Abstract
Improved methods for vegetative propagation of red clover are described. "Leaf-bud" propagules, consisting of a single trifoliate leaf with its stipules and a small axillary bud in a stage of indeterminate growth, provide better units for vegetative propagation than crown or stem cuttings and have shown a closer similarity to seedlings in their growth and development. All types of propagules can be rooted in full daylight by using an overhead mist-spray system with vermiculite as the rooting medium.Propagule production can be very significantly increased by pre-treating intact plants with short daylengths and/or 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA). Application of maleic hydrozide (MH) to flowering stems causes abortion of floral apices, thereby hastening and very significantly increasing propagule production. Auxin treatment of propagules and/or long daylengths during rooting, increase the per cent rooting and the amount of root formation.Propagation in this manner can be very rapid. For example, more than 1,000 rooted propagules were obtained at one time from single field-planted propagules of a late-flowering clone in the first year. Propagules that were closely planted in wooden flats in vermiculite were maintained satisfactorily as very small plants overwinter under greenhouse and also under cold storage conditions, and were utilized in clonal-row field plantings for seed production.
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