Experiments in rooting bishop pine (Pinus muricata D. Don) cuttings

Presented here are results of rooting studies using hedges established from juvenile seedlings of blue and green foliaged bishop pine (Pinus muricata D. Don) from Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California. Rootability, averaged over all clones and all setting dates, was 88%. The average time for 50% of the cuttings to root was 6 months. In general, cuttings began to root rapidly in late winter/early spring. The time of year when cuttings were set determined how soon they began a phase of rapid rooting, with cuttings set in winter and early spring beginning faster than other setting dates. The period of rapid rooting lasted 2–3 months until mid/late summer, beyond which time, rooting was slow. Population and family differences in rooting were not significant; differences in rooting among clones, however, were large and significant. Analyses of clones in two experiments indicated that rooting was heritable.