The 2010 ASHS Annual Conference

Vaccinium darrowii ‘Native Blue’ is a low growing compact evergreen shrub with foliage color from light pink to dark green.  This cultivar reaches three feet at maturity, produces small semi-sweet fruit, and can be propagated by seed or cuttings.  Today many organic rooting treatments are being utilized.  Many reports claim honey and Salix solutions decrease rooting time.  The objective of this experiment was to compare organic and inorganic rooting treatments to determine which treatment promotes root growth from tip cuttings for ‘Native Blue’ blueberries.  On July 17, 2009 ‘Native Blue’ tip cuttings were taken from Mill Creek Blueberry Germplasm Plots inNacogdoches County, Texas.  Tip cuttings were treated by a quick 30 second dip in one of twelve rooting treatments.  The treatments included an untreated control, 2 boiled honey solutions (1 and 2 tablespoon of honey: 473 ml of water), 8 Salix solutions (20 and 40 grams of Salix leaves: 0.95 L water boiled or puréed; 20 and 40 grams of Salix stems: 0.95 L of water boiled or puréed), and Hormodin^® 2(IBA 0.3%).  Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design.  Tip cuttings were stuck in 1:1 pine bark/perlite substrate ratio.  The trays were placed in a mist chamber.  Tip cuttings were visually checked at 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, and 84 days after treatment (DAT) to determine differences in root development and rooting time.  In visual checks 14 to 49 DAT, 16 of 48 tip cuttings were checked.  In each visual check in 56 and 84 DAT all 48 tip cuttings were checked.  The data was analyzed by Repeated Measures ANOVA with Binary Response with a minimum significance level of 0.05%.  When comparing all treatments and times over the 84 DAT period, treatment type did not significantly affect rooting percentages, and all treatments, including the control, indicated rooting percentages above 81%.  When considering only 35 and 42 DAT, the data indicated that the rooting percentage for the Salix treatment (40 grams of Salix stems: 0.95 L of water boiled) was significantly greater than the control and Hormodin® 2.