mass populations.

Similarly, dioecious lines present horticultural difficulties which result in inefficiency of the cropping system.

Asexual or vegetative propagation offers an opportunity to overcome these problems (3,6). Cuttings have been successful in South Africa (1) and Australia, and side grafts have been used in Australia (4), Papua New Guinea and Asian countries (2). These do not make the best use of available scion (such as could be obtained from a chance seedling), so other methods need to be investigated.

The vegetative propagation of pawpaws has met with varied success and tissue culture techniques similarly have not been finalised as yet (2,5).

Propagators should not be over-awed by the science involved in tissue culture propagation. Instead, they should think of tissue culture simply as a relatively new propagation tool. Admittedly, it is a potentially powerful tool, but it still should be thought of as

Although grown by relatively few nurseries until recently, the native mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, has had a number of devotees over the years. It was one of the first broadleaf evergreens we grew at Weston Nurseries; we first listed it for sale in our 1935 catalog. Those early plants were collected from the wild and grown in our fields to regenerate roots. It wasn't long before we noticed a significant amount of variation in flower color and began to see potential for interesting color in late spring landscapes.

In 1937 we bought some plants from Ernest Borowski, a nurseryman from Norwood, Massachusetts, who grew pink-flowered seedlings. These plants were originally grown and perhaps hybridized by Charles O. Dexter in his quest for more colorful flowers. Dexter was the first person we know who worked on improving mountain laurel. We soon found that our customers enjoyed having more colors from which to choose and by about 1945 we were beginning

With the publication of Richard Jaynes' book (1) and his development of distinctively colored named clones, my interest in mountain laurel became much greater. Several years ago after an IPPS meeting at Rutgers University, Richard Jaynes sent me my first

Our recipient this evening has been chosen from the practical field because he is a propagator in every sense of the word. To him, the motto of our Society, TO SEEK AND TO SHARE, is more than words. They are his daily creed.

Our honoree became a member of the Eastern Region in 1962 and presented his first of many papers in Cleveland in 1965. Some of you will recognize him from the title of this paper: "Corylus and Cornus from cutting." His papers appeared in subsequent Proceedings every year for six consecutive years.

I came to know this propagator because his knowledge was

To enhance the development of improved seedlings, nursery culture is intensified. Sites for new bareroot nurseries are carefully selected for soil and water quality. Intensively managed containerized forest nurseries are being established, some with rooted cuttings as well as with seedlings.

As has been the practice in Europe for many years, management of forest nurseries in the U.S. is increasingly being viewed as the prerogative

MODERATOR LEISS: Question for Dale Deppe. What is your missing nozzle?

DALE DEPPE: A Spraying System 1/4 E10. We operator it at 70 pis. It is available from Spraying Systems.

MODERATOR LEISS: Why do such outstanding nurseries, such as we saw Wednesday, hold to cow manure instead of chemical fertilizers; to hoeing and mule cultivation instead of machine and herbicides; and hand digging instead of machine?

RON ST. JAMES: The reason Rhode Island Nurseries uses mules is because they plant very close together and could not cultivate with a tractor. Van Hof Nurseries still uses hand weeding but also has a herbicide program.

MODERATOR SHUGERT: To any Newport, Rhode Island Taxus grower. Why do you pound (beat) the sand in your propagation benches?

RON ST. JAMES: Because it works and we see no reason to change.

MODERATOR SHUGERT: Question for Dale Maronek on

I looked in McClintock and Leiser's Annotated Checklist of Woody Ornamental Plants, Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Gerd Krussmann's Manual of Cultivated Broadleaved Trees and Shrubs, the lists of patented plants, W.J. Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, and the indexes of HortScience, all without success. Next I turned to nursery catalogs, but I didn't find the cultivar in question.

I wrote letters

Taxus cuspidata ‘Aurescens’ is a plant that has been in commerce for quite a while. It is sometimes falsely called T. baccata ‘Aurea’. The foliage is banded in shade and bright yellow in full sun. There is a plant at the Arnold Arboretum. It propagates easily as does most Taxus, but grows best under light shade.

A well formed root system is an essential prerequisite for the growth and development of a vigorous tree and the achievement of a full life-span (5). There has been a long history of concern about the malformation of root systems by propagation and planting (or transplanting) techniques (7). Distortions of the root system may be so severe that poor growth, toppling or even death may result (4).

Harris (5) identifies two types of root defects:

1. kinked roots in which the major roots are bent, and
2. circling or girdled roots in which the roots circle around the stem or other roots.

The degree of root deformation is affected by nursery practice, container design, planting method and the site (6). Such factors can cause the development of abnormal root systems in container-grown plants. Indeed the root system of container-grown plants may never develop the same structure as the "normal" system of direct sown plants.

The root formation of plants grown from

Starting in 1965, bare-root whips of many of the cultivars and/or numbered selections of Cornus florida L., C. kousa Hance, and C. nuttallii Audubon available in the nursery trade were assembled in performance trials at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University. This was the first step in initiating a breeding program devoted to the development of new and superior cultivars of the large-bracted dogwoods through intra- and inter-specific hybridization. This paper describes the breeding value of the plant material, discusses the general approach, goals, and techniques involved in the work devoted to interspecific hybridization, and provides a progress report of those efforts.

To demonstrate how little information pH of water actually provides, try this: take a sample of distilled water and measure the pH. If the distillation process was working properly, pH will be 7.0; and if a chemical analysis of the water is done, it will show no dissolved salts. Now add enough acid, any acid, to another

While visiting nurseries in Oregon in 1984, Al Gardner and I saw a small fog system at Mitch Nursery, which John Mitch was experimenting with in his operation. John, very graciously, shared all the information he had with us. Back in Virginia we began to construct a similar fog system in our 20 × 100 ft. propagation house.

A fog or high humidity system operates by atomizing water into microscopic droplets. These droplets are suspended in the air of the greenhouse creating an ideal atmosphere for plant propagation. The air is kept humid while not overly wetting the soil medium. In

The Controller. The mist clock is a Richdel, Lawn Genie, 6-station lawn sprinkler controller (Figure 1). This controller is a common residential unit. The standard 24-hr. motor (M007) has been replaced with a motor (M001) that cycles every six min. The cycle is adjusted to mist once every two, three, or six min. This adjustment is easily accomplished by simply adding or removing tripper gears. Each station has an independently variable misting time that is adjusted by simply turning a dial. The mist can be set to

1. Could the wood-burning furnace provide the heat needed?
2. What unit was needed and what would it cost?
3. Was hardwood available?
4. How much time would be required to operate and maintain the unit?
5. How much could we save by using wood instead of fossil fuel?

During the winter of 1981 our nursery spent about $10,000 heating approximately 13,000 ft.² of space. The space heated included three houses used for propagation and four houses used for growing-on the rooted cuttings. Three of our units were heated by means of hot water using black pipe, fin radiation as bottom heat in raised beds. These three units were heated with an oil-fired boiler capable of

Before Hurricane Frederic of 1979, the houses at Cottage Hill Nursery container division were equipped with Modine heaters. After the storm we had to rebuild, so this was a good time to consider changes in heating equipment. We decided to try different heaters to make our heating more efficient and economical. We considered three possibilities:

1. Replace Modine heaters.
2. Use an open-flame heater topped by a container of water.
3. Turn on the misting system during extremely cold nights.

These houses are used for overwintering liner stock, so we do not need a growing temperature. Choose (a) was out because of cost. Choice (c) required the presence of an employee at night, checking to see that timers were working properly. This also could present a problem of over-watering. Choice (b) seemed the simplest solution. We thought it would be economical. It produced warm moist air, required no ventilation,

Plant protection is the management of insects, diseases, weeds, and other organisms which interfere with plant growth — and it experiences its own set of difficulties within the nursery industry. These embrace the high standard of cosmetic appearance demanded of the industry's products, the diversity of species cultivated and production environments utilized, and the need for workers to enter agrochemically-treated areas and handle treated plants daily. Other factors which complicate the day-to-day decision making associated with plant protection in plant nurseries include the lack of applied research information on the cultivar(s) and pests, and the interactions between the nursery environment and the pesticides used.

The first commercial registration in the United States was approved by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in May, 1979, for nonbearing fruit trees. In December, 1980, the registration was expanded to include bearing fruit trees. Conifers were added to the label in 1979; soybeans and corn in 1981; cotton, spearmint, and fallow bed in 1982; onions in 1984, and artichokes in 1985. Goal has rapidly filled many niches in modern agriculture, and new uses continue to be developed. An experimental use

Target weed species for which control data was required included: common groundsel, prostrate spurge, and common chickweed. These weed species are noted for their prevalence and difficulty of control.

Cuttings should be taken from clean stock, with care taken that there are no infestations of spider mites or leaf miners. These two pests can greatly reduce rooting percentage. I prefer cuttings taken from container stock over field stock because the container stock in normally more vigorous and healthy. We immediately put the cuttings under wet burlap and take them back to the propagation house at regular intervals. Take large-caliper branch cuttings if

In Houston, we like to take cuttings as early in the spring as possible. The cuttings are taken from our container-grown plants in May and June. We start propagating as soon as the new growth is firm at the base of the cutting. The stem of the cuttings are a greenish yellow color; we do not use any brown wood. We use 5– to 6-in. cuttings.

These cuttings are then stored in a walk-in cooler until they are prepared. The propagators wear 0.02 gauge latex gloves while preparing this plant. The bottom leaves are stripped off the plant, which also removes most of the thorns. The cuttings are then put into bundles, and basal stems and tops trimmed to about 4 in. in length. The cuttings are then dipped in a fungicide bath of Benlate, captan and Agristrep at the

1.) Old stock plant, or 2.) liners, bedding plants

We usually take cuttings by the second week of June in our area, which is lower Delaware (Zone 7) along the Mason/Dixon Line of the DelMarVa Peninsula. These cuttings must be taken at this time as the percentage of rooting drops drastically as the growth on the stock plants harden off.

The second group used is the young plants (liners). Softwood cuttings of 3 to 6 in. can be taken any time as long as they are growing or have green stems. These softwood tip cuttings will root easily in about a month under mist. We take growing tip cuttings from liners up until October with reasonably good results.

We use Chloromone at a 1:3 dilution for our rooting compound. Wood's Rooting Compound has ben used with the same good results.

Clethra cuttings will root in almost any medium. However, I prefer half peat and half perlite in trays in outside mist beds under full sun. The mist is set 3 sec. every

We propagate several hybrids of Viburnum carlesii by cuttings. Viburnum carlesii ‘Compactum’, Viburnum × juddii (V. bitchiuense × V. carlesii), Viburnum × carlcephalum (V.carlessi × V. macrocephalum var. keteleerii), Viburnum ‘Cayuga’ (V. carlesii × V. carcelephalum), Viburnum burkwoodii (V. carlesii × V. utile), Viburnum × burkwoodii ‘Mohawk’ (V. × V. carlesii), Viburnum ‘Chesapeake’ (V. Cayuga; × V. utile), and Viburnum &lsquoEskimo’ (V. ‘Cayuga’ × V. utile) are among those we produce./P>

Description of ground beds and equipment. We propagate in 4- × 48-ft. ground beds bordered by crossties or treated 6-in. wood poles. The rooting medium is Emory soil, a fine sandy loam,

Obvious differences can be found among individual live oaks in branching habit, height, leaf shape, even color. It is likely that other sources of variations may occur, such as in susceptibility to insects and diseases, response to fertility, vigor, and winter hardiness. Attaining the ability to select outstanding trees and successfully propagate them for their inheritable characteristics would represent a significant contribution to the landscape industry. Development of practical means of vegetative propagation is an important step toward that end.

Propagation by cuttings is generally regarded as the most important method of vegetatively increasing both deciduous and evergreen species. It is a means by which the parent plant is usually

Cuttings of all cultivars are prepared from about November through February. Although January and February are the best times, we cannot produce enough to meet our requirements in two months. Cuttings are collected from our own container stock. Approximately 3–in. cuttings are made with at least some hard wood at the base. Heel cuttings are preferred and used when possible. All of the foliage is stripped from the bottom inch of the cuttings. After the cuttings are prepared, they are

The award is offered each year to persons under 25 in the State where the Conference is being held. Young people in nurseries, educational institutions, and government departments, who have an interest in plant propagation, are invited to apply.

The applicants, who need not be members of IPPS must outline why they should be given the chance to attend the IPPS Conference. They also need to present a biography and to outline their interest in horticulture and plant propagation.

The winner of the award attends the Conference as a guest of the Society and must prepare a paper for presentation at the Conference. The winner also receives a book award.

In 1985 Peter J. Lewis, a recent graduate in horticulture from the Queensland Agricultural College won this year's award and presented the following paper:

1. Magnolia grandiflora, southern magnolia, is embarrassingly variable when grown from seed. Most nurserymen realize this and have either made selections from seed populations or grow known cultivars. At least 25 cultivars are reported in the literature. Propagation is difficult. Grafting/budding, as well as cuttings are used. For the past three years we have worked with ‘Bracken's Brown Beauty’. These are handsome trees with lovely blooms and beautiful fruit. Initial results were disastrous but through trial and error the following propagation procedures

1. Dieffenbachia ‘Nelly’. This plant is a mutation found in France. It has a U.S. patent and is sold as an unrooted cutting. It has a strong branching habit, does not develop a leggy cane like other "camro" cultivars. The leaves are durable, with blended tones of yellow, cream and green. One 4–

1. Paeonia, family Paeoniaceae, peony:

Peonies are rated among the most beautiful of all perennials, both in plant and flower. They are easy to grow and long-lived. The peony is hardy in every state of the U.S. and in Canada. Disease and insects rarely bother them if the following suggestions are followed. They make excellent cut flowers and give beautiful landscape effects.

They do best in a sunny well-drained location. Plant a peony with the top of the eyes pointing up, eyes not over 2 in. below soil level. Plant in 1 gal. or 2 gal. container. The planting time is in the fall or early spring.

Fertilize peonies with a slow-release fertilizer (low in nitrogen), after the first roots are established, in the spring or early fall.

The stembuds, or "eyes" as they are called, are formed soon after blooming season at the base of the stems. They are the beginning of next year's growth.

The blooming season begins in early spring, about the time the tulips open, and it ends

A physiological model called "Degree Growth Stage Model" (°GS) has been proposed by Fuchigami et al. to describe the annual growth and hardiness of woody plants (3). Plants go from 0°GS to 360°GS in one calendar year (Figures 1 and 2). The °GS is not related to days in the year but to the physiological condition of the plant. For example, 180°GS may coincide with leaf fall may be October 1 in northern Ohio but October 15 northern Alabama, depending

Our product line consists of, in order of volume, bedding plant flats, 10-inch hanging baskets, 4-in. annuals, hardy garden mums, poinsettias, 4-in. perennials, and zonal geraniums.

The spring season is our busiest, and accounts for 75% of our annual sales. In five months we turn over 800 different crops, and sell 300,000 units—all on 160,000 ft.². So, from our perspective, we think our crops can be classified as fast-turnover crops.

Now, I would like to share with you how an operation like Tatterson Greenhouses plans, grows, and prevents total chaos in the bedding plant season, or in other words, "how do we forecast fast-turnover crops?"

We have two types of

Almost ½ of production is sold in 2 to 2½ years.

Almost ½ of production is sold in 3 to 3½ years.

(Exceptions — A few items are sold within 15 months. A few items are held for almost 4 years.)

Our nursery is located on 480 acres, of which we use about 150. We have a very intensive field operation, extending from field to container operation. This field to container operation gives us flexibility, and we have been working on improving this system for 11 years.

My father, Robert E. Marvin, and I own Wildwood Nurseries. Dad is a landscape architect. We base our sales goals and plant material cultivars on the needs of the landscape architect. Their certain needs are our specialty, whether it be small or large evergreens, flowering trees, large trees for sun control, large or small screening material, plant

Australia is the custodian of an amazing diversity of native plants. This diversity is linked with the widely varying environments that cover Australia. From the topics of the north, the deserts in the centre and the west, and the alpine areas of the south, the natural environment is constantly changing.

As a native plant collector, I would like to be able to collect selected natives from these environments and successfully grow them together in one place. By achieving this I can share with other people the beauty and distinctive habits of species such as Eremophila maculata from Western Queensland, Prostanthera magnifica and Banksia coccinea from Western Australia. If these species from vastly differing environments are to be grown together however nature alone cannot be relied on and it becomes necessary to lend a helping hand. One method that has proven effective is the ancient art of grafting.

The greatest value of grafting lies in the propagation and production of

With the financial backing of a committed international company, expansion of this concept began in the fall of 1980 with the purchase of property in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, Maryland area. Centers were soon added in Atlanta, Georgia, in spring of 1981; Chicago, Illinois in 1983; Detroit, Michigan, Miami, Florida and Aalsmeer the Netherlands in 1984. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1983; Toronto, Canada and Boston, Massachusetts will follow in 1986. Future plans include many other major cities. Each site is from 22 to 40 acres of to fully-automated

Webster defines a model as information, data or principles which are arranged or grouped mathematically. The algebraic formula y = mx + b, which is used to fit a straight line, is a simplified form of a model. Basically a model is a means of classifying or categorizing. In order to simplify daily activities, we use models frequently. When meeting a stranger, we may categorize or classify that person based on our previous experience or "models" in our minds. We may classify or categorize how we produce an azalea crop versus a Pittosporum or Ligustrum from the standpoint of media requirements, pH, and light intensity. The difference with plant modeling is that we are using hard data. We take quantitative values and plug these numbers into a statistical program (equation) to derive a statistical model.

In September, 1985, the American Association of Nurseryman published a list of research priorities that included the need to determine growth dynamics for various nursery crops;

An example of a very broad model would be one describing the demand for large container-grown trees in succeeding years. The model might consist of the following equation:

About four years ago a South Auckland nurseryman began investigating the use of some kind of controlled environment for the transfer of tissue culture material. This led to attempts to alter the air pressure inside the cabinet. This often resulted in the cabinet blowing up or collapsing inwards. Several cabinets were constructed and discarded, until finally two units, one constructed of steel, the other of aluminum, were considered to be satisfactory. Aluminum was tried because of its light weight. The aluminum cabinet weighed 240 kg compared to the steel unit which weighed 360 kg.

In February 1985 Hortex was approached by the inventor to trial this unit, which he believed would revolutionize propagation methods as we know them today.

Hortex agreed to trial the invention and this paper out-lines the machine, its principles and the trials carried out in it.

This cabinet differs from other controlled environmental cabinets in that it is completely sealed, and the

It is essential to have healthy stock plants, as the percentage strike falls if the stock plants are neglected. Cuttings are taken in late summer or early fall (February and March and even in April), but the percentage strike falls if the outside temperature drops below 20°C.

Tip cuttings are collected in the early morning. Cuttings of a uniform length are taken for each cultivar (an abundance of stock material is required to do this). The cuttings are treated with a basal dip of liquid IBA at 5000 ppm for 5 sec. Cuttings are not wounded and only sufficient basal leaves are removed to allow the cuttings to be inserted into the propagating medium.

The cuttings are placed in Growool propagating sheets, size PB 25&ndash40. Three sheets are placed in a standard punnet tray holding 108 cuttings. The trays of

Grevillea's generally hybridize very readily and seedlings that have come up in gardens in and around Brisbane are the source of many of the hybrids in cultivation.

The majority of the tropical grevillea's are grown from cuttings, which appear to be superior to seedlings. They flower much younger than seedlings, usually in the same season, and have uniformity in flower colour and growth habit.

Evaluating new plants for use in our production is done in several ways. Plants are grown in large shrub tubs, and in the ground in display gardens at the nursery. Plants that show any new and interesting features, for example, reliability, free flowering, new and interesting

Panama disease, also known as fusarium wilt, is caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht ex Fr. f. sp. cubense (E.F. Smith) Snyd. & Hans. This disease has been known for a long time in Queensland where it is the major limiting factor in the production of the ‘Lady Finger’ (AAB group) banana.

The first world recording of fusarium wilt in bananas was made by Bancroft in Queensland in 1874 (1). He found the disease to be prevalent in the Brisbane district and noted that the ‘Sugar’ (ABB group) banana was most susceptible and the ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ was

When the struck cuttings were potted into 125 mm pots they generally did not attain saleable size until early summer, thus missing out on late spring sales.

With experimental batches of cuttings taken during summer and autumn, I found that success rates with soft tip and vigorous stem cuttings were much better and more predictable.

A strike rate of 90% to 95% was achieved consistently with soft tip cuttings approximately 100 to 125 mm long. An IBA in talc (0.5%) cutting powder was used over a range of both common and Hawaiian cultivars.

Except for the specialist bulb producers, few people have any knowledge of hyacinth propagation. Only a few books on propagation carry any reference to them, and their morphology is not well understood.

The main areas of bulb production in Australia are Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. Hyacinths are produced for use as pot plants and for the home garden.

The flowers on mature trees grown from seed vary widely in colour from white to deep red. Selections of good red flower colour variants have been made and grafted onto E. ficifolia rootstock, but these have proved unsuccessful as these low-rainfall trees die in the heavier soils and high rainfall of the East Coast.

Eucalypts do not allow easy scion to rootstock combinations, even though their botanical and physical characteristics are often close. There have been many cases of graft rejection after periods of up to 8 years of seemingly compatible growth.

This brings us to the selection of rootstocks, taking into consideration compatibility

The New Zealand nursery industry is very fortunate to have a strong research base which is both Government and University funded. This gives support to the private nursery?man and to the industry as a whole.

Regardless of climate, soil, and the range of flora available the market demand in New Zealand is limited due to the small broadly spread population. Because of this, several New Zealand nurseries have sought markets overseas.

Traditionally New Zealand is a trading country recognized for its primary industry, and over the past 20 years considerable emphasis has been placed on horticulture. A great deal of this has been the result of the rapid growth of the kiwifruit industry and the international acceptance of this product as a

Cal Poly is one of the four state universities with an agriculture program. Our teaching program has a practical orientation with lots of "hands on" experience and our graduates go mainly into agricultural production or supporting industries. We claim that we are preparing them for middle-management positions but we also are giving them the skills and experiences that will enable them to climb to the top.

Our long-time president, Julian A. McPhee, took charge of Cal Poly

There has been quite a bit of controversy as to exactly how many species of Taxus truly do exist. There are at least 3 species relatively universally accepted - Taxus baccata (English yew), T. canandensis (Canadian yew), T. cuspidata (Japanese yew). In the United States the English yew is only hardy in certain areas of the country. This species is not hardy in my state of Michigan.

The Canadian yew is a native species ranging

This family has also given Australia and the world a popular and delicious nut crop. The macadamia, is now of considerable economic importance, especially in Hawaii. This is one of the few Australian plants used for food purposes on any scale. Several other lesser known rainforest species produce edible nuts which could have future potential.

Most of the tree species produce beautiful coloured and grained and very sought after cabinet timbers. These timbers, usually marketed as various forms of silky oak come from shrinking virgin stands of forests, and another 20 years will see the end of this resource. No replanting has been done using these trees despite the

During the early days of nursery production the open ground was normally the only facility available. Raising plants by seed, layering, grafting, and hardwood cuttings were the dominant methods used. Today, open-ground methods are still very important and they have been made much more efficient through mechanization, herbicides, and knowledge of correct timing for carrying out each operation. Examples which illustrate this include techniques to overcome seed dormancy, development of specialized machinery for mounding up stool beds of apple rootstocks, and the use of herbicides to reduce labour costs and improved crop quality of species raised from hardwood cuttings.

The "Language of Botany" defines rainforest as "a closed community dominated by trees which form a two or more layered dense canopy in which lianes and epiphytes are usually conspicuous with a lower sparse assemblage of small trees, shrubs and herbs, including ferns".

Other definitions also include orchids, palms, wide-leaved forbs such as philodendron relatives, ginger relatives and bananas, special plant modifications such as trunk buttresses and leaf drip tips, and an absence of grasses, annual herbs, eucalypts, and acacias.

Rainforests are widespread in tropical and sub-tropical lands or parts of those lands which

Controlling the environment for propagation begins with healthy vigorous stock plants from which to take cuttings. The stock plants should have optimal water and nutrition, and be free of all diseases and pests. Without these essential factors, the propagator is at a distinct disadvantage. Actively growing field stock

A source of healthy stock plants is needed, as well as a plastic propagation structure. Briggs Nursery uses single 14 × 100 ft. quonset houses. Misting of the cuttings is done by a Phytotronics mist controller with individual house controls. Direct stick at

We can figure out that fruit in the Pacific Northwest are a big business. Based on the 1% certification fee, there appears to be 2,500,000 fruit trees sold by nurseries in the State of Washington each year. Many people do not realize what it takes to grow a saleable tree. My plan is to give you a quick overview of this process.

Based on our production, apple trees are the most popular trees grown, followed by pears, cherries, peaches and the rest of the stone fruits. Apples are, by far, the species grown in the largest numbers. I would suspect that all nurseries in the Pacific Northwest would have somewhat the same ratios.

The rootstocks for all fruit trees are started from seed, or are produced by clonal propagation. Limited number of seedlings and clones are being reproduced through tissue culture.

We have planted some tissue cultured seedlings in

In the 1950's when the dwarfing Malling rootstocks were first used in the United States many of the nurseries budded these new rootstocks at the same height as the seedlings — two inches. It was discovered soon in orchard plantings that these low-budded, high-planted Malling trees tended to lean badly. The budding height was increased in the 1960's to a maximum of 10 to 12 in. so that the plants could be planted at least 6 in. deeper at the orchard site thereby, hopefully, stabilizing the tree and always keeping the bud union out of the ground 4 to 6 in. to prevent scion rooting.

In the last 10 years the budding height has been lowered back down to 6 or 7 in. above the ground. This height of

A breakthrough for those interested in the tissue culture of ericaceous plants arrived with Anderson's medium for rhododendron. Further improvements in the tissue culture of woody plants came with McCown and Lloyd's Woody Plant Medium.

The traditional approach to starting a new plant species or cultivar into tissue culture is to try one of the three media mentioned above with various levels of cytokinin and auxin. Some cultivars, especially of woody species, refuse to respond to this method, or even to other media, such as Boxus's or de Fossard's. Other cultivars, although they can be grown in tissue culture, give less than satisfactory results economically, or yield poor

The tissue culture lab's most important function is to maintain a back-up collection of all germplasm stored in the repository. This collection provides replacement plants for screenhouse and field collections. Eventually, the in vitro back-up collection could replace the labor-intensive

Essential factors beneficial to enhancement of multiple shoots in Douglas fir and mature yellow cedar are: origin of source material, time of year for collection of source material, proximity of source material in relation to bole and crown of tree.

Proliferation of shoots in juvenile yellow cedar tissue trial resulted from pulse treatments involving a hormone enriched nutrient medium to one devoid of hormones. Primary rooting trials have been successful in transplanting juvenile yellow cedar plantlets, pre-rooted in-vitro, into soil in a greenhouse environment.

The first perennial in the P.I.S.B.G. is the blue pimpernel (Anagallis monelli). It has been grown to a limited extent in North American gardens, but most plants prove to be annuals or biennials at best. Our perennial plant which we have

There has been a rapid expansion of interest in the development and production of Australian native plants. One genus which has received a great deal of attention is Anigozanthos (kangaroo paws). Kangaroo paws blooms, originally all bush-picked, are currently available from commercial plantings. Now, the potential of kangaroo paws as "potted colour" is about to be realised.

Extensive work has already been done with Anigozanthos in areas such as taxonomy, ecology, evolution, hybridisation, plant selection, micropropagation, field cultivation, pathology, and flower production. However, much of the horticultural information has been published for the gardening fraternity or as a result of scientific investigations into the biology of the genus. With the introduction of kangaroo paws as cultivated cutflowers, information relevant to field production has been gathered by workers in Western Australia. Other information is less easily available as it originates from the

Other areas of the United States are showing increased interest in these species. Growers in California and the southern states produce them for November through February sales. Colder areas of the country grow them as winter potted plants and for bedding plant sales in April and May.

Perennial primroses grow and perform best in cool temperatures. Crop time from seed is six to eight months depending on the cultivar and growing temperature. Growers who specialize in finishing plants can cut crop time by three to five months by purchasing starts. In areas of particularly warm summers, this is the preferred method.

He was immediately hired by the University of Massachusetts where he served as assistant professor from 1953 to 1957, then associate professor from 1957 to 1959. That year he returned to Oregon State University as associate professor, advancing to full professor in 1967.

Our recipient has been a member of the IPPS since 1955 and was a charter member in the founding of the Western Region in 1960. He was Western Region president in 1967–68. He has worked on Membership, Long Range Planning, and Convention Planning Committees.

He has also been very active in the American Rhododendron Society, serving on the National Board of Directors, and as the Society's Secretary-Treasurer, and as President.

Our recipient has received many award

Small volumes of water supercool to a greater extent than large volumes. Very fine droplets ot thin sheets of pure water can supercool down to, but not below, -40°C which is the Spontaneous Nucleation Temperature of water. In plant tissues which deep supercool water can avoid freezing a few degrees below -40°C because of soluble impurities in cellular water (1).

Liquid water becomes denser as it cools, but at the moment water crystallizes into ice it increases 4 percent in volume — and releases a large amount of heat (540 calories per gram of water). The heat released when liquid water crystallizes into solid ice is called the Heat of Fusion. The practice

There are a number of methods being used by the research community to test for frost hardiness. A good review of these methods has been provided by Timmis (6) and by Ritchey (5). Few of these methods, however, are being used on an operation basis. There are only two methods being used operationally by the forest nursery industry.

The first method is the electrolytic conductivity of water surrounding a tissue sample that has been frozen. This method is being used by the Ontario Ministry of Forests in Ontario, Canada (2). This technique is based upon the principle that freeze injured cells

Killing weather fronts reach our nurseries only a few times each winter even though they are predicted five to ten times. Much more frequent are freezes associated with clear, cold nights. These events have minimums in the mid-twenties (0 to -5°C). The following day is sufficient radiant heating to rewarm the plants well above freezing.

Two Weyerhaeuser Nursery Products Division nurseries, Wight Nurseries, Inc. and Hines Wholesale Nursery, are located in the heart of the problem areas. Although each had a well-managed freeze damage control program, they suffered large losses in 1984 and lesser, but significant, losses

The Development. Our standard practice is to overwinter plants in unheated plastic houses; however, to overcome the high construction cost involved, we began to investigate structureless systems such as Gouin's Microfoam (1). This effective practice was discarded because Microfoam is available only in narrow widths and the material is costly. In addition, I could not see my way clear to lay several hundred thousand plants on their side and then have the monumental task of setting everything back up again the following spring.

I constantly asked myself, "What purpose does the poly-house provide that can't be done by poly alone"? I realize that there are many complex factors that are involved

Reports have been published recently about the enhanced growth of plants achieved through inoculation of plant propagating propagules with specific kinds of bacteria, a process called "bacterization".

Now, these bacteria have been reported to increase the growth of plants, by as much as 500% over the non-inoculated control plants. The rhizobacteria have been subdivided into three value groups (beneficial, deleterious, and neutral) (30) based on how these bacteria affect the plant.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the bacterization process, provide examples of positive and negative results, list proposed mechanisms of action, evaluate the findings, and discuss some of the theoretical and practical considerations about use of PGPR in plant propagation.

The germination possible for a seed lot is determined by the basic soundness of the seed and the care given that seed during collection, processing, and storage. After the seed comes out of freezer storage we then attempt to design or "customize" our treatment procedures for each lot to obtain this maximum possible germination.

Skagit Gardens is a 155,000 square foot glass bedding plant range located in Northwestern Washington. Among other things, we produce over 80,000 flats of annuals and vegetables, 1,000,000 flowering perennials, 500,000 4 in. flowering annuals, and 300,000 primroses. Ninety-five percent of these plants are grown from plugs. As a little as four years ago, all this seed was hand broadcast on open flats and transplanted bareroot into the finished containers. In the winter of 1982, we purchased our first automatic seeder and quickly converted to a plug system.

There are a number of automatic seeders

Tropical fruit tree propagation as referred to in this paper is largely confined to those species of tropical of subtropical origin which are not major industries in northern Australia. However a few more established crops (e.g. mango and lychee) are included in the context of developments and problems associated with plant quarantine introduction and propagation.

There has been little innovative research in propagation of the "emerging" tropical tree fruits in terms of support from government institutions in Australia. This is perhaps justified in the order of research priorities. However, as varietal screening and market development proceed, the few fruits with sustained market prospects will be identified.

Developments in propagation techniques to date have largely arisen from the initiatives of individual nurserymen, and trial and error in quarantine facilities where problems in establishing importations have arisen.

For most species, relevant propagation techniques have been developed overseas (particularly in Asia).

DICK BUSH: We take current season's growth - one year old growth - taken in February. If they still are not rooted by mid-summer, we put them in a coldframe and they root in the fall.

QUESTION: What is the advantage of a rooted conifer cutting over a grafted conifer?

VERL HOLDEN? A grafted conifer might break off in a strong wind. I would much rather have conifer on its own roots.

QUESTION: How do you get cutting-grown conifers to grow straight?

VERL HOLDEN: I believe they will naturally grow straight and they are very uniform. Terminal dominance starts earlier with the cuttings, but this can vary with the cultivar.

MICHAEL SMITH: With redwoods and podocarpus, by proper pruning and staking we can easily establish dominance of a leader

QUESTION: How do you determine the best time to begin budding in fruit trees?

DICK SNYDER: Whent the bark "slips" well - toward the end of July (in Wenatchee

I have selected a few plants to discuss, ranging from the subtropical zone to the hardiest of zones, from large growers to compact, dwarf growers. Arranged alphabetically, they are as follows.

Along with our colleagues on the East Coast, those in California have been much more involved in the use of native plants than we have here in the Pacific Northwest. Through the efforts of organizations like the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation, as well as a number of botanic gardens and arboreta involved in growing and exhibiting native plants, the industry and the public has been made much aware of the aesthetic

This report will then be on the germination of Mahonia aquifolium seeds, with the same principle applied to Mahonia repens seeds,

The seeds of this genus have thick, impermeable nut-like seed coats and seeds of many species also exhibit internal dormancy.

For the fire treatment, after the seed is sown and covered, an additional layer of 3 to 4 in. of dry pine needles or excelsior is added and ignited. When the resulting hot flash fire is finished and the seed bed has cooled, it is watered thoroughly. This treatment should be done outside well away from any combustible material. It should also be done in the early fall, and the seeded containers left outdoors for germination so that if internal dormancy is a factor its rectification will occur naturally during the winter.

The ripe fruit

In the past, the predominant method of producing carnivorous plants for the market can only best be described as the "search and destroy technique." Some of the species in the eastern U.S., such as Sarracenia oreophila have already succumbed to this pressure and are now only grown as relics in a few scattered botanical sanctuaries. This same fate could very possibly befall the

Its common name, Oregon boxwood, accurately describes the foliage of this evergreen shrub, which is similar to that of box in size and color. This species is found on well-drained sites in full sun or open shade, from British Columbia to Oregon and east to Alberta and the Rocky Mountain states. It is variable in habit, sometimes prostrate, but more often upright and spreading, reaching a maximum height of three feet.

Paxistima myrsinites is readily propagated from cuttings, which may be taken at any time after the new growth has firmed in mid-summer until bud break in the spring. Cuttings will root in high percentages without hormone treatment, but the application of 0.8% IBA in talc will produce a larger, more branched root system in the same interval time. In one trial, 965 out of 1,000 cuttings were well-rooted. Percentages such as this make direct sticking of cuttings an economical alternative. Contact polyethylene film propagation maintains the

This paper will deal with the following species: Alnus crispa, Amelanchier alnifolia, Rosa acicularis, Rosa woodsii, Shepherdia canadensis, and Vaccinium parvifolium. The paper will summarize approximately 7 years of experience with these species as well as results from controlled experiments.

Cuttings. The overwhelming majority of Ceanothus in commerce are propagated by cuttings. This is not only because most have shown themselves amenable to cutting techniques but they also exhibit enormous genetic diversity in the traits for which they are valued most — such ornamental features as plant size and shape, abundance and color of flowers, and disease

Thirteen species of chestnut are now listed and the most important one in Australia at the present time is the European or Spanish chestnut, C. sativa Mill. The name indicates that this species is a native of southern Europe and it is also widely distributed in the Asia Minor countries. The European or Spanish chestnut is similar to the American chestnut, C. dentata (Marsh.) Borkh. with both species having long leaves

Demand for plants of preferred cultivars has far exceeded supply and this situation is likely to continue for at least the next 2 to 3 years. Consequently, plant prices will remain high — presently, grafted plants sell for $NZ10–15. Persimmon rootstocks sell for $NZ3–5.

At conventional plant spacing of 5 × 5 metres, 400 trees per hectare are required. Consequently, for orchard establishment plant cost alone is up to $NZ5,000. With inflated land values, high establishment costs, and high debt servicing costs there is increasing pressure for intending

Two South African bulbs worthy of a place in most gardens are the lachenalias and nerines.

Lachenalia is a genus comprising over sixty recorded species and is in the Family Liliaceae. It is multiplied by offsets, a means in which it is quite generous. Seed provides an opportunity for plant breeders, as the need for new clones does not appear to have been met in recent times. The current favourite New Zealand hybrid is L. 'Pearsonii,' raised in 1922 by Aldridge, curator of Parks and Reserves, Auckland, by crossing L. bulbiferum [syn. L. pendula] with L. aloides 'Nelsonii' as seed parent, which was the result of crossing L. aloides 'Luteola' and L. aloides 'Aurea' in 1882 by Rev. Nelson. It is difficult to find hybrids in

The in vitro micropropagation of Pistacia species (1) and commercial Pistacia vera cultivars from nodal segments taken from seedlings up to 2 years of age (3) has been previously reported. This paper presents results of a study which examined the in vitro culture of Pistacia vera cultivars from mature tissue.

Pistachio nuts have been planted in the Middle East for a very long time and are gaining more and more popularity in the world. Pistacia vera L. is the only species in this genus which produces commercially acceptable large edible nuts. Most of the other Pistacia species are used as rootstocks for P. vera. Among the important factors limiting the expansion of pistachio plantations based on superior selected lines, is the difficulty of propagation as they are only propagated by the relatively slow method of budding scions to rootstock. In vitro mass clonal micropropagation of Pistacia has been reported before (1), and this paper presents further work on Pistacia rootstocks.

This genus is one of the most complex of plant life, with literally hundreds of different species and thousands of hybrids available today. The range of plant material is still increasing as hybridisers continue their work for superior quality in flower colour, leaf texture, and hardiness.

The rooting ability of the cultivar is of paramount importance to nursery management and many hard-to-root cultivars have been completely dropped from production lines in favour of those more easily rooted. This has resulted in many excellent ones being unavailable to the general public through

Although the Plant Selectors' Rights (or PSR) scheme has been in operation in New Zealand for ten years now there are still people in the industry who are unaware of the implications of Plant Selectors' Rights, or have misunderstandings about its operation. This paper is designed to explain the facts.

Our programme was to shrink a plastic cover to the outside of our field-balled plants, just prior to despatch, which would improve the packaging and handling of the product, as well as carrying the company's logo and planting instructions. The shrink wrapping system was designed to allow the plants to be held for the normal length of time for balled products in garden centres and retail outlets, and to be easily and conveniently handled by the customer who would remove the film just like an ordinary polythene bag prior to planting.

We carried out this programme for one despatching

The amaryllids comprise a family of interesting monocotyledonous plants that have long been prized for their very attractive inflorescences. A small number of the genera have become economically significant as cut flowers and potted flowering plants, e.g. Narcissus, Nerine, and Hippeastrum.

The propagation of the Amaryllidaceae may be achieved by use of the following four methods: seed, separation, bulb cutting, and tissue culture. The techniques employed in each of these methods will be briefly reviewed.

Our experience in the lab and with growing on plants out of flask was such that they required a high humidity but no great water application.

What was it we required?:

1. Control of transpiration and evaporation during propagation, and initial planting out of tissue-cultured plants.
2. Application of chemicals to plants after establishment — foliar feeds, fungicides, insecticides, or any other crop enhancing water soluble chemicals.
3. No over-wetting of growing media.
4. Frost protection during winter.

Considerations:

Safety — we were conscious of the need to have no extreme high pressure lines for water. Many systems in use here and overseas use up to 500 psi water pressure and

Quite suddenly in 1984, although the spores germinated as usual, the prothalli degenerated and production dropped to almost zero. The same phenomenon occurred simultaneously in nurseries in Perth and Sydney.

About the same time, enquiries began to flood in from tree fern growers around Australia whose production from spores had failed. Within a period of two months growers had contacted us from Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and a host of other areas all around Australia, all with the same story — their spore production had failed. Buyers informed us there was an Australia-wide shortage of tree ferns.

Over the next four months we increased our spore sowing tenfold and for the next three months I spent my time trying to solve the production problems.

The following things were tried:

1. Spores were collected from many remote areas around

Did I say a short history? Mention of these plants goes back to the earliest herbals, and "Will" Shakespeare uses them in botanical ramblings throughout his works. I can only manage a scant 40 years love affair with them. Collecting flowers and plants as a small child, the wonder of finding clumps of softest yellow flowers nestling in the long grass beneath hazel coppices and that delicious fragrance: — still eagerly awaited every spring. "Will" mentions the cowslip and oxlip too.

Hands up, those of you who do not know where the bee sucks?

And of the oxlip — "I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlip and the nodding violet grows quite over canopied with luscious woodbine, with sweet musk rose and with eglantine".

However, with the increasing number of New Zealand cordyline cultivars worthy of clonal propagation appearing — and with the added problem of hybrid pollution, causing frustration with some species, particularly Cordyline kaspar and Cordyline baueri (from Norfolk Island) — vegetative propagation is becoming increasingly more attractive.

In addition to seed, cordylines can also be propagated from large cuttings and chips of bark. Micropropagation is also used on some species. However, each of these techniques has its problems. Large cuttings have a high failure rate and are highly destructive to stock plants. Bark chips have exactly the same problem. Micropropagation has been a failure with variegated Cordyline australis "Albertii," and has not yet been successful

In response to this trend, a range of native plants was grown to test the feasibility of producing plants for revegetation. The initial response was most encouraging and now plants grown specifically for revegetation are an important part of our nursery production.

With the fast growth in horticulture, plant tissue culture has emerged as an alternate way of propagating new plant material and the industry is well serviced by a number of competent commercial laboratories.

It has been my experience as one closely involved in commercial tissue culture, that many potential users of this technique neither appreciate the basic mechanisms involved nor understand the relative advantages or disadvantages. I welcome the opportunity to try to explain in practical terms what is involved in commercially producing plants by using tissue

Rainfall in the valley ranges from 35 to 45 inches; 70% of our rain falls during the months of November through March with only 6% during the three summer months.

Only five times since weather records began in 1892 has 0°F or lower been observed; highs of 100°F or more seldom occur. There is a range of about 28°F between January, our coldest month, and July our warmest. The mild temperature, long growing season, approximately 6½ months, and plentiful moisture are ideally suited for a wide variety of nursery stock, particularly rhododendrons.

The variations in rhododendron propagation that will be discussed

In early times, pioneers introduced both food bearing ornamental plants into New Zealand, from the mother county — England. Most of these early introductions thrived, although some of the temperature fruits did not thrive in northern regions of the country, due to lack of winter chilling. In the last fifty years, many new plants have been introduced, mainly those that grow well in this sub-tropical region. The Kiwifruit, brought into New Zealand in the first decade of this century, has only become a commercial success in the last twenty years. Other lesser known fruits have also become commercial fruits in New Zealand, such as the feijoa, (Feijoa sellowiana)

Group 1. summer bedding. Group 2. autumn and winter bedding. Group 3. spring bedding.

The majority of bedding plants grown today are raised from seed. Each genus of plants produces different types of seed which require different germination conditions to obtain the maximum seed emergence from each lot.

The basic requirements for successful seed germination are:

1. Adequate moisture
2. Adequate heat
3. Adequate air
4. Adequate hygiene
5. Good seed

Adequate Moisture: Water the compost before sowing and allow time to drain and warm up. When sowing for our trials we use Fison's Levington compost and drench with the fungicides, Filex and Basilex, to give protection against damping-off diseases. Bedding plants fall into 4 categories for moisture requirements in the propagation stage.

1. Moisture levels
2. Nutrient levels
3. Gaseous levels
4. Temperature levels
5. Pest and disease levels

Many of the so-called crop protection duties are a result of an imbalance of one or more of these variables, not just pest or disease factors. Crop protection is not, therefore, just the application of chemicals but the paying attention to all 5 items with equal credence. I firmly subscribe to the approach of prevention rather than cure and have proved that preventing an imbalance of these variables goes a long way toward protecting the crop. I am not an advocate of organic growing, but know that the best crops are grown by working with nature not propping it up.

Light on our toes. When it comes to doing the job, our motto is "light on our toes". Large organisations are notorious for being lumbering animals, but our approach is to be quick in response to a crop's need or the weather.

For centuries propagators have sought ways to enhance the rooting of cuttings that rooted with difficulty, to cause non-rooting cuttings to root, to hasten healing of grafts and, in general, to cause ease and speed of propagability to be improved. In the early 1930's a marvelous breakthrough occurred for cutting propagation when Thimann and Went (19) and their coworkers (18) discovered that a root-promoting substance, indoleacetic acid (IAA) was found in many higher plants. This substance, dubbed "auxin" or IAA, when applied to the base of cuttings could be used to hasten the rooting of cuttings of many species and cause rooting in others previously difficult or impossible to root. Even better rooting results were found for analogs of IAA, such as indolebutyric acid (IBA) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Today, these latter compounds are the active principles in numerous commercially available rooting compounds. Because IAA breaks down in light

The origin, age, and location of mother plants and various cultural factors such as nutrition, pruning, and irrigation regimes used, all influence the microflora of cuttings and their susceptibility to disease. Fungi most commonly isolated from decaying cuttings submitted to the ADAS Plant clinic at Reading are listed below:

Common causes of fungal decay in cuttings of Azalea, Calluna, Camellia, Chamaecyparis, Erica, and Juniperus:

Some of these fungi are soil-borne (* above) and

Structures. The experiments were carried out in prototype 5 m side and end ventilated film plastic structures, all single clad with 150 micron UV inhibited EVA polyethylene. These structures are more fully described in the Station Leaflet "Low Cost Plastic Structures for Vegetables,

The aim of this paper is firstly to relate some of the important criteria the Botanical Garden has subsequently experienced for the program to be successful and, secondly, describe the plant releases made available to the 15 participator nursery within the P.I.S.B.G. program.

Evaluation Panel - Final Plant Selection Procedure. The 30-member evaluation panel, representing the wholesale and retail nursery industry, landscape architects and contractors, and parks boards have met annually to evaluate selected plants. The panel is asked to review some

We may naturally think of materials handling and mechanisation in connection with field and container production of hardy nursery stock. In the context of plant propagation these aspects are often considered less important than subjects such as propagation environments, improving the rootability of our cuttings, fogging or mist systems, treatment of cuttings, rooting media, or direct sticking. Perhaps I could suggest that materials handling and work organisation are equally important if we are to make maximum use of our expensive propagation facilities and our labour resources. At the moment labour costs represent in the region of 25 to 30 pence in every pound worth of stock leaving the nursery gate.

Adequate forward planning together with careful attention to work organisation and handling aspects will result in smoother work flow reducing delays due

The work discussed here aims to increase the yield of propagative material from selected clones of these species by treatments with cytokinin and other growth regulators, followed by improved techniques of micropropagation, stem cuttings, and grafting.

Bud induction on ortet (parent plant). The main problem with vegetative propagation

There are people who, when told that these plants are only half hardy and will probably die during the winter, dismiss them outright, but the same people are quite happy to spend considerable amounts of money each spring on annuals and geraniums. All of these plants are very useful for planting

The conference turned out to be a truly international gathering of both nurserymen and research workers involved in nursery stock production. Delegates attended not only from England but also Holland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and of course many from Poland. Unfortunately due to lack of simultaneous translation it was impossible to assimilate accurately the contents of the many conference papers.

My first experience of practical horticulture was when we visited what our Polish host called his garden. In England

Propagation, per se, comprised a relatively minor part of my study, but I did have an opportunity to view a wide range of propagation practices.

Climate is an important consideration in choosing a propagation system and almost, without exception, summer temperatures were higher than in the U.K. Spring frosts finished earlier and autumn frosts were later. Mist, both outside and under protection, was the most widely used system and seemed ideally suited to the climatic conditions.

Mist units were controlled by time clocks with a few exceptions, where solar controls were used. The majority of nozzle types were large and applied high volumes of water by comparison with conventional U.K. types. Rooting

The main task of our study is to analyse the anatomical structure of the current (one-year-old) shoot of E. japonica since it has a definite importance for the emergence and forming of the root system of the cuttings with respect to rooting during different times of the year.

Good quality cuttings are an essential start to any production schedule but all too often cuttings, once rooted, become neglected and starved before potting. This results in delayed establishment, slower growth initially, and poorer overall uniformity within a batch of plants which can be reflected in the final grade-out at sale. A series of trials and observations at Efford between 1980 and 1984 investigated methods of maintaining (and improving) cutting quality prior to potting. Results were impressive and showed that significant improvements could be achieved.

Traditionally, vegetable growers have direct-seeded into their fields, or thickly sown in one field or greenhouse then pulled the plants and transplanted them into their final position in the field.

When I became involved in plant raising, growers were starting to use the first form of module — the peat block — which was having some success, especially with lettuce. This technology has come from Holland where system was well developed, albeit mainly for glasshouse growers. Production of peat blocks in Holland was highly mechanized and was a large industry. However there were disadvantages in this system when used by outdoor vegetable

Before any treatment is attempted — as a matter of fact before

There are several early reports and reviews of woody plants responding markedly to daylength or photoperiod (12,25,36,43). One of the first of these in our Society was by Waxman (42). Nitsch (31), in his classic review, modified Chouard's (8) criteria and separated plants into response groups to photoperiod (see Table1).