Timing of gibberellin A4/7 application for cone production in potted black spruce grafts
Potted 5-year-old grafts of black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) growing in either a heated greenhouse or an outdoor holding area were sprayed weekly at 200 mg•L−1 gibberellin A4/7 for various durations and timings. The application began 1 to 6 weeks after vegetative bud break and continued until the end of lateral shoot elongation. Sprayings ended at the same time for all treatments, about 1 week before leaf primordial differentiation on the shoot apices. The best response in seed-cone production occurred when application began 2 weeks after bud break (midstage of rapid shoot elongation) and continued for 5 weeks; treatments were also effective when applications began 3 weeks after bud break or earlier and continued for 4 to 6 weeks. Treatments initiated later (4 to 6 weeks after bud break) were not effective. Grafts kept outdoors produced more seed cones than those kept indoors. The effects on cone production of gibberellin A4/7 application at four different concentrations were compared by spraying for 6 weeks, beginning 1 week after vegetative bud burst. Gibberellin A4/7 at 200 mg•L−1 was the lowest foliar spray concentration found to be effective in promoting seed-cone production.