Rooting of juvenile succulent cuttings from haif‐sib families of Picea abies

Abstract

Leader shoots from juvenile succulent Norway spruce seedlings were used as cuttings 11 weeks after sowing. The seedlings were grown for 6 additional weeks and then apically dominant and lateral shoots were also used as cuttings. These three cutting categories, leaders, dominants and laterals, rooted 99.4, 99.0 and 97.5 % respectively and performed differently with respect to rooting development, number of roots per cutting and response to IBA and PIBA treatments (synthetic auxins). A large individual variation in number of roots per cutting, which auxin treatments did not reduce, was present within each cutting categoty. Laterals from the three different families included in the study showed a different variation than did leaders and dominants. Generally, the juvenile succulent cuttings were easy to root. Seedlings grown at a rather high light intensity (62 W/m2) had the potential to give good rooting even without hormonal treatments.