Plant Propagation PLNT 310 Sandrine Delattre April 12th, 2018 Audrey Losier-Bédard Propagation of Crassulaceae Note about the authors We are both students of Agro-Environmental Sciences at McGill University with the intention of becoming agronomists. We decided to propagate Crassulaceae plants, because they are visually appealing. Objective of the experiment Crassula ovate (Jade plant) and Graptopetalum paraguayense (Mother of pearl plant) are both succulent plants originating from arid Crassula environments. These two plants can be propagated by leaf cuttings. There are some general recommendations about the handling of arid species leaf cuttings. For example, the leaf cuttings should be left to dry until they form roots. In this project, we wanted to test if this recommendation really Graptopetalum improves rooting. We also wanted to test the effect of Stim-Root #1 on the rooting of leaf cuttings. Methodology For this experiment, we used 2 replicates per treatment and a sample size of 12 per replicate. We had the same 4 treatments for both species. The treatments were as following: • 12 leaf cuttings planted without drying, with 0 IBA OR with Stim-Root #1 (0.1% IBA). • 12 leaf cuttings dried with with 0 IBA OR with Stim-Root #1 (0.1% IBA). Plant Propagation PLNT 310 Sandrine Delattre April 12th, 2018 Audrey Losier-Bédard The potting mixture was 2 parts Agromix (G6): 2 parts turface and 1 part sand. The first replicate of both plants was planted into Styrofoam flats. The second replicate was planted into a black greenhouse tray. The flats were placed on a bottom- heated bench (25 °C) in the Raymond greenhouse section #3. First batch of Crassula ovata two and the for treatments, replicates four Figure 1 Results 14 12 Not dried, no 10 rooting hormone : Number of rooted leaf cuttings according to time of the time to according leaf cuttings rooted of : Number 8 Not dried, rooting To gather data, we checked our cuttings 6 hormone twice a week. Rooting started around 2 4 Dried, no rooting hormone 2 weeks after we took the leaf cuttings. For the Dried, rooting 0 hormone cuttings with the “dried” treatments, we cuttings rooted of Number 0 2 4 6 8 Time (weeks) planted them as soon as we could see root initiation. Second batch of Crassula ovata Not dried, no 14 ovata Crassula rooting hormone From Figure 1, we can clearly see that in 12 10 Not dried, rooting both replicates of dried C. ovata, the 8 hormone emergence of roots was slower and IBA 6 Dried, no rooting 4 hormone rooting hormones slowed down the rooting. 2 Dried, rooting 0 hormone When the cuttings were immediately planted 0 5 10 Number of rooted cuttings rooted of Number Time (weeks) into the potting mix, rooting hormone had very little effect on root initiation. For G. paraguayense, as we can see in Figure First batch of Graptopetalum 2, the treatments only seemed to have an effect 14 paraguayense Not dried, no 12 rooting hormone on rooting in the first batch of leaf cuttings. 10 The best treatment was dried with rooting 8 Not dried, rooting hormone 6 hormone, in which all the cuttings rooted. The 4 Dried, no rooting Graptopetalum paraguayense Graptopetalum 0 IBA control gave the least rooting. 2 hormone 0 cuttings according to time of the two of the time to according cuttings Dried, rooting Number of rooted cuttings rooted of Number 0 2 4 6 8 Second batch of Graptopetalum hormone Time (weeks) 14 paraguayense 12 Not dried, no rooting hormone Moreover, the cuttings that didn’t root had turned 10 8 Not dried, black at the base. However, in the second replicate, 6 rooting hormone 4 Dried, no rooting 2 hormone 0 Dried, rooting Number of rooted cuttings rooted of Number 0 5 10 hormone replicates and the four treatments, for treatments, four the and replicates Time (weeks) Figure 2: Number of rooted leaf of rooted Number 2: Figure Plant Propagation PLNT 310 Sandrine Delattre April 12th, 2018 Audrey Losier-Bédard those differences were not as pronounced, and all leaf cuttings rooted rapidly. Recommendations For C. ovata, we recommend that leaf cuttings be planted directly into the potting mixture without a drying interval. Also, we cannot recommend the use of Stim-Root #1, which was not essential to rooting; this will be more economical. For G. paraguayense, drying and using Stim-Root #1 stimulated the production of roots, but was not essential. References Chong, C., and B. Hamersma. 1995. Automobile radiator antifreeze and windshield washer fluid as IBA carriers for rooting woody cuttings. HortScience. 30: 363-365. Eggli, U. 2003. Illustrated Handbook of succulent plants - Crassulaceae. 1st ed. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg. Kim, Y.S., E.C. Heung, E.J. Hahn and K.Y. Paek. 2007. Combined effects of phytohormone, indole-3-butyric acid, and methyl jasmonate on root growth and ginsenoside production in adventitious root cultures of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. Biotechnology Letters. 29: 1789-1792. Lessa, M.A., P. Duarte de Oliveira Paiva, C.M. Lameiras-Alves and M.L. Resende. 2009. Application of different fertilizers in substrate for Kalanchoe luciae Raym.-Hamet cultivation. Ciênc. agrotec., Lavras. 33: 950-955. Rogers, R. 2006. Crazy About Cacti and Succulents. 1st ed. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N.Y. Scagel, C.F., and R.G. Linderman. 2001. Modification of root IAA concentrations, tree growth, and survival by application of plant growth regulating substances to container-grown conifers. New Forests. 21:159-186. Stoudt, H.N. 1938. Gemmipary in Kalanchoe rotundifolia and other Crassulaceae. American Journal of Botany. 25:106-110 Thompson, P. 2005. Creative propagation. 2nd ed. Timber Press Inc, Portland, Oregon. Plant Propagation PLNT 310 Sandrine Delattre April 12th, 2018 Audrey Losier-Bédard Acknowledgements We would like to thank Professor Danielle Donnelly for teaching everything we know about plant propagation. We also would like to thank Mohammed Antar who helped us set up our experiment. .