Controlling growth of tabletop christmas trees with plant growth retardants

Abstract

Tabletop Christmas tree growers whose greenhouse-grown conifers have undesirable shoot growth may alleviate this problem by applying plant growth retardants (PGRs). Some of the most common PGRs in the horticulture industry were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in controlling plant height: ancymidol at 100 μL·L-1 (ppm), daminozide at 5000 μL·L-1, paclobutrazol at 60 μL·L-1, chlormequat at 1500 μL·L-1, uniconazole at 15 μL·L-1, and ethephon at 500 μL·L-1 compared to a nontreated control. The following conifer species were used: colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), black hills spruce (P. glauca var. densata), serbian spruce (P. omorika), noble fir (Abies procera), grand fir (A. grandis), fraser fir (A. fraseri), concolor fir (A. concolor), arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), port orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), and douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Chlormequat was the only PGR that caused phytotoxicity and damage to the foliage was minimal. Noble fir, douglas-fir, colorado blue spruce, and arborvitae were unaffected by any PGR treatment. Daminozide reduced growth of port orford cedar and concolor fir; uniconazole reduced growth of black hills spruce and serbian spruce; paclobutrazol reduced growth of fraser fir; and ethephon reduced growth of grand fir.