Elaeagnaceae (Elaeagnus)
Elaeagnus (commutata)
Elaeagnaceae
Oleaster Family
Elaeagnus
commutata
Bernh. Ex Rydb.
Silverberry
ELACOM
Pondera Floodplain Germplasm, Pondera County, Montana; Dupuyer Streambank Germplasm, Pondera County, Montana; and a Bridger PMC source, Wheatland County, Montana.
plants
vegetative
Container (plug)
Containerized material in 40-cubic-inch to 2-gal containers
0
Collect dormant hardwood cuttings in December through February, 8 to 10 inches long, basal end of pencil diameter (~0.25 inches). Store in plastic bags with light moisture in a cooler or refrigerator until processing.
See Pre-Planting Treatments for cuttings below.
Trim all cuttings to a 6- to 8-inch length. Remove all buds, leaves, and branches from the basal 2 to 3 in. of each cutting. Remove all flowers and fruit,when present, as well. Store the cuttings in moistened paper towels during processing. Recut the base of each stem cutting at an angle with a sharp knife and wound the basal end of the stem with a shallow 1- to 1.5-inch wound just below the cambium layer. Dip the entire cutting in a broad spectrum fungicide and allow to dry. Lightly spray the wound with water from a mist bottle, shake off excess water, and then insert the base into rooting compound containing 3,000 to 5,000 ppm of IBA. Remove excess hormone by lightly tapping the end of the cutting on the side of a hard surface.
Prepare a well drained sterile media of 100% sand, 50:50 sand:perlite, 50:50 sand:vermiculite, or 50:50 perlite:vermiculite. Use bottom heat (70 to 80øF) for the root initiation stage (first 4 to 6 weeks), overhead intermittent mist controlled by a Mist-o-maticT, 16-hour photoperiods, in a greenhouse maintained at 75 to 80øF days and 60 to 65øF nights.
Cuttings are well rooted in 12 to 16 weeks. Pot up into 40-cubic-inch to 2-gal pots into a well drained peat-lite mix with baseline nutrition. Cuttings taken from wildland plants typically root 80 percent or better.
Move containerized material (at least 2 months since germination or rooting) started in the greenhouse that winter to an outdoor hoophouse in late spring/early summer (i.e. "finish" the plants in the hoophouse). The hoophouse is ventilated but not cooled, and the containers are usually exposed to full sunlight for 2 to 4 weeks early in the season. The hoophouse is then covered with a 50% shade cloth until temperatures cool in the fall. Another option is to finish container plants and rooted cuttings in the greenhouse and then move them to the shadehouse in late summer, allowing 30 to 60 days of hardening prior to winter. The shade is usually removed in late summer/early fall and replaced with clear plastic. The plants harden-off gradually in the hoophouse prior to winter. Bridger is characterized by a high number of solar days that keeps the environment inside the hoophouse relatively mild until winter. In the case of premature and severely cold weather, a small propane heater is used at keep temperatures above freezing.
As a standard practice, we allow a minimum of 30 days of hardening off prior to killing frost, 60 days is preferred.
Fully dormant containerized plants store well for several weeks at 34 to 37øF and 80+% relative humidity.
An easy to grow species from seed and cuttings.
Scianna, Joe. 2003. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. Ex Rydb. plants Containerized material in 40-cubic-inch to 2-gal containers; USDA NRCS - Bridger Plant Materials Center Bridger, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/05/19). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.
