Water Loss and Survival of Stem Cuttings of Two Maple Cultivars Held in Subirrigated Medium at 24 to 33 °C

Abstract

We determined transpiration rate, survival, and rooting of unmisted, softwood cuttings of `Autumn Flame' red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and `Indian Summer' Freeman maple (Acer ×freemanii E. Murray). Effects of perlite at 24, 30, and 33 °C were assessed to determine whether responses of cuttings would be consistent with cultivar differences in resistance to root-zone heat previously shown with whole plants. During 7 d, cutting fresh mass increased by ≈20% at all temperatures for `Autumn Flame' red maple, but fresh mass of `Indian Summer' Freeman maple decreased by 17% and 21% at 30 and 33 °C, respectively. The percentage of cuttings of `Indian Summer' that were alive decreased over time and with increasing temperature. Transpiration rate decreased during the first half of the treatment period and then increased to ≈1.1 and 0.3 mmol·m-2·s-1 for `Autumn Flame' and `Indian Summer', respectively. Mean rooting percentages over temperatures for `Autumn Flame' and `Indian Summer' were 69 % and 16%, respectively. Mean rooting percentages at 24, 30, and 33 °C over both cultivars were 74%, 29%, and 25%, respectively. Over temperatures, mean root count per cutting was 41 and seven, and mean root dry mass per cutting was 4.9 and 0.4 mg, for `Autumn Flame' and `Indian Summer', respectively. Use of subirrigation without mist to root stem cuttings was more successful for `Autumn Flame' than for `Indian Summer'. Temperature × cultivar interactions for cutting fresh mass and the percentage of cuttings remaining alive during treatment were consistent with previous evidence that whole plants of `Autumn Flame' are more heat resistant than plants of `Indian Summer'. Mass and survival of stem cuttings during propagation in heated rooting medium may serve as tools for screening for whole-plant heat resistance among maple genotypes.