Vaccinium (scoparium)

jtrindle USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center 3415 NE Granger Ave Corvallis, Oregon 58413 (541)757-4812 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/orpmc

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Family Scientific Name:	Ericaceae
Family Common Name:	Heath
Scientific Name:	Vaccinium scoparium Leib. ex Coville
Common Name:	grouse whortleberry
Species Code:	VASC
Ecotype:	Crater Lake National Park at 6,600 feet elevation; in understory areas with well-developed duff layers; not found in exposed, windy areas.
General Distribution:	Western North America and Rocky Mountains; east to South Dakota, usually at mid and higher montane elevations
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	vegetative
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Stock Type:	2-year containers
Time To Grow:	2 Years
Target Specifications:	root growth and establishment more important for this species than a showy top
Propagule Collection:	slow and painstaking; our successful cuttings were actually carefully dug divisions with attached rhizomes from well-established plants in late summer.
Propagule Processing:	Divisions collected into moist peat with some added native soil duff; kept moist and cool for transport with ice packs.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	no specific treatments; the divisions were held in a walk-in cooler until Mid February at Corvallis and checked monthly to ensure that peat was staying moist.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	Divisions were careful lifted out of storage bagsand stuck without rinsing or shaking off peat / duff mix. Divisions were stuck into 5" deep rooting boxes containing Sunshine #4 Aggregate-plus with equal parts vermiculite to provide a light-textured but still moisture-retentive mix, and placed in a mist bench with mild bottom-heat to promote rooting.
Establishment Phase:	These plants were very slow to establish and fragile.
Length of Establishment Phase:	3 months
Active Growth Phase:	1st year rooted divisions were potted up into 4" square pots containing a rich, organic soil mix. Containers were held in lathhouse over summer; acid-special fertilizer was applied during growing season. In the 2nd season they were upgraded to 1-gallon containers, and Aluminum Sulfate was applied during the 2nd growing season to reduce soil pH. Liverworts and mosses were a problem on container plants overwintered outdoors in the lathhouse; the top layers of the potting media were carefully scraped and replaced during repotting in late spring of the 2nd year.
Length of Active Growth Phase:	April to July
Hardening Phase:	these plants remained under shade unlike most of our Crater Lake plants; watering in August was less frequent to encourage plants to mature.
Length of Hardening Phase:	4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Plants were shipped to a holding facility at Crater Lake in August of the 2nd year via refrigerated van.
Length of Storage:	see above
Other Comments:	limited seed propagation tried at PMC; berries sparse, slow and difficult to collect; literature recommends 90 days stratification in moist peat / sand but our small seed lot did not germinate in those conditions. Cuttings without at least a small amount of root / rhizome attached generally were not successful. Some soil / duff was deliberately collected along with the divisions; mycorrhizal associations are known to be important for many of the native Vacciniums and other than this we had no facility for providing inoculum to the cuttings.
References:	Corvallis Plant Materials Center Technical Report: Plants for Woodland and Rangeland Reclamation and Erosion Control 1980 - 1997 (includes Annual Reports to Mount Rainier National Park from 1990 - 1996 Link, Ellen, ed. 1993 Native Plant Propagation Techniques for National Parks Interim Guide; Compiled by Rose Lake Plant Materials Center 7472 Stoll Road East Lansing, MI 48823 Rose, Robin, C.E.C. Chachulski and D. Haase. Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants 1998 Or. State U. Press, Corvallis, Oregon USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Citation:

Flessner, Theresa R; Trindle, Joan D.C.. 2003. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Vaccinium scoparium Leib. ex Coville plants 2-year containers; USDA NRCS - Corvallis Plant Materials Center Corvallis, Oregon. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/11/21). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.