The Floriculture Vegetative Cutting Industry

摘要

Vegetative cuttings are an essential means of asexual propagation of many commercially important, herbaceous, ornamental species. Unrooted cuttings are typically comprised of small shoots that are 2-5 cm long and possess 2-5 leaves. The cuttings are taken from stock plants grown in greenhouses mainly in tropical, subtropical, or Mediterranean climates. Extremely high sanitation protocols are observed during stock-plant production to prevent systemic pathogen infections that can jeopardize the healthof all of the harvested cuttings. Once harvested, the cuttings are cooled, packaged, and generally shipped overnight via airfreight and/or refrigerated truck. Proper packaging, postharvest protocols, and cold-chain management are essential to the delivery of viable cuttings. Upon receipt, the cuttings are placed in a propagation area to produce rooted cuttings. Root initiation typically begins in 1-3 weeks, and fully rooted cuttings are ready to be shipped or transplanted after 2-8 weeks. The 10 largestcutting suppliers for the international floriculture industry produce more than 4.3 billion cuttings annually in over 400 ha of greenhouses (Drotleff 2014).The most important genera include: calibrachoa (Ualibracnoa x nyunuuj, carnations [Dianthus caryophyllus), chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum x gran-diflora), New Guinea impatiens [Impatiens hawkeri), poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), petunia (Petunia x hybrida), and zonal geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum) which are grown as cut flowers, flowering potted plants, or bedding plants. In this review, we describe the physiological, environmental, and cultural processes involved in cutting production, postharvest, and propagation.