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NPN Protocol Details Image

Salix (commutata)

Tara Luna
USDI NPS - Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936
(406) 888-7835
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc
Family Scientific Name: Salicaceae
Family Common Name: Willow family
Scientific Name: Salix commutata Bebb
Common Synonym: Salix commutata denudata
Common Name: Undergreen Willow
Species Code: SALCOM
Ecotype: Subalpine streambank, Oberlin Bend, 2025m elev., Glacier National Park, Flathead Co., MT.
General Distribution: S. commutata grows from mid-montane to barely above tree line; from southern Alaska and Yukon south to northern California, east to western Montana, Idaho, western Wyoming, and northern Utah.
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: 15 cm<br> Caliper: 1.0 cm<br> Root System: firm plug in 800 ml containers.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting
Type of Cutting: Spring hardwood or summer softwood stem cuttings.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pretreatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Spring Hardwood or Summer Softwood Stem Cuttings.
Cuttings are 10 to 15 cm in length and 9 mm in caliper and are treated with 1000 ppm IBA rooting hormone powder.
Cuttings are stuck in mistbed with bottom heat for 2 to 4 weeks.
Rooting %: 90% to 98%
Salix commutata is easily produced by cuttings.
Salix has latent preformed root initials in the stem and root emergence occurs within 1 week of treatment.
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: 8 weeks.
Cuttings that were pre rooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequate root systems were formed.
Length of Establishment Phase: 2 to 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 Osmocoteand 1 gram of Micromax per container. 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: 8 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: Total Time to Harvest: 1 year
Harvest Date: September to October.
Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage: 5 months
Other Comments: 1 year old cuttings were 34 cm tall and 1.5 cm in caliper 1 year after rooting.
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.
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition, N. Deno, published June 1993.
Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished.

Citation:

Evans, Jeff; Wick, Dale; Hosokawa, Joy. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Salix commutata Bebb plants 800 ml containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/04/23). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.