Stock Plant Etiolation

Abstract

The discovery and use of auxins in rooting and the development of mist propagation are unequivocal milestones in the history of propagation due to their broad applicability and effectiveness. Stock plant etiolation may prove to be in a similar class with these techniques. The practical use of stock plant etiolation to improve rooting in cuttings has largely been spurred on in the past 10 years by the successes achieved by Howard and others at the East Mailing Research Station, United Kingdom (9). For all the renewed interest, however, the practice of withholding light to improve propagation is probably an ancient one, having been employed every time a stool bed or layer was made or even a cutting inserted into opaque media.