- THE FLORICULTURE VEGETATIVE CUTTING INDUSTRY 123
D.Transport
E.PackagingIV. Cutting Management and Propagation
A.Preparation for Cutting Arrival (Stage 0)
B.Cutting Arrival, Prioritization, and Handling of Species (Stage 1)
C.Callusing (Stage 2)
D.Root Development (Stage 3)
E.Toning (Stage 4)
V.CASE STUDIES
A.Zonal Geranium
B.Poinsettia
C.Annuals
D.Cut Flowers
VI.FUTURE DIRECTIONS
A.Automation
B.Industry Consolidation
C.Risk Assessment
LITERATURE CITED
I. SCOPE OF THE INDUSTRY
Ornamental plants are primarily propagated on a commercial scale by
three methods: seed, tissue culture, and vegetative cuttings. Tissue cul-
ture is the most expensive means of propagation, so this technique tends
to be performed only when other options are not viable. Seed prop-
agation is often the preferred means of propagation due to the lower
economic costs and the ease of automation of the propagation and pro-
duction processes; however, breeding programs for seed production
require considerable time and expense in order to provide seeds in
sufficient numbers with high germination rates that are highly stable,
that is, true-to-type. Vegetative propagation provides the first alterna-
tive when seed propagation is not an option. The advantages of veg-
etative propagation include: (1) rapid introduction of sports (sponta-
neous mutations), that is, vegetative propagation has the advantage that
there is minimal time from identifying a mutation, either spontaneous
or induced, to when that unique plant can be introduced into the mar-
ketplace; (2) high success rates in propagation for most annuals and
herbaceous perennials; and (3) the stability of desired traits passed from
generation to generation resulting from asexual propagation. The dis-
advantages include: (1) a large area of greenhouse space for stock-plant
production; (2) a high labor requirement for stock-plant management;
(3) a lower density of plants propagated by cuttings results in larger
propagation areas needed compared to the plants propagated by seed;