The 2012 ASHS Annual Conference

Sparkleberry, Vaccinium arboreum, is one of the few Vaccinium species that can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions.  Commercial blueberries, particularly Vaccinium corymbosum, have very specific needs for optimum growth; hence, growing sites are limited.  Sparkleberry can potentially be used as a rootstock or in breeding efforts to gain desirable traits in commercial blueberry production.  Sparkleberry is also an attractive woodland shrub or small tree for xeriscaping and native plant landscaping in the southeast United States.  Currently, V. arboreum plants are commercially propagated from seeds, as asexual propagation techniques have been unsuccessful. A viable way to clonally propagate sparkleberry is necessary to allow for selection of plants with desirable rootstock and ornamental characteristics. The objectives of this study were to determine whether cutting type (softwood, semi-hardwood, or hardwood), cutting position (terminal or subterminal), IBA concentration, or the interaction of these treatments influence rooting of V. arboreum stem cuttings.  Only juvenile wood was used in this study.  Greatest rooting percentages were obtained from softwood cuttings (29.2% to 43.2%).  Limited rooting occurred with hardwood cuttings (2.0% to 10.6%).  Rooting percentages were variable for semi-hardwood cuttings (9.2% to 28.5%).  The IBA treatments did not affect rooting percentages of sparkleberry stem cuttings.  Since previous studies have reported little to no rooting success of sparkleberry stem cuttings, the rooting percentages observed using juvenile softwood cuttings were encouraging and provide basis for further research to improve asexual propagation techniques.