CUTTING POSITION, LEAF REMOVAL AND TIME OF YEAR AFFECTS ROSA AXILLARYSHOOT DEVELOPMENT

The interaction between the cutting position, leaf removal and the tim e of year on Rosa x hybrida L, cvs 'Royalty' and 'Lovely Girl' axillar y shoot development was studied, The axillary shoot number per stem in creased from 1.4 to 3.3 shoots as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13, The blind shoot number increased on 'Royalty' but not on the 'Lovely Girl' plants as the cutting position increased from 1 to 13, F lower numbers increased from 0.5 to 2.6 as the cutting position increa sed from 1 to 13. The removal of all the leaves on the stem decreased the axillary shoot number on 'Royalty' and the flower numbers on both cultivars when cut above the 9th node. The removal of all stem leaves increased the blind shoot number on 'Lovely Girl' but not on the 'Roya lty' plants, Cutting from the spring compared with from the fall resul ted in fewer axillary and blind shoots, but more flowers that flowered sooner, were composed of fewer nodes and were shorter than fall-cut m other stems, Axillary shoot days to harvest and length decreased from 51 to 41 days and from 72 to 54 cm, respectively, as the cutting posit ion increased from 1 to 13, The axillary shoot node number increased f rom 11 to 12 as the cutting position increased from 1 to 5 then decrea sed from 12 to 9 nodes as the cutting position increased from 5 to 13. (C) Elsevier Science B.V.