2018 ASHS Annual Conference

A greenhouse experiment was conducted at Colorado State University to determine the effect of stock plant container size and growth media on the rooting of vegetative cuttings from Heuchera ‘Snow Angel’. Although stock plant treatment had little influence on the rooting capability of cuttings, it appears that temperature and time of year may play a key role in stock plant productivity and the rooting process. Stock plants grown between 18.3-22.8 °C (day) and 16.1-22.8 °C (night) produced more cuttings per plant between October and March with 94.4-100% rooting success during April, May and June. Stock plants grown between July and November in a greenhouse kept between 16.7-20.0 °C (day) and 12.8-16.7 °C (night) produced fewer cuttings that were larger and cuttings rooted with 100% success during December, January and February. During the rooting process of the experiment, bottom heat was set to maintain the soil temperature at 18.3 °C (65 °F) and intermittent mist was applied to provide a humid environment. For most cuttings, roots began to form after one to two weeks and the number of visible roots exceeded 35 after 4 weeks under mist.