Salix (vestita)

Tara Luna USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana 59936 (406) 888-7835 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc

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Family Scientific Name:	Salicaceae
Family Common Name:	Willow Family
Scientific Name:	Salix vestita Pursh
Common Synonym:	Salix vestita erecta
Common Name:	Rock Willow
Species Code:	SALVES
Ecotype:	Talus slopes, Highline trail, 2032m elev.,
General Distribution:	S. vestita occurs from southern B.C. and Alberta to Washington, northeastern Oregon, and central Montana in meadows, talus and scree near or above treeline.
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	vegetative
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Stock Type:	800 ml containers
Time To Grow:	1 Years
Target Specifications:	Stock Type: Container cutting<br> Height: 18 cm<br> Caliper: 7mm<br> Root System: firm plug in 800 ml containers.
Propagule Collection:	Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting Type of Cutting: Summer softwood tip cuttings.
Propagule Processing:	Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pre treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Cuttings are 10 cm in length and 1.0 cm in caliper. Cuttings were placed in a 2 minute fungicide bath to remove surface pathogens. Cuttings were treated with 1000 ppm liquid IBA, and struck in mist bed with at least 2 nodes below the surface of the rooting medium. Cuttings are stuck in mistbed with bottom heat and pre-rooted for 2 to 4 weeks before transplanting to container. Rooting %: 76 to 98% Salix vestita is easily produced by either softwood or hardwood cuttings. Salix has latent preformed root initials in the stem and initial rooting occurs in one week.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Misting frequency is increased or decreased according to daily outdoor temperature and wind. Bottom heat is maintained at 21C with heating cables buried 12 cm beneath rooting medium. Rooting medium is 50% perlite and 50% sand. Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting. After cuttings are potted, they are moved to an outdoor shadehouse for 4 weeks. They are later moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery and are irrigated with Rainbird automatic irrigation system in early morning until containers are thoroughly leached. Average growing season of nursery is from late April after snowmelt until October 15th.
Establishment Phase:	Time to Transplant: 2 to 4 weeks. Cuttings that were pre rooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequate root systems were formed.
Length of Establishment Phase:	4 weeks
Active Growth Phase:	After cuttings were lifted from the mistbed, they were potted into 800 ml containers. Growing medium used is 70% 6:1:1 milled sphagnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite and 30% sand with Osmocote controlled release fertilizer (13N:13P2O5:13K2O; 8 to 9 month release rate at 21C) and Micromax fertilizer (12%S 0.1%B, 0.5%Cu, 12%Fe ,2.5%Mn, 0.05%Mo, 1%Zn) at the rate of 2 grams of Osmocote and 1 gram of Micromax per conetainer. Cuttings were irrigated after potting and placed in the shadehouse for 4 weeks. After establishment in the shadehouse, plants were moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery.
Length of Active Growth Phase:	8 weeks
Hardening Phase:	Irrigation is gradually reduced in September and October. Plants were given one final irrigation prior to winterization.
Length of Hardening Phase:	4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Total Time to Harvest: 1 year Harvest Date:July Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage:	5 months
References:	Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1973. Seeds of the Woody Plants in North America, Young and Young, Dioscorides Press, 1992. Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished.

Citation:

Luna, Tara; Evans, Jeff; Wick, Dale; Hosokawa, Joy. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Salix vestita Pursh plants 800 ml containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/20). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.