Determination of appropriate place of cutting in shoots and young branches of five Poplar species and clones

Wood production in vast areas is one of the main strategies to protect and preserve the limited forest areas of the country that requires large nursery seedling production. Therefore, it is essential to determine variables influencing the amount and quality of seedlings production. Several variables including age and quality of parent trees, cutting dimension and appropriate place of cutting have an impact on seedlings quality and quantity. This study aims to determine the appropriate place of cutting of shoots and young branches of poplar species. For this purpose, cuttings were prepared from five poplar clones (two species of P.×euramericana, one clone of P.deltoides, one clone of P. nigra and one clone of P.alba) with three locations (lower, middle and upper part of annual shoots) and were planted in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Parameters including survival, seedling collar diameter, height of seedlings and number of shoots per cutting were measured in two successive years. The results of this study indicate that, 1) all studied species and clones present different characteristics and capabilities of seedling production; 2) cutting position causes significant differences in the rate of survival, collar diameter and seedling height; 3) difference of parameters is more obvious between cuttings prepared from upper part of shoots and lower and medium parts of shoots.