Stock plant manipulation

Pruning and girdling

Annual pruning is an important aspect of stock plant management in relation to (a)

maintence of juvenility to improve rooting, (b) plant shaping for easier and faster collection
of propagules ( Figures 10-24, 10-25, 11-20), (c) increased cutting production, (d) timing of
flushes, and (e) reducing reproductive shoots (97).

Type of pruning (97) include :

Modified stooling. Plants are severely cut back to their base but not mounded with soil as
with traditional stooling; this eliminates reproductive shoots and is beneficial for hydrangea,
Senecio.

Hard pruning. Stock plants are cut back to half their size annually; this avoids the rank
growth that can occur from modified stooling and eliminates reproductive growth; used with
forsythia, weigela, and heather. The advantage of hard-pruned hedgesis not to increase the
vigor of shoots or to mimic juvenile material, as has been long assumed. Thick cuttings from
vigorous shoots may survive better than thinner shoots, but the inner shoots root faster as
long as propagation conditions are designed to rapidly drain away excess water,e.g., thinner
cuttings particularly prone to rotting (61). The faster rooting of thinner hardwood cuttings
suggests that the rooting potential among shoots in a hedge is more influenced by the relative
positions of shoots than by thier absolute position in terms of the distance between
themselves or from the root system ( see Figures 10-25, 10-26). In general, hedges should be
grown to produce the maximum number of relatively thin-stemmed cuttings with a high leaf;
stem ratio if the species is diffcult-to-root, e.eg., syringa vulgans. Conversely, large, fleshy-
stemmed cuttings are perfectly acceptable for the easy-to-root forsythin x intermedia.

Moderate pruning. Plant are cut back by one third to one-half to the provious annual shoot
each year and there is less die-back than with the foregoing two methods; used with
viburnum, and deciduous azaleas.

Light pruning. Light pruning implies tipping back or just normal removal of cuttings from
the stock.

Hedging. The severity of pruning to maintain the hedge from is generally determined by the
ease with which cuttings can be collected from the stock plant (e.eg., berberis and
pyracantha are heavily pruned, while eleagnus and cornus are lightly trimmed).

Double pruning. Spring pruning produces a flush of cuttings of summer softwood cuttings
or semi-hardwood fall cuttings. In England, a second trimming in June delays the softwood
cuttings collection period until fall; cutting production is increased, but growth is weaker than
during the normal summer flush.
 With Dracaena stok plant production, incisions are made above axillary buds buy
cutting one-third to one-half through the cane (Figure 11-12). This breaks apical dominance
and induces additional buds to develop in the plant without sacrificing the apical heads. This
technique further promotes greater branching during field propagation (22).

Girdling shoots of stock plants prior to taking cuttings has been used successfully to
root slash pne, sweetgum, sycamore, and 19- to 57-year-old water oak (52,53,54). The
treadment consists of girdling shoots by removing 2,5 cm (1 in.) of bark, applying IBA talc,
and wrapping the shoot with polyethylene film and aluminum. Once primordia become
visible as small bumps in the callus, the cutting is removed from the stock plant and rooted
under mist (Figure 11-12).