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NPN Protocol Details Image

Salix (reticulata)

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 reticulata L. nivalis Hook.
Common Synonym: Salix nivalis Hook.
Common Name: Snow willow
Species Code: SALRET
Ecotype: Talus slopes, Siyeh Pass, 2362m elev., Glacier National Park, Glacier Co., MT.
General Distribution: S. reticulata ssp. nivalis occurs from southern B.C. and Alberta to California, Utah and south through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico at high elevations in meadows, talus and scree slopes.
Propagation Goal: plants
Propagation Method: vegetative
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: 800 ml containers
Time To Grow: 1 Years
Target Specifications: Stock Type: Container cuttings<br> Height: 2 cm<br> Caliper: 3 mm<br> Root System: firm plug in 800 ml containers.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting
Type of Cutting: Hardwood or summer softwood stem cuttings collected after snowmelt at high elevations.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pretreatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Hardwood tip cuttings are collected before leaf buds break dormancy.
Softwood cuttings are collected when stems are fully leafed.
Cuttings are 3 to 5 cm in length and 4 mm in caliper and are treated with 1000 ppm IBA. Cuttings are struck in mistbed with bottom heat for 2 to 4 weeks.
Rooting %: 100%
Salix has latent preformed root initials in the stem and initial rooting occurs in 1 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 21 C 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 prerooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequate root systems were formed. Roots generate from the stem below the surface of the rooting media.
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: 6 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. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Salix reticulata L. plants 800 ml containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/03/29). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.