Page 74 - Book of Abstracts

5 International Scientific Online Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/2021.9788055224015

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PROPAGATION OF CORNUS BY GRAFTING IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE STEPP
Lyudmila Kharkhota, Evgeny Demkovich

Donetsk Botanical Garden, Donetsk, Ukraine; E-mail.: ludmilaharhota@yandex.ru
Cornus mas L. (Cornelian cherry) is a valuable fruit, medicinal and ornamental plant native
to the west of Ukraine, Crimea, the Caucasus, Central and Southern Europe, West Asia. In the
Donetsk region, C. mas is not popular yet, its fruits coming to the regional trade networks mainly
from the Crimea.
Since 1993, four C. mas cultivars, namely Vydubetskyi, Korallovyi, Nikolka, Elegantnyi,
selected at the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine (Kyiv), along with the seedlings from free pollination, have been introduced and trialed
in the collection of woody plants of the Donetsk Botanical Garden (abbreviated as DBG). Our
research staff has selected three promising breeding forms among free-pollination seedlings.
Investigation of biological characteristics of their growth and development has shown good
prospects for this species under complex climatic and technogenic conditions of our region.
Since 2012, research has been conducted in the DBG on the efficient reproduction methods and
seedling growth technology of C. mas cultivars to obtain planting material of local origin.
According to the results of our long-term research on C. mas reproduction by stem cuttings, the
species is classified in plant group with low regenerative capacity, as their green and lignified
stem cuttings do not take root without growth stimulant treatment. The experiments have
demonstrated that the optimal stem-cutting term is the phase of active shoot growth (under
the regional conditions it is the 1st decade of June), the most effective growth stimulator is an
aqueous solution of indole butyric acid with 100 mg/l concentration at 5-hours exposure. Stem-
cuttings take root in a greenhouse with artificial air humidification within 26–34 days, rooting
rate being 43–95 %. However, the percentage of planting material obtained from rooted
cuttings is low – no more than 20 %. Therefore, since 2016, research has been underway on the
C. mas reproduction by grafting. The purpose of our work is to determine the optimal grafting
terms and methods for cultivars and breeding forms of C. mas to obtain local planting material.
Two-year-old dogwood seedlings were used as a stock, the most popular methods were used –
grafting and budding. Whip-graft and cleft-graft turned to be inefficient. The survival rate of
plate-budding in the early spring period (April) depended on the scion condition and was 75–
80 % for all cultivars and breeding forms. Grafted trees reach a height of 30–60 cm by the end
of the first growing season and in autumn they can be transplanted in a field on permanent
growth place. The highest (up to 100 %) survival rates of bark-budding were observed in the
second half of July. Fruitage in grafted trees starts in the 3 year after inoculation. Climatic
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conditions of the region are characterized by the rapid onset of heat and drought, starting from
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the 1 –2 decade of May, which interfere normal development of trees, grafted in early spring.
Therefore, the most optimal for the steppe conditions is budding for the bark in the summer,
namely in the second half of July. The staff of DBG has issued recommendations on the growing
and reproduction techniques of dogwood. The sale of seedlings of C. mas cultivars is carried out.
A certain amount of documentation and planting material of the selection forms have been
amassed.

Keywords: Cornus mas, reproduction, cuttings, grafting, seedlings.

5 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improving the Nutrition, Health, Quality of Life and |73
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Spiritual Human Development
November 3 2021
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