Developing a Modified Hydroponic Stock Plant System for Minicuttings of Difficult-to-Root Nursery Crops

Cutting propagation is a main propagation method for the nursery industry, but there is very little stock plant management compared with the floriculture and forestry industries. Budding and micropropagation are the typical clonal propagation methods for difficult-to-root nursery crops. These methods can be more time consuming and expensive that cutting propagation. The forestry industry has adopted a commercially viable hydroponic stock plant strategy for difficult-to-root species that emphasizes plant nutrition and juvenility to establish cuttings that root at high percentages. The proposed research will develop a modified hydroponic system for managing stock plants to increase the rooting potential of difficult-to-root nursery crops. Completion of the proposed research will provide an alternative to budding and micropropagation for clonal production for selected nursery crops.