Establishing root cuttings of Corylus heterophylla × Corylus avellana and Corylus avellana‘Barcelona’

Key words: 
• silviculture /
• Corylus heterophylla × C. avellana /
• C. avellana ‘Barcelona’ /
• cutting /
• plant growth regulator

Abstract: In order to enhance the rooting rate of hazelnut cuttings，analysis how different periods，sources of cuttings，plant growth regulator and cutting substrate affect rooting，and find the best combination of technical support for hazelnut cuttings root，the author used five-year-old Corylus heterophylla × C. avellana ‘85-134’and C. avellana‘Barcelona’collected from the Institute of Economic Forestry in Shandong Province as experimental material，carried out the cutting experiments in the greenhouse of Shandong Agricultural University from March to July 2007. Complete randomized block design was designed in experiment，in which the author researched four periods（March 20th，June 1th，June 15th，July 5th），four types of plant growth regulators（indole-3-butyric acid （IBA），1 IBA + 1 naphthaleneacetic acid（NAA），ABT1，NAA） and control （ck），two sources of cuttings（canopy shoots and basal shoots），three types of substrate （the perlite and vermiculite with a volume ratio of 2 ∶ 1，1 ∶ 1 and the sand）. Results showed that 1） C. heterophylla × C. avellana‘85-134’and C. avellana‘Barcelona’were both suitable for softwood cuttings with the best cutting time on July 5th. The rooting rate for‘85-134’was 71.1% with the average number of root amounted to 10.3 whereas‘Barcelona’was 81.1% with the average number of root amounted to 11.7；these were significantly better（P＜0.01） than the other three periods （March 20th，June 1th，June 15th）. 2） Compared with canopy shoots，the rooting rate of basal shoots was significantly less for‘85-134’ （P＜0.05）（43.3%） and for ‘Barcelona’（P＜0.01） （45.6%）. 3）Plant growth regulators promoted rooting rates of ‘85-134’and‘Barcelona’in the following order：100 mg·L－1IBA＞ 50 mg·L－1IBA + 50 mg·L－1NAA＞ 100 mg·L－1ABT1 ＞ 100 mg·L－1NAA ＞ ck. 4） The most favorable cutting substrate to achieve the best rooting rate was perlite and vermiculite with a volume ratio of 2 ∶ 1 as the ratio of liquid，gas，and solid was ideal. So that was the most conducive to choose the canopy shoots，with the best being IBA at 100 mg·L－1 with a 2 h immersion cutting in the perlite and vermiculite with a volume ratio of 2 ∶ 1 in early July in Taian region. ［Ch，6 tab. 13 ref.］