Journal Journal of Applied Horticulture, 19(3): 226-229, 2017 Appl Effective rhododendron propagation through stem cuttings P. Ferus*, J. Konôpková, D. Bošiaková and P. Hoťka Mlyňany Arboretum, Institute of Forest Ecology SAS, Vieska nad Žitavou 178, 95152 Slepčany, Slovakia. *E-mail: peter.ferus@savba.sk Abstract Rhododendrons represent the most attractive element of the Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS for visitors at the season opening time. Because of necessity of the old collection renewal and re-evaluation of general rules in the area of rhododendron vegetative propagation, in this work we tested the effect of genotype, cutting collection time, auxin treatment and cultivation substrate on the rooting success of annual stem cuttings from Rhododendron impeditum ´Purple Pillow´, R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´, R. makinoi, R. catawbiense, R. fortunei, R. smirnowii, R. x hybridum ´Cunningham´s White´ and R. x hybridum ´Nova Zembla´. Despite the only one statistically significant effect of genotype, better rooting results were observed after cuttings were treated by indolyl-butyric acid (IBA) and cultivated in substrate composed from peat and perlite (1:1), compared to other auxin formulas (indolyl-acetic acid (IAA) and naphthyl-acetic acid (NAA) and TS 1 substrate. Cutting collection time is recommended to adapt to the mother shrub developmental stage/fitness. Exceptions from this general propagation procedure can occur among cultivars. Key words: Rhododendron, propagation, cuttings, genotype, collection time, substrate, auxin Introduction Rhododendrons, as one of the most decorative shrub group with wide diversity of habitual characteristic, leaf size as well as flower richness and colour, represent one of the most important collections in numerous botanical gardens, arboretums and parks. Their natural distribution area comprises particularly middle China, Tibet and Japan, North America and high-mountain regions of Europe and Indonesia (Krüssmann, 1962). Presently, The American Rhododendron Society (http://www. rhododendron.org/rhododendronA-Z.htm) lists 316 botanical species and 1125 cultivars of rhododendron. Flowering rhododendron shrubs, especially attractive for public, are traditionally associated with the visitor season opening in Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS. According to the last inventory carried out in 2012, in this arboretum almost 200 many-decadesold rhododendron individuals, taxonomically classified into 19 species and 18 cultivars (Hoťka and Barta, 2012), are growing. Rhododendron fortunei Lindl. and R. x hybridum Cunningham´s White are among the most abundant genotypes belonging to the species. One of the shortest ways to produce sufficient amount of phenotypically stable rhododendron plantlets to cover growing market demand is the rooting of stem cuttings. During the past century, the methodology of this way of propagation was elaborated (Wells, 1982). The large-scale production require proper timing for stem cutting collection, best type of cuttings for successful rooting, cutting adjustment before starting the rooting process, effective hormone treatment, choice of cultivation medium, necessity of the bottom heat input as well as light intensity, air temperature and humidity set up. In the own adventitious rooting, following three phases are recognized: induction, initiation and expression. The induction phase is devoid of visible cell division and involves reprogramming of target cells to the following establishment of meristemoids. During initiation phase, root primordia form and the expression phase corresponds to their growth through the stem tissues and establishment of the vascular connections between the newly formed root and the original stem cutting (da Costa et al., 2013). Present research deals also with early detection of rhododendron rooting success through metabolic markers. For instance, Merge et al. (2011) tested dynamics of cutting peroxidase activity and starch concentration in the course of rooting phases. They found that opposite to stable starch content, peroxidase activity decreased in the induction phase, increased in the initiation phase and fell again in the expression phase, thus having potential candidate for such a marker. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm, RC/ABS and PI) also tightly corresponded with changes associated with rhododendron grafting and adventitious root formation (Dokane et al., 2013). During the first 4 days they decreased possibly due to wounding and water stress in early stages of the grafting process, then rose and fell again till day 13, when callus bridges in graft region were observed, and finally fluctuated what was ascribed to the root formation. The aim of our work was to standardize the rooting procedure for the most threatened rhododendron genotypes in Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS as well as their perspective alternates, and thus to re-evaluate the general view on the rooting methodology. Material and methods Laboratory experiment 2014: Potted rhododendron individuals (Rhododendron impeditum Balf. f. & W.W. Sm., cv. Purple Pillow and R. keleticum Balf. f. & Forrest, cv. Robert Seleger) as well as older individual of R. makinoi Tagg grown in a plant nursery cold frame of Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS with peat substrate were used as source material for annual shoot cutting collection in August 2014 (Wells, 1982; for more details on cultivation Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net) Effective rhododendron propagation through stem cuttings 227 Table 1. Rhododendron species collection for rooting tests with characterization of mother shrub locations in the Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS, cultivation conditions and sampling terms Genotype GPS Light conditions Cutting collection date 22nd August 2014 22nd August 2014 R. impeditum ´Purple Pillow´ N48.322087, E18.367352 R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´ N48.322087, E18.367352 Light-Shadow Light-Shadow R. makinoi N48.322087, E18.367352 Shadow 22nd August 2014 R. catawbiense N48.320439, E18.369609 Shadow-Light 14th June 2016 R. fortunei N48.320251, E18.369761 Half-Shadow 23rd May 2016 R. smirnowii N48.319453, E18.369293 Shadow-Light 15th June 2016 R. x hybridum ´Cunningham´s White´ N48.32006, E18.370015 Half-Shadow 14th June 2016 R. x hybridum ´Nova Zembla´ N48.31941, E18.369334 Shadow-Light 15th June 2016 conditions see Table 1 and Fig. 1A). Five centimetre long apical part of 5-8 annual shoots with 5 leaves (in R. impeditum ´Purple Pillow´ 10 leaflets, in R. makinoi with reduced area to one third) were cut angle-wise at the bottom using grafting knife, wounded part was submerged into 1 % indolyl-acetic acid (IAA) or 1 % indolyl-butyric acid (IBA) talc (Rhizopon A or Rhizopon AA, Rhizopon, Netherland) and shaken off from the powder rests. Cuttings were then placed into 9 cm plastic pots with TS 1 substrate (Klasmann-Deilmann GmbH, Germany; pH 6.4) or peat moss (Bora s.r.o., Slovakia) combined with perlite (LBK Perlit s.r.o., Slovakia) in the ratio 1:1 (v/v) of final pH 5.5 and substrate pressed. Whole pots were enclosed into plastic bags and placed under artificial light source of 100 μmol.m-2.s-1 and photoperiod 16/8 hours. The cultivation room was air conditioned to 21°C. Once a week, leaves and substrate were sprayed by distilled water. After 5 months, rooting success was recorded. Laboratory experiment 2016: Older rhododendron individuals located in old Ambrozy´s park of the Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS, namely R. catawbiense Michx., R. fortunei Lindl., R. smirnowii Trautv., R. hybridum cv. Cunningham´s White and R. hybridum cv. Nova Zembla, were sampled for 10 cuttings of semi-matured annual shoots in May-June 2016 (Walter, 2011; for more details see Table 1 and Fig. 1B). Whole annual shoot with 5 reduced (to one third) upper leaves were cut angle-wise at the bottom, wounded part submerged into 0.5% indolyl-butyric acid (IBA; Rhizopon AA, Rhizopon, Netherland) or 0.5% naphthyl-acetic acid (NAA; Bioplant KFT., Hungary) talc and shaken off from the powder rests. Cuttings were placed into 9 cm plastic pots with peat moss (Bora s.r.o., Slovakia) combined with perlite (LBK Perlit s.r.o., Slovakia) in the ratio 1:1 (v/v) and enclosed into plastic bags. Cultivation was carried out in the same light, temperature and hydration conditions for 6 months. Statistical analysis: Percentage of rooting and percentage of callus formation as well as cumulative new shoot length of rooted cuttings in R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´ were subjucted to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). Comparison among means was performed using LSD multiple range test. The symbols *, ** and *** indicate significant differences at P ≤ 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001, respectively, and the letters imply significant differences at P ≤ 0.05. Results and discussion In the first experiment, only cuttings from potted rhododendron species rooted (Table 2). The most successful (100%) was R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´, which rooted in any substrate and under any auxin treatment. On the other hand, R. impeditum ´Purple Pillow´ could form roots only in peat-perlite substrate after stimulation by IAA (67%). R. makinoi usually formed callus and root appeared occasionally only in the same combination of substrate and stimulator formula. Among rooted cuttings of R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´, significantly larger cumulative new shoot length was observed when peat-perlite substrate with IBA preparation was applied (ca. 8 cm in average, Fig. 2). Lab experiment in 2016 revealed the best rooting (80 %) in R. Fig. 1. Monthly minimal (Tmin) and maximal (Tmax) air temperature as well as precipitation (P) dynamics in Mlyňany Arboretum IFE SAS in year 2014 (A) and 2016 (B). Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net) 228 Effective rhododendron propagation through stem cuttings Table 2. Rooting success of rhododendron cuttings as influenced by substrate and stimulator formula. The symbols *, ** and *** indicate significant differences at confidence levels of P ≤ 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001, respectively Genotype Substrate Auxin Rooting Callus (%) formation (%) 67 Peat + Perlite IAA 0 R. impeditum ´Purple Pillow´ IBA 0 0 0 0 TS 1 substrate IAA IBA 0 0 100 0 Peat + Perlite IAA R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´ IBA 100 0 100 0 TS 1 substrate IAA IBA 100 0 33 0 Peat + Perlite IAA R. makinoi IBA 0 67 0 TS 1 substrate IAA 60 IBA 0 0 Peat + Perlite IBA R. catawbiense 60 20 NAA 40 30 Peat + Perlite IBA R. fortunei 80 0 NAA 50 20 Peat + Perlite IBA R. smirnowii 50 40 NAA 80 0 Peat + Perlite IBA 80 0 R. x hybridum ´Cunningham´s 20 NAA 0 White´ Peat + Perlite IBA R. x hybridum ´Nova Zembla´ 50 0 NAA 20 30 Callus formation % Rooting % Factor P % Variance P % Variance Genotype Sampling Time Substrate Auxin ** n.s. n.s. n.s. 67.21 0 0 32.59 n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. fortunei, R. smirnowii and R. hybridum ´Cunningham´s White´ (Table 2). Except for R. smirnowii, rooting was attained when IBA was applied. Generally, much more cuttings from any tested rhododendron genotype rooted in this stimulator than in NAA. On the other hand, naphthyl-acetic acid caused more extended formation of callus in R. catawbiense (30 %), R. fortunei (20 %) and R. hybridum ´Nova Zembla´ (30 %). Statistical analysis of variance revealed that only genotype had significant (P ≤ 0.01) effect on rooting percentage. However, auxin treatment also contributed to the rooting portion variability Fig. 2. Cumulative new shoot length of rooted cuttings of R. keleticum ´Robert Seleger´ in different substrate and auxin stimulator. Letters indicate significant differences at confidence levels of P ≤ 0.05. by almost 33 %. Opposite situation was observed in the callus formation percentage with 95 % of variability ascribed to auxin treatment and almost 5 % associated with genotype. Among both experiments no factor had significant effect on callus formation percentage. Study of Nawrocka-Grześkowiak (2004) showed that IBA application at higher concentration (4 or 2 %) had the best effect on cutting rooting success in R. catawbiense ´Grandiflorum´, R. hybridum ´Cunningham´s White´ R. yakushimanum Nakai and other decorative botanical rhododendron species. Similar results were reported by Hieke (1988) from the Institute of Ornamental Gardening in former Czechoslovakia. However, in R. catawbiense ´Album´, good results with NAA were observed (Harrington, 1990). In our experiments, cuttings generally repoduced better to IBA than IAA or NAA but some species preferred one of the latter auxins (for instance R. smirnowii). NAA particularly stimulated callus formation. Beel and Piens (1980) observed larger rooting success of R. hybridum ´Nova Zembla´ in peat substrate with lower CaCO3 load. Hence, substrate reaction can play an important role in the rooting process. Chen et al. (2003) presented research on the effect of compost composition on pothos (Epipremnum aureum), maranta (Maranta leuconeura) and shefflera (Schefflera arboricola) cuttings rooting. They found that five substrates formulated from composted municipal 4.77 solid waste with biosolids (max. 20%) or composted 0 yard trimmings (max. 50%) as well as equal volumes 0 of sphagnum peat and pine bark, with optimal bulk 95.33 density, porosity, low electrical conductivity and pH, markedly improved root growth. Sufficient substrate hydration is also essential for rooting success, as described by Rein et al. (1991) studying moisture level in relation to R. hybridum ´HinoCrimson´ rooting percentage. Substrates used in our experiments differed in pH and most probably also in bulk density and porosity. Despite insignificant effect detected by statistical analysis, more acidic and more porous substrate composed from peat and perlite seems to be more suitable for rhododendron cuttings rooting than the TS 1 substrate. This is in accordance with the rhododendron cultivation manual of Böhm (2004). Since the only one factor significantly influencing the rooting result was the genotype, regardless of the cutting collection time, we can state that R. makinoi belongs to difficult-to-root genotypes of rhododendrons (Wu and Barnes, 1981). Nevertheless, cutting tightness should be taken into account because half-mature annual shoots are highly recommended (Walter, 2011). Thus, for deciding collection period, genotype and site specific approach should be applied. Except this, mother plant fitness is important for the cutting rooting process (da Costa, 2013). Early drought and high air temperatures cause growth inhibitor accumulation hampering the rooting process. But this was not in our case, as there was no temperature extreme and water stresss (Fig. 1) before the cutting collection, which could affect the mother rhododendron individuals. The study revealed that the cutting collection time, genotype and site characteristics should be taken into consideration for Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net) Effective rhododendron propagation through stem cuttings maximizing rooting. For rooting of the rhododendron cuttings prefer substrate composed from peat and perlite. Most of the tested rhododendron genotypes showed better rooting response to IBA. Differences among genotypes, concerning this general rooting procedure may occur. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency under project VEGA 2/0183/14. Thanks to Mr. Tomáš Bibeň for technical support. References Beel, E. and G. Piens, 1980. Propagating rhododendron hybrids by cuttings. Verbondsnieuws voor de Belgische Sierteelt, 24: 431-434. 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The hormone levels in stem cuttings of difficult-to-root and easy-to-root rhododendrons. Biochem. Physiol. Pflanzen, 176: 13-22. Received: November, 2016; Revised: January, 2017; Accepted: February, 2017 Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net)