The growth rate and the variation in growth in relation to the stock plant of Hedera canariensis Willd. ‘Gloire de Marengo’

When leaf-bud cuttings from Hedera canariensis Willd. ‘Gloire de Marengo’ were prepared with various stem lengths, the subsequent shoot length was inversely correlated with the stem length below the axil. The shoot growth was also correlated with the size of the leaf of the cutting but not by the position along the stem of the stock plant. Certain stock plants yielded cuttings with significantly greater shoot lengths than did others.The shoot length obtained was variable (coefficient of variation 36%), and this variation was reduced neither by standardising the length of the stem below the axil, nor by standardising the area of the original leaf on the cuttings. However, some stock plants produced less variable cuttings than others, and variability was shown to be inversely correlated with the shoot length of the propagated plants.