Douglas-fir clones have a wide range of rooting potential, but the species is generally considered difficult to root. We have reported previously that NAA is approximately 14-times more active than IBA in the clones tested, with an optimum of about 5 to 10 mM NAA. In contrast, other programs routinely use about 25 mM IBA to propagate Douglas-fir cuttings, a concentration that is relatively inactive in our clones. To address questions raised by these observations, we have incorporated auxin treatments into our long term program to select Douglas-fir clones with high rooting potential. We collect 20 cuttings of each clone identified in Christmas tree plantations, and retain clones rooting ≥ 80%. Beginning in 1991, we treated 10 cuttings of each clone with 5 mM NAA, the other 10 cuttings with 25 mM IBA. Over three years, 1158 clones received the split treatments. Of 222 clones rooting ≥ 80%) approximately half rooted ≥ 80% in response to NAA only. The remainder either responded to IBA or to both NAA and IBA. These results support our previous observations that NAA stimulates rooting of Douglas-fir better than IBA. However, they also suggest that there may be clones sensitive to IBA or to both NAA and IBA.
567 PB 006 AUXIN SENSITIVITY OF DOUGLAS-FIR STEM CUTTINGS
