Proceedings Library

With the encouragement of being able to root up to 90% the next attempt to root hardwood cuttings of C.f. ‘Waltham’ was on March 6, 1974 when cuttings from the plants produced in 1971 were

Since that time the production of rhododendrons has accelerated to many millions each year. However, the overall percentage of rooting has improved relatively little, in spite of our more modern production methods and the research efforts employed over the years. Our rooting percentage at Van Veen Nursery today is seldom much better 85%.

Briefly, I will review our present method of rhododendron propagation starting with a few cuttings taken as early as the first part of June. The bulk of the production starts around the first of

In addition to many years of service on various committees, including a number of years as chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the American Nurserymen’s Association, he has been active in a variety of nursery associations. He is past president of the Greater St. Louis Landscape and Nurserymens’ Association, Missouri Association of Nurserymen, Western Association of Nurserymen, Mail Order Association of Nurserymen and the International Plant Propagator’s Society. More recently he was elected to severe on the American Association on Nurserymen’s Board of Directors.

One of his most progressive achievements was to institute a training program that would acquaint high school students with vocational opportunities that were to be

My research on azaleas started at the Ornamental Horticulture Field Station in Mobile in 1952. The need for lime, the detrimental effect of excess phosphorus in the soil, and the need for a micronutrient mixture to supply necessary micronutrients, either in the poting soil or in a topdressing soon became evident (5, 6, 8). Monthly applications of a complete fertilizer were also shown to prevent fall leafdrop and make azaleas more cold hardy (9). Additional applications of nitrate of sulfate of potash further hardens and increases cold resistance.

Our research also indicated the value of adding dolomite lime to the 8-8-8 and to the topdress mixture

Several problems complicate the control of weeds in the shade tree nursery. First, heavy spring and fall workloads leave little time for weed control practices. Secondly, adverse weather in early spring and late fall make it difficult to cultivate, necessitating a greater dependence on herbicides. Thirdly, nursery crops are generally in the same location for several years and therefore it may be impractical to cultivate and impossible to fumigate. Fourth, most herbicides are developed for use on crops other than shade trees or nursery stock, consequently they usually do not provide the long soil residual

We have found that the people who are paid on a production basis are the most productive people on the nursery. They make the most money and they are the happiest and best employees, while still giving us the lowest unit cost. Now that combination is hard to beat!

All of you who have heard me

Order filling and shipping is a challenge itself. The first problem in our operation is a logistical one being divided into two locations, 5 miles apart. Order filling starts in our office which is staffed by an extremely talented group of individuals. Orders are normally phoned into our office by the customer, or by our two salesmen.

Orders are figured by hand to fill a truck with maximum number of units within a specific route or geographical area within economic reason. The next step is on to the computer for customer invoicing, extending of total plant quantity and size, and print-out pick-up sheet for our field pick-up crew. Plant tags are then assembled for

There are two types of Rieger begonias Begonia bertini ‘Compacti’ ×B. socotrana: The Schwabenland type is commercially propagated from leaf cuttings which produce multiple vegetative basal shoots and has an upright form. The Aphrodite type is propagated by vegetative stem cuttings and is a pendulous form; leaf cuttings do not consistently produce adventitious buds at the base of the leaf petiole.

The cytokinins are a growth regulator group reported to stimulate bud initiation

MODERATOR PARKERSON: Isn't some caution needed in applying Lasso in polyhouses? This was not brought out in the papers presented at the meeting today.

I reported on problems of using Lasso in polyhouses at the Chicago meeting. This material should not be used in polyhourses because it will kill plants in there. We are still experimenting with it and we don't have any trouble as long as we keep it out of polyhouses.

WAYNE LOVELACE: I know of one instance of the use of Lasso in a polyhouse which effectively put the house out of use for one full year. Lasso was spread on a chat floor and bedding plants were set on this; the crop was a complete loss. Charcoal was used to try to tie up the material but it did no good and crops placed in the house after the bedding plants also were badly affected or completely killed. The plastic had to be stripped from the house

As in propagating many plants, I believe timing is of utmost importance. Cuttings can be rooted earlier or later than my schedule, but one has to consider transplanting from the cutting bed into pots. Losses of 50% or greater can take place at this critical time. Kinnikinnick seems to have two times of the year when root initiation is at a peak. One period is in the fall, from about September 15 to October 15, and the other from March 1 to April 1. In following these time periods then, the cuttings are stuck from September 15 to October 15, and transplanted

Because of the habit and range of Gautheria shallon, it became of interest to the Washington State Highway Department as a candidate for roadside planting. In 1971 we contracted to grow 60,000 plants in 4" pots of salal for

We start out with the stock which is being grown in gallon cans in the greenhouse from last year’s cuttings, then take a crop of cuttings from our outdoor stock plants, and end up with more material from the greenhouse.

We like to take our cuttings first thing in the morning while it is still cool and, if possible, we try to pick a day when it is overcast. Ideally, when using soft cuttings from the greenhouse it is best to have a period of a few days when the temperatures are not too high.

Cuttings of Magnolia × soulangeana cultivars are usually 6 to 8, and sometimes 10 inches long, with 3 nodes. We first remove the bottom leaf, then reduce the size of the second leaf, and pinch out the soft tip. The cutting is given a one-inch basal wound and dipped in 0.8% IBA.

The rooting medium is 3 parts coarse sand and one part

Continous experimentation and observation have helped us formulate some ideas about specific times and methods of propagation — although we still get surprises! Gradually we have worked out a general time schedule which helps in propagating such a diverse collection. This schedule is frequently updated as we continue to experiment and learn from fellow propagators.

Cultivars (or species) are listed the month propagation is started.(See the following sample Propagation Schedule). Shaded areas are prime time; solid line, good; broken line, "risky but possible" if our schedule prohibited

MODERATOR O'FRIEL: Here is the first question. Why do you use peat and perlite in rooting mixes? There are others just as good.

HOWARD BROWN: I think one of the reasons using peat-perlite more and more is that they are fairly standard and lightweight, and they are fairly uniform throughout my experience. If you take compost or sand, you may get different grades of sand and some are not really clean. Peat-perlite mixes have proven to be fairly standard over a period of time.

MODERATOR O'FRIEL: Has anyone had a successful experience using Osmocote as a fertilizer in the rooting medium?

BARRIE COATE: I can't say that I have had good results, but the requirement of the IPPS to contribute a paper every few years brought forth a paper that told about a terrible success with Osmocote. We tried Osmocote at two different levels - that is, scattered at top and incorporated all through the mix; we tried also blood meal; and some directly on

We have for years used steel reinforcing concrete mesh. It is known in the trade as 6×6×8. This wire reinforcing mesh comes in a 7’ wide roll, 150’ long. Cut into 10’ wide sections it will give a quonset frame 105’ long. A foot can be left between each section, gaining an additional 14’. This material, on

1. A production flow line should be worked out.
2. Be sure of worker participation.
3. Can any of the equipment be used to advantage elsewhere?
4. If extra production is envisaged as a result, can it be sold?
5. A carefully planned training program.
6. A costing system.

The benefits that can be achieved are:

1. To reduce the heavy work done by staff.
2. To speed up work done by staff and thereby reducing the number of staff required, or increasing the volume of production with the same staff.
3. To reduce the number of menial and unpalatable jobs performed by staff, thus making the total job more desirable.

An efficient approach to the "manufacture" of plants will help to encourage the right type of people to come into the industry. As with farming, it should not be the type of job that school leavers decide to take up because they can find nothing else. We should aim to make horticulture one of the most

The first attempts at soil fumigation of seed bed soil at our Thermal, California nursery resulted in a near disaster. Citrus seed planted in either methyl bromide or Vapam-treated soil sprouted and grew normally at the start, but when the seedlings reached a height of 3 to 4 inches, growth stopped or was retarded in large areas of the beds. In some small areas of varying size the seedlings grew normally. Similar stunting of citrus seedbeds has been observed following soil fumigiation in Spain, Peru, Venezuela, and Florida.

Studies made at the Citrus Research Center of the University of California at Riverside showed a deficiency of phosphorus as well as some of the micronutrients in the stunted

1. Soil should be of good tilth with a good balanced feeding program and weeds kept well under control, both before and after planting.
2. Understock must be disease-free and of good quality.
3. Budwood should come from an indexed source, if possible. If not, it should be selected from trees and shrubs with good colour and vigour.
4. Budding knives must be kept sharp always.
5. A high level of sanitation, probably the most important single factor in a successful bud take, must be maintained.
6. Bud-eye maturity must coincide with the ripening of the understock.

We acquire our understock seedlings from the United States, Holland, Belgium and Canada; I like to bring them in as early as possible, at which time we dip them in Benlate and place them temporarily in cold storage. Early in April, we begin

Three basic steps are involved: (1) use of disease-free plant material (2) use of pathogen-free rooting media (3) prevention of infection or contamination.

Fungicides have a place in each of the three steps:

In Step 1, to ensure that seeds, cuttings, etc. are free of pathogens up to the time they are placed in the rooting medium, broad spectrum fungicides have long been used. Two methods of application are involved here:

A. Seed Treatment Chemicals:

1. Mercurials, very effective against a wide range of seed and soil-borne pathogens, can no longer be used because of environmental contamination problems.
2. Captan 75W (Orthocide) controls most fungi which happen to be on the outside of seed and prevents early damping off due to organisms in soil.
3. Thiram 75W (Arasan, Panoram, Tersam 75, Thylate, TMTD) is similar to captan in its broad

We nurserymen are accustomed to using other methods of propagation but should keep our minds open to the many new future possibilities of this technique. It can accomplish a much more rapid mass production of limited propagating stock, it can recover disease-free plants, and it can show us new ideas and methods which we can apply to our current ways of propagating plants.

There are

The actual proliferation of the ferns begins with the stolon tips, or runner tips, from a parent plant. The tips are collected and brought to the "clean air" station where they are sterilized by placing them in a bleach solution for a given amount of time, then they are run

As well as being a necessary factor for plant growth water is also used in nursery operations to manipulate climatic factors through such practices as frost protection and for cooling in periods of extreme heat.

The quality of water is often beyond the control of the nurseryman; however in many situations the nurseryman is able to monitor and alter some aspects of water quality.

The contamination of water used for irrigation purposes can occur through physical, biological, or chemical means.

Physical contamination of a water supply with sand or larger soil particles or from organic debris can result in clogged sprinkler and mist lines and

Setting the Scene (Table 1). There were in England and Wales in 1971 nearly 3,000 producers and some 16,000 acres of hardy nursery stock. Of this area, 2,700 acres were occupied by fruit trees and bushes, and in the discussion of demand which follows later, this section of the industry has been deliberately excluded as being unrepresentative. A considerable proportion of its output is by and for commercial fruit-growers and, in contrast to ornamentals,

There is also the possibility that people who call themselves accountants or economists are people who speak a strange language not at all like that of the nurseryman. Conversely, the nurseryman probably sounds strange to the accountant! Each has his own jargon which to the uninitiated appears as a barrier to understanding. In almost any situation where ‘jargon barriers’ occur, it is highly likely that a certain amount of mutual misunderstanding will develop between the groups involved. At worse, misunderstanding leads to distrust.

May I say that if the picture I have

Having sweated blood to obtain this, very little notice was taken of it as each proprietor played his hunch — "Oh, that plant will stand another shilling".

Nobody could tell me what contribution that plant made to the business. The attitude was, "We are making money, so what the hell". Now that margins are being squeezed, further information must become available to enable management to plan ahead of inflation. Once a nursery reaches the slippery slope to Financial Trouble there is nothing that can be done unless the details and reasons are obtainable quickly. This applies to a general nursery more than the specialist grower.

Most well run nursery businesses produce an annual trading budget with profit forecast. A simple

Every job should really be observed and recorded on its own, since where I insert cuttings today may be entirely different to next week or where you root your own material. However, the principles that I have used in this example can be applied right through the complete range of propagation from cuttings.

I want you to ask yourselves and select what is the key doing operation required to root the more common material which is to be handled in large numbers? … To me, it is the insertion of the prepared cuttings to permit the best conditions for rooting to be applied quickly and effectively. Skill is required for selecting and making cuttings — though we might argue that one — but once our criteria are set others should be able to follow the example of what makes a suitable cutting. We

I should say, however, that none of these ideas is new. We have merely adapted the methods used by other people or, in some cases, our own methods used by other people or in some cases our own methods but we think that they are useful. We have selected four examples to illustrate what we are doing.

(1) For a start consider pyracantha. We used to put the cuttings in seed trays in a conventional mist house and, being economical people, we put 54 cuttings in a tray. When they were rooted we knocked them out and potted them into 3" pots to overwinter in the glasshouse ready for containerizing the following spring.

There were two problems with this system —

I shall describe the technical side of three propagating units that were

In 1974 I tried a rough experiment using four different species, namely Quercus rubra, Q. robur, Q. cerris and Q. ilex to discover whether there was any application of these results for the commercial grower. I used reasonable quantities of each species, to wit: 1,750 Q. rubra, 1,500 Q. robur, 1000 Q. cerris and 750 Q. ilex. In all cases 1 year seedlings were used potted into 7" ×9" polypots in a soilless compost. There was no control. The lighting used was 40 watt tungsten filament bulbs 3 ft. apart suspended 3 ft. above the crop. They were placed in an ‘old’ cold greenhouse which had a polythene skin inserted inside to make it waterproof.

After growth

For the sterilisation of the soil Basamid is used. This product is supplied in prill form and I have used two methods of application:

1. A Sisis Lospred fertilizer spreader fitted on the rear of the tractor which applies the material at the correct rate.
2. Horstine Farmery applicator fitted to the front of the tractor. This can be hydraulically controlled if required, but in our case it is in a fixed position.

The advantage of the second system is that only one tractor is required, as a rotovator may be fitted to the rear of the tractor enabling the chemical to be incorporated into the soil.

Went (5) published the first description of a bioassay for rooting factors using etiolated pea seedlings while Hemberg (1) and Luckwill (4) described bioassays using cuttings of dwarf bean seedlings. Hess (2) used the mung bean, Phoseolus aureus, as his test object and subsequently modified the technique (3). Seedlings are grown for 9 to 10 days in a controlled environment and then cuttings are prepared with 3 cm of hypocotyl, epicotyl, primary leaves and

Problems of clonal and season rooting difference. A period of 4 weeks in heated bins with a basal temperature of 21°C has been recommended to obtain rooting in apple hardwood cuttings (5), but not all rootstocks root with equal facility (3), and rooting may

Although gardeners have known for more than 200 years that variegation in Jasminum (Fig. 1) probably results from virus infection, Cane showed in 1720 (3) that the condition was graft transmissible, the subject of plant virology is new to many people. I have therefore prefaced my discussion with some background information on the properties of viruses.

Although Atrinal has demonstrated activity on a wide range of plants, in this paper the discussion is mainly restricted to its use as a plant growth regulator for the chemical pinching of azaleas, particularly the florist’s azalea, Indicum hybrid cultivars, cultivars of White Water hybrids and Japanese evergreen azaleas.

The manufacturers claim the following characteristics and uses for Atrinal:

It is a new plant growth regulator with systemic activity for

Botanists and foresters have long been concerned with growth and form and their many publications, particularly in the present century, provide an immense amount of information from which only those findings considered relevant to nursery work will be mentioned here.

Research started first into seedbed technique, pre-war, and later into nutrition and weed control. The basic techniques are described in Forestry Commission Bulletin 43, "Nursery Practice" and Bulletin 37, "Nursery Nutrition".

Plant production falls into categories. Bare-rooted stock take up the bulk of the programme. Container plants, such as tubed seedlings, are used for special purposes such as in North Scotland where 500,000 are produced annually.

In addition, situations arise where it is desirable to have a particular size of plant, e.g. on very weedy sites where the cost of producing a large plant would be less than subsequent weeding costs. Or on sites where, for example, initial survival is a problem and it may be more beneficial to have summer planting. In addition, as nursery costs increase so there is a demand to reduce the time a plant spends in the nursery. Under these

Compared with herbaceous crop and ornamental plants, much less is known about forest and amenity trees, and new hybrids and cultivars appear infrequently or not at all. Whereas spectacular changes and improvements have

Cultivars of fruit trees, roses, azaleas, camellias, and a great many other commonly grown exotic plants have been either developed by breeding or gathered as mutations over many centuries and are great improvements over their ancestors. The search for hardier, more floriferous and attractive forms and the development of techniques that allow the propagator to faithfully reproduce these, represents the history of horticulture.

In the case of Australian plants, we have had a comparatively brief time to collect, select and introduce our flora. However, native plant enthusiasts

Consider these thoughts and their impact: Light — the most powerful environmental force; the omnipotent plant growth regulator; light is energy; light is essential for photosynthesis.

Light effectively regulates the rate and type of plant growth by determining the speed of energy assimilation through photosynthesis. Simply — NO light = NO photosynthesis = NO growth.

Visible light consists of a mixture of red, yellow, green and blue lights covering the range of wavelengths from 350 to 780 nanometers (nm). The two zones of most significance to plants are the blue zone (350–550 nm) and the red zone (550–780 nm). Photosynthesis is influenced by both zones but, in addition, the blue zone

We have been actively engaged in the reforestation of abandoned farmland in Gippsland since 1950. During this 25 year period, 41,000 ha. have been established, requiring some 75 million pine seedlings and 7½ million eucalyptus seedlings.

The two main species used for this programme have been Pinus radiata (D.Don) on the marginal or low rainfall sites, and Eucalyptus regnans (F. Muell.) in the Strzelecki Ranges where rainfall is higher. Planting sites are prepared at considerable cost so it is imperative that the site be fully utilized with high quality seedling stock.

To ensure successful establishment, a high seedling

Sifting through the rubble of this explosion of information, one can observe some pattern emerging to indicate that mans’ knowledge (i.e. organized information) and mans’ wisdom (i.e. his use of that knowledge) are making slow but steady progress. Plant physiologists classify the active agents into: (a) auxins, (b) gibberellins, (c) cytokinins, (d) inhibitors, and (e) ethylene.

In terms of their application to agricultural production, Weaver devotes separate chapters to: (a) rooting and propagation, (b) dormancy, (c) flowering, (d) fruit set and development, (e) senescence (f) abscission, (g) size control and related phenomena, and (h) weed control. Clearly the matrix of

Prior to development of certified grapevines (1, 2) mature budwood could easily be obtained from the non-irrigated hillside vineyards where the vines matured their wood early. The newer vineyards using certified stock were made in the flat, deep fertile soils in valleys where irrigation was available. Under these conditions it was not possible to obtain mature budwood from these vineyards for

In this paper some of the more recent advances will be discussed. Also, because enquiries have been received from growers interested in using tissue culture in their own operation, some basic requirements for starting such work will be outlined.

When we talk of plant tissue culture we are usually referring to any kind of plant tissue growing on a sterile nutrient solution under aseptic conditions.

Depending on the aim of the exercise, the growing tissue may subsequently differentiate into recognisable plant organs such as roots, shoots, petioles and leaves, or it may continue to produce a mass of undifferentiated callus tissue

Propagation. African violets can be propagated by three methods, i.e. seed, division, and leaf cuttings. The quickest and most successful way to reproduce named cultivars is by leaf cutting. If you are growing named cultivars much time can be saved when making up orders by arranging them in alphabetical order, starting with propagation and following on into potting. By this method several dozen plants can be picked out in a short time.

Leaf cuttings are taken all year round from

Physical Properties. Baker (1) explained that sawdust is one of the best organic constituents that may be used in a growing medium. Its outstanding properties are as follows:

1. Readily available in a uniform grade.
2. Chemically uniform.
3. Stable to fumigation.
4. Easily made into a uniform mix.

Seed from trees such as Ulmus procera (U. campestris) gives such a wide variation in type that as many as 50% of seedlings need to be discarded. The other major problem is to grow the seedlings to an acceptable street tree height, i.e., 12 to 15 feet with a nice smooth trunk of 4 to 5 inches caliper. Usually Ulmus procera seedlings require 8 to 10 years or longer to reach this size and, even after initial culling, the finished products generally require further culling.

One method that we used to great advantage to overcome these problems and obtain 100% straight trunked trees of 12 to 15 feet in 3 to 5 years is by budding or grafting.

Selected cuttings of Ulmus procera are planted in the open ground, lifted after one year, trimmed and replanted out in nursery rows 9 inches apart with 3½ feet between rows.

Budwood from selected parent

When the basal region of aseptic plants was cultured on medium-MMMM in the dark, callus was formed along with several etiolated shoots. Apical meristems from these etiolated shoots were much easier to excise than from field-grown plants. A programme for using a combination of meristem culture and heat treatment of buds and plants in culture tubes, is described for the production of virus-free material from virus-infected strains of strawberry.

Other methods for obtaining aseptic strawberry plants using tissue culture techniques are also described, including the regeneration of plants from callus derived from anthers. This is thought to be the first report of organogenesis from unorganized strawberry callus.

When Professor Oliver Batcheller from california Polytechnic University came to

Germination of viable non-dormant seed usually occurs when certain conditions are fulfilled. These include the imbibition of water, suitable temperature and an adequate oxygen supply.

When seeds do not respond, i.e. do not germinate when subjected to these favourable environmental conditions they are commonly called dormant.

Seed dormancy can be divided into two basic categories.

1. Physical dormancy
2. Chemical dormancy

Physical dormancy. These seeds have coats which are physically impermeable to water. When this seed coat is abraded, nicked, cracked or removed, the embryo imbibes water and germination occurs quickly; e.g. Acacia spp. and members of Papilionaceace (Pea family).

Chemical dormancy. When the normal criteria of moisture, temperature and oxygen have been fulfilled, and any physical barrier to water imbibition

Two of the important aspects making this impracticable are time and thorniness. In the first place, seedling trees take considerably longer to produce fruit than budded trees do. Secondly almost all citrus cultivars grown from seed show a high degree of juvenile vigour which is accompanied by a high degree of thorniness.

Twenty years ago I got "hooked" on the technicalities of citrus production and particularly in citrus nursery propagation. It didn’t take long to discover a vast amount of fascinating information in word and picture in "The Citrus Industry," by Reuther, Batchelor and Webber (1). One of the interesting snippets I remembered was, "the physiological change which causes the decrease of seedling thorniness, therefore, can not depend solely on the age of the tree or clone from seed: it seems to be favoured rather by repeated cell division,

At present, most commercial plants are being collected from the wild but it would be better if tree ferns could be grown from spores.

Several species are sold commercially. They are all attractive, but vary in their ability to withstand exposure. The black tree fern or mamaku (Cyathea medullaris Swartz) is usually considered to be the best species for cultivation, and so most of my studies have been with this species. Other species that I have used are Dicksonia squarrosa Swartz and D. fibrosa Col. By using sterile culture techniques, I have been able to find out some of the requirements for "normal" growth of tree fern spores into new fern plants.

Collecting spores. The spores of tree ferns are found in sporangia grouped together in sori found on the back of older fronds. The sori open when mature, shedding sporangia which, in turn, split and release the spores.

To collect spores, I

The early registrations of Terrazole in New Zealand were for use on turf and ornamentals but recently registration has been granted, extending the area for use into vegetable seedlings.

Chemical and Physical Properties: Terrazole is a soil fungicide used for prevention and control of diseases caused by pythium and phytophthora, commonly called water moulds. It is both fungicidal and fungistatic. That is, it kills the organism as well as prevents reinfection.

Terrazole’s chemical name is 5 ethoxy-3-trichloromethyl1-1, 2, 4-thiadiazole, but don’t let that put you off as "chloroethidiazole" has been proposed as the common name and this is much more pronounceable.

The technical material is a pale yellow-brown liquid of 95%

In selecting our seed we start with vigorous trees which produce seed which grows into a rootstock which is compatible and will give us a high percentage of bud "take’. This takes some time in determining these factors because our walnut production takes two years from the time seed is planted until the tree is dug in the nursery and delivered. So our "roughing out" effort of a good seed source takes some time.

We plant our seed in October, by hand, 1½ inches deep, 6 inches apart. We then cover the seeds with 6 to 8 inches of soil where they lay through the winter and stratify naturally.

The following spring, about March 1, when the seed has cracked and the root is about 4 inches long, we take the soil off the top

Although insect-proofing is of prime importance to the maintenance of the high level of plant helath required, strict observation of plant-hygiene is of equal importance and includes regular application of plant therapeutants for the control of pests and diseases with a special emphasis on the control of the main virus vectors, i.e. aphids, leaf hoppers and nematodes. The Unit becomes the source of nuclear plant material for research and for distribution of "Clean Stock" to growers.

(b) Establishment and Layout. The present Nuclear Stock Unit at the Horticultural Research Centre in Levin was built in 1967 and replaced a smaller temporary unit that had been in existence since 1961.It

There are, however, two applications of tissue culture which have already found a place in plant propagation. Firstly, in the production of virus-free (disease-free or high-health) propagating material and, secondly, in the rapid clonal multiplication of selected plants. It is about these applications that I will speak today. I will describe some of the principles and problems involved, the work we are doing at Plant Physiology Division,

The "container-grown" nursery business in New Zealand is not so many years old. I well remember when the most widely used container was the clay pot. Potting composts contained soil, along with other components ranging from turf, straw, animal manure, charcoal, scoria, leaf mould etc., as well as fertilisers such as were commonly used in the field. Often a different "recipe" was produced for each crop.

Today we require large volumes of a consistent "mix" which must be acceptable to a wide range of plant species and cultivars. I do not subscribe to the concept that a nursery should use only one mix. I fail to see any possibility of one mix being

Such a narrow view taken to many individual plants results in a collection of specialised plants which the landscape gardener has to draw together within a scheme embodying the design elements of unity, scale, light and shade, texture and colour to create a process involving time and space division resulting in a particular style.

Style in New Zealand at present has been largely influenced

Intensive investigations into virus diseases of pip and stone fruit trees in New Zealand commenced about 20 years ago. In early investigations, work centered around diseases which were readily apparent in the orchard such as mosaic, green crinkle and ring spot of apple, stony pit of pear, and line pattern (formally mosaic) of plum.

The TCI has expanded rapidly from a four tutor team in 1946 to become the foremost correspondence organisation in the Southern Hemisphere with a current student roll over 20,000 and nearly 400 tutors.

Emergence, nearly 30 years ago, from a modest school, to the largest single teaching organisation in New Zealand has brought its share of the

I would like to share with you the ideas seen on the I.P.P.S. tour and later used when employed, which I feel we can use to practical advantage in New Zealand. Some of you may already be familiar with some or all of these practices.

Sun Frames.At Hilliers & Sons, Winchester and

Rimu has always been an important timber species in N. Z. and the volume cut annually at present amounts to 15 to 20% of the total timber production. For over 70 years the country has enjoyed almost unlimited supplies of this versatile wood, but the trend over recent years has been towards decreasing the cut, to conserve a dwindling resource. Rimu is the most

From my experience in exporting plant material a high standard of plant health is essential and standardization of product is well observed. Selection of suitable stock should be arranged well in advance of despatch. Plants should be assembled and isolated from further saleable stock and marked clearly for export only. Regular examination of plants to ensure that they are free of pests and disease is essential.

Plants must be free from pests as aphids, scale, mealy bugs, caterpillars and mites. It

A peach breeding project has been initiated at the California Agricultural Experiment Station aimed primarily at developing genetically dwarfed cultivars which will produce high quality fruits. There is also underway a screening test of a number of private plant breeder’s genetic dwarf seedling selections (6 to 8 feet tall) set at various planting distances to determine per acre production as well as fruit quality. Such breeding projects could ultimately best solve the problem of reduced tree size, particularly if a dwarfing

Potting young seedlings or rooted cuttings requires skill and dexterity which takes a long time to master. This new method fulfills all the above criteria and gives a consistently good result.

Pautti Nissula of the Forest Research in Finland used this idea for growing conifer seedlings and took out a patent. This system was further developed by the Merrist Wood Institute in the U. K. and it was from their system our nursery developed a technique for New Zealand conditions. We saw a big potential for rooting cuttings this way and this was the idea we developed.

The Method. A strip of polythene 4 metres long, 300 millimetres wide with a thickness of 50 microns is laid out on a bench 3.5 metres long and 12 mm thick with side strips of wood 300 mm apart. A 12 mm layer of rooting medium or potting compost is placed over the polythene

This paper discusses 1) current propagation techniques practiced by a limited number of commercial growers and breeders; 2) a new propagation method involving the application of kinetin compounds to freshly cut crowns; and 3) propagation by tissue culture.

The ornamentals industry has been one of the fastest expanding segments of agriculture in

In the realm of economically important plants, palms stand second to grain-yielding grasses. The world’s first sealed milk bottle — the coconut palm; it also gives us copra and coir for mats and roofing of homes. Dates — the staff of life; we have palm cabbage; arrack — a potent alcoholic drink; leaves for thatch and brooms, cabinet wood and veneers. Fruit, such as bactris, the peach palm, are very nutritious; sago palm; betel nuts chewed by over 400,000,000 people; palm oils — and the list goes on and on. In Southeast Asia, Borassus flabellifer has over 800 uses to the native people there.

In our western civilization the palm has become important for its decorative and durable capabilities. It is

The nursery industry in Australia services a population of 14,000,000 people spread over 3,000,000 square miles, while in the U.S. there is over 200,000,000 people in approximately the same area. Consequently, nurseries in our part of the world tend to be smaller in size. However, size isn’t a criteria of efficiency and quality of production; we have some very efficient nurseries producing excellent quality plants. Modern up-to-date methods are used and many of our growers keep up with the latest developments from overseas which can be incorporated into their programme.

In my nursery we grow a variety of different things including bedding plants, ornamentals and house plants. I will endeavour to explain a little of how we produce and

Eucalypts fall into two main groups; shrubs and trees. The shrubby species, ranging from about 4 to 20 ft in height, frequently have enlarged rootstocks, called lignotubers, from which several stems usually grow. These eucalypts are known as mallees and comprise the highest proportion of the most floriferous and beautiful species in the genus. Other shrubs and trees have either poorly developed or no lignotubers and are generally single trunked. Many of these are also highly ornamental.

A high proportion of ornamental eucalypts come from a small area in western Australia known as the "Goldfields Area." A brief description of ten of these species has been tabulated below with information taken from "Eucalypts of

The removal of the tip of 3–4 leaves causes the next 3 or 4 nodes to break out on the stock plant. These then provide us with our next tip cuttings, yielding not 1, but 3 or 4 tip cuttings in approximately 6 weeks. On an average we can produce 60–80 tip cuttings per plant in a 12 mon period depending on growth habit of the cultivar.

Our propagation

Seed extraction. Soft, mature fruits yield large numbers of viable seed. The simplest way to handle seed fruit is to store it soft ripe at about 4.0°C until the seed is to be planted. The fruit is then peeled and the pulp liquefied in an electric food blender. This pulp may be evenly spread on the planting medium without further treatment or the seed sieved, dried and returned to storage in a plastic bag.

Seed germination. Seed planted directly after extraction germinates

Hibiscus is a line that we grow particularly well and have built up a trade supplying something like 50,000 a year in smaller container from a 2" tube to a 4" liner. We consign to all states in Australia. There is a particularly strong demand for the Hawaiian strain of hibiscus. For those who do not know hibiscus, this particular strain has been produced by using a species in the development program which produce extremely large flowers in some very unusual shades and colours. An example would be one called ‘Surf Rider’ and another called ‘Golden Belle’ which I believe would be grown in

Only Australian plants are grown and we hope to have a complete living collection of the Australian flora, which has some 20,000 species. At the moment there are more than 5,000 species in cultivation and about 100,000 plants in the gardens. There are a large number of tropical

In most cultivars, the flower opens fully in late evening, but does not release pollen or become receptive until later, (this time difference varies considerably). The female section next becomes receptive and this is indicated by the emission of a strong perfume and a pronounced rise in the temperature of the sapdix. Within a very short period the spathe then begins to close around the ovular section, before

Do not cut the leaves back on new divisions. The new plants are staked in the field to stop movement until established and fed at planting time. They usually lose quite a few leaves before growing away from the centre but after being cleaned up, after about 3 months they look quite reasonable.

When planting into containers we have saleable plants within about 6 mon and have found they too need staking if put straight outside but this can be avoided if they are placed in a shadehouse out of the wind. We are currently

Because of the heterozygosity problem involved with seed propagation, there is an immediate need in forest genetics and management research for methods of propagating vegetatively clonal lines of superior phenotypes and genotypes of douglas fir on their own roots. These superior clonal lines

The procedures are all rather basic; red and black raspberries both wild and cultivated, are very susceptible to a number of viruses. Some viruses are present in plants without producing visible symptoms and in this case, can only be detected by transmitting them to sensitive indicator plants. The cultivar, Henry, is commonly used as a test plant. Viruses are very detrimental to cultivated stock. From a point of economics we are concerned with four diseases; raspberry mosaic, leaf curl, streak, and crumbly berry.

Viral symptoms affect new cane growth in early summer when temperatures are still low. Foliage becomes mottled with light

As regards the student body, we face both a challenge and a crisis. The faculty members know far better than I that horticultural teaching institutions across the country are bursting at the seams with students. In our own state the horticultural enrollment at the University of Missouri has ballooned from 65 some 5 years ago to 330 at present. Our youngest panel member just 2 years out of college, has seen horticultural enrollment in his alma mater double and re-double since he matriculated. At Oregon State University, to pick a western institution, the 1970 horticultural enrollment was 60 students; the 1975 figure is 220. In almost every instance, I am told, the big jump has not been in

To answer the question given to this panel, "Horticultural Education — Does It Fall Short of the Mark?", I emphatically can answer NO. We may not be "dead center" in the bullseye, but we are on the target.

Those responsible for providing horticultural education have responded to the demand

One of the first things that I concluded from this study is that the problems of horticultural education cannot be separated from the problems of education in general. College professors complain that many of the students are coming to college unprepared for college level work. Secondary school teachers have similar complaints. Many of the problems seem to go back to primary school and beyond.

Teachers at all levels reported problems of discipline and increased

As to the question of whether horticultural education is up to the mark, I have varied feelings. Number one, I believe that the university can provide the needed education although there are areas I feel need improving. Number two, the individual plays an important part in the type of education he receives.

Let’s look at the university first. A student’s education in horticulture should consist of both practical experience and classroom instruction. To give you an idea of the courses offered, I have listed the horticulture courses I completed: Greenhouse Management, Bedding and Foliage Plants, Plant Propagation, Garden Flowers, Nursery Management, Turf Management, Arboriculture, Growth and Development of Horticulture Crops, Weeds and Their Control, Entomology, Plant

I am happy to have this opportunity to share and discuss my experience and research in the area of the horticultural education. One finds this to be an area of major differences of opinions, not only between the educator, the student, and nurseryman, but between associates within the respective fields.

The fact that we are assembled here points to the need for continuing education at all levels in a field that is moving at an unparalleled pace and becoming technical and complex. This offers one of the greatest opportunities available to

There are many jobs in the nursery

Aseptic culture involves several steps: 1) selection of plant species and plant parts, 2) selection and preparation of a growing medium, 3) development of aseptic isolation procedures, 4) growth and division of plantlets for continued multiplication or rooting, 5) establishment of rooted plantlets into soil.