Seasonal Rhythm of Rooting of Salix atrocinerea cuttings

The response of rooting and the content of growth substances in Salix atrocinerea cuttings were studied every month throughout the whole year. To study the rooting response 100 cuttings were put into a rooting mist‐propagator frame and the results were observed 30 days later. The hormone content was studied with the same type of cuttings by means of methanol extraction, fractionating into acid, basic and neutral substances and chromatographic analysis on paper and bioassays. Salix atrocinerea cuttings have three rooting phases: one very active in January, February, March and April with plentiful roots, not ramified, originating at the base of the cutting; a second lesser phase from May to August with numerous small and very ramified roots formed at a more ample area on the stalk. Both peaks are separated by a sharp fall in June. From September to December the third phase of rooting takes place. Response is practically nil and the few small roots formed are originated at the base of the stalk, again, as in the first phase. In the histograms a remarkable activity in the acid fraction at Rf = 0.30–0.50 was found and IAA was identified. The rooting capacity of these cuttings and the IAA content show some correlation but not exact enough to assert that the root response is governed by an optimum hormonal content. In Salix atrocinerea cuttings inhibitors are absent during the whole year which support the hypothesis that root formation might in some cases be influenced also by the presence or absence of inhibitory growth substances.