ANNALES • Ser. hist. nat. • 12 ■ 2002 ■ 2
original scientific paper	IJDC 634.63:581.16(497.4-14)
received: 15. 11. 2002
THE USE OF THE FOG-SYSTEM IN THE OLIVE LEAFY CUTTING PROPAGATION
Cregor OSTt'RC
Institute for Fruit Growing, Viticulture and Vegetable Growing, Department of Agronomy, Biotechnirai Faculty, University of Ljubljana,
SI-IOOO Ljubljana, famnikarjeva 101 F -mai I: gregor.osterc@bf ,uni -I j .si
Dunja BANDUUMAVSAR
institute far Mediterranean agriculture and olive growing. Science and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia,
Koper, Si-6000 Koper, Garibaldijeva 18
Franci STAMPAR
institute for Fruit Growing, Viticulture and Vegetable Growing, Department of Agronomy, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana,
SI-1000 Ljubljana, lamnikarjeva 101
ABSTRACT
The leafy cutting propagation of olive under mist is well known, although all so far carried out. experiments have been based only on rooting results. The development of leafy cutting propagation method by woody plants has been made possible due to the development of the fog-systems in the last 15 years. Our experiment with the use of the fog-system in the propagation of 'Istrska belica' and 'Leccino' showed that the propagation of these olive cult/van in such a system is possible. The cuttings formed up to 7 main roots in the propagation season and their sprouts grew up to 20 cm.
Key words: olive, fog-system, leafy cutting propagation, rooting
L'USO DEL SISTEMA Dl NEBULIZZAZIONE NELLA PROPAGAZIONE PER TALEA SEMILEGNOSA DELL'OLIVO
SINTESl
La propagazione dell'olivo tramite lalea semilegnosa sotto nebulizzazione e ben nota, benche da tali experiment! si siano avuti solamente risultati inerentl la radicazione. Negli ultimi 15 anni lo sviluppo del metodo delta propaga-zione tramite talea frondosa con piante legnose e foitemente col legato alia nascita e alio sviluppo del sistema di nebulizzazione. Dagli esperimenti. nei quali e stato usato tale sistema nella propagazione delle specie Sianca tstri-arta e leccino. risulta possibile la propagazione di questi cultivar di olivi con il sistema di nebulizzazione. Nella sta-gione delta propagazione le talee hanno sviluppato fino a 7 radici principali e i loro germogli sono cresciuti fino a 20 centimetii.
Parole chiave: olivo, nebulizzazione, propagazione per lalea semilegnosa, radicazione
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Gregor OSTFRC et a).: THE USE OF THE FOG-SYSTEM IN THE OLIVE LEAfV CUTTING PROPAGATION, 51
INTRODUCTION
The olive propagation is carried out in the praxis mostly with leafy cuttings, in the praxis the cuttings are propagated on the moving tables under mist. As the cutting bases have to be heated during propagation period, the propagation costs are high. Using this system, the cultivars 'istrska beiica' and 'Leccino', which are the most important Slovenian cultivars, can be propagated relatively well, too.
The good experience with the use of the fog-system in the propagation of leafy cuttings with many woody plant species (and difficult-to-root species) in the last few years has enabled us to enhance the propagation success with the olive as well. As this method requires no heating of the cutting bases, it is much cheaper as the propagation in the mist system.
The effects of the slow release fertilizer, added to the rooting substrate, on the rooting and growth of cuttings were tested in tine experiment.
In the past, many experiments with olive leafy cuttings under mist have been carried out. Rooting success depended strongly on the propagated c ultivar. Yesel (1999) reported that the rooting results of the cv. 'Istrska beiica' were about 60%, while the results with the cv. 'Leccino' were only about 30%. Contrary lo such results are the farmers' findings: the rooting with the cv. 'Leccino' is belter than with the cv. 'Istrska beiica'. The outcomes of several experiments showed That the rooting success was only between 40% and 50% in various cultivars (Celik et a!.. 1994; Fernandes-Serrano et a/., 2000). Celik ef ai. (1994) were able to reach belter rooting results (up to 100%) by using a different type of tunnel in (he cullivar 'Gemlik'. A very wide rooting range was also obtained by Ozkaya and Ceiik (1994) who rooted cultivars 'Gemlik' and 'Domat' with rooting rates between 20 and 57% and in other treatment, up to 100%.
All these experiments are based only on rooting results. Such experiments can be very problematic, as there are many other factors that can also dramatically affect rooting or propagation success (plant growth in the propagation season, over-wintering etc.). Spethmann (1997) suggested observing cutting experiments widely, not. only through one parameter, such as rooting percentage. Many new experiments with numerous woody species showed several important advantages of the fog-system used in the cutting propagation. For the first time, very important plant arts could be economically rooted with the use of the fog-system: Acer, Quercus, Hamamelis, Prurius (Spethmann, 1986a, 1986b, 1997).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was carried out in an unhealed plastic house under a fog system in the experimental field of the Biotechnicai Faculty in Ljubljana in 2001. Four lev-
els (0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6g N/l substrate) of the slow release fertilizer "Osmocote-Plus 3-4M (15+11+11+2)" were tested with two olive cultivars 'Istrska belica' and 'Leccino'. The one-factor experiment with 4 replications and 30 cuttings per replication was carried out. The cuttings were cut at the end of June in a private orchard in Ankaran (Slovenia). Before being put in the rooting substrate (peat/sand in a 3:1 ratio), the cuttings were treated with 0.5% IBA (with 10% Euparen on talcum basis).
Data were collected in November 2001. The rooting results, the number and the length of the main roots and the sprout length were stated. The data were evaluated with ANOVA, the differences were tested with the Duncan-test at p=0,05,
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The rooting results of this first experiment with olive leafy cuttings in the fog system reached average values in both cultivars 'istrska belica' and 'Leccino', namely up to 30%. The fertilizer variants showed highly varying results depending on the cultivars. In the case of 'Istrska belica', the best variant was the lowest fertilizer variant (0.2 g N/l), In 'Leccino' both the control variant and the strongest fertilizer variant (0.6 g N/l) gave the highest rate of rooted cuttings (Tab. 1).
Tab. 1: Routing results regarding different fertilization variants of the substrate for two olive cultivars. Tab. 1: Rezultati ukoreriinianja glede na fertilizacijske različice substrata za dva oljčna kultivarja.
Variant	Rootin	g (%)
	'Istrska belica'	'Leccino'
Control	10.0	24.2
0.2 g N	30.9	7,8
0.4 g N	10.0	-
0.6 it N	5.0	2.3.4
Duncanaos	n,s.	
statistical analysts was not possible/statisticna analiza ni bila rnogoca
These results cannot, be accepted as positive when compared with the results of other difficult-to-root woody species propagated in the fog-system (Spethmann, 1986a, 1986b; Osterc & Spethmann, 2000). Anyway, itshould be mentioned that some other experiments with olive leafy cuttings under mist, especially with 'Leccino', showed similar rooting results (Vesel, 1999). The control variant (without fertilizer) had no negative effects on the rooting process. This can be well explained with the fact that substrate fertilizing shows its effect, on cutting growth later in the propagation season, when the roots have already been formed (Spethmann, 1997).
The number of the main roots was the greatest at the control variant in both olive cultivars, while the length of the roots was the greatest at the 0.2g N variant (Tab. 2,Fig.1).
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Gregor OSUP.C «f aU THF USt: OF THE fOC-SYSTEM IN THF OliVE LEAfV CUTTING PROPAGATION. 2*9-252
Fig. 1: Very well developed root system of olive cuttings cv. 'Istrska belica' at the end of the propagation season.
SI. 1: Zelo dobro razvit koreninski sistem potaknjenca 'istrske belice' ob koncu razmnoževalne sezone.
Tab. 2: Number and length of the main roots regarding different fertilization variants of the substrate for two olive cultivars.
Tab. 2: Število in dolžina glavnih korenin glede na fer-tilizacijske različice substrata za dva oljčna kullivarja.
Fig. 2: Very well developed root system enables strong sprout growth of olive cuttings in the propagation season (cv. 'Istrska belica').
Sf. 2: Zelo dobro razvit koreninski sistem omogoča močno rast poganjkov oljčnih potaknjencev v razmnoževalni sezoni (cv. 'istrska belica').
It can be concluded yet again that substrate fertilizing showed its effect for first time when the rooting process had already been finished. The positive effect of the presence of the fertilizer can be seen in the phase of the root growth. This influence of the fertilizer has already been described several times in the case of many woody species in the new literature data (Spethmann, 1997; Osterc & Spethmann, 2000). But there is a lack of similar experiments with olive cuttings. There have been no literature reports in the last ten years on experiments with the olive leafy cuttings, which would include other rooting parameters beside rooting percentage as well (Celik et ai., 1994; Ozkaya & Celik, 1994; Vesel, 1999).
The strongest growth of the main sprout can be observed with 7.0 cm at the 0.2 g N variant in 'Istrska belica' and with 5.4 cm at the control variant in 'l.eccino' (Tab. 3, Fig. 2).
Tab. 3: Sprout growth of the cuttings regarding different fertilization variants of the substrate for two olive cultivars.
Tab. 3: Rast poganjkov potaknjencev glede na fertili-zacijske različice substrata za dva oljčna kultivarja.
Variant	Number		Lengt	i (cm)
	'Istrska belica'	'Lec-cino'	'Istrska belica'	'Lec-dno'
Control	5.4	5.3	14.7	13.6
0.2 g N	3.7	2.7	20.9	15. i
0.4 g N	4.0	-	9.7	-
0.6 sN	2.8	3.2	12.S	10.8
Duncanfl or,	n.s.	d	n.s.	a
Variant	Sprout growth (cm)	
	'Istrska belica'	'Leccino'
Control	4.4	5.7
0.2 g N	7.1	3.0
0.4 g N	0.7	-
0.6 g N	1.5	3.5
Duncaoc.os	n.s.	J
statistical analysis was not possible/statističria analiza ni bila mogoča
statistical analysis was not possibie/statistična analiza ni bila mogoči)
The results with 'Istrska belica' confirm that the fertilizer in the substrate reacts in the propagation phase
ANNALES • Ser. hist. nat. • 12 ■ 2002 ■ 2
Gregor OSTEP.C el a.'.: THE USE Of THE FOG-SYSTEM »N THE GltVi LEAFY CUTTING PROPAGATION, 249-252
when the roofing process has already L>een completed. The worse results with higher fertilizer concentration (0.6 g N variant) showed that higher N concentrations irt the substrate could have negative effects on the cutting growth process. Such results were obtained also in the Prunus-cuttings (Osterc & Spethmann, 2000).
Although the propagation of olive leafy cuttings seems to be well developed, a number of experiments have shown relatively low rooting success, especially with some olive cultivars {'Leccino'). Additionally, many-new experiments with several woody species in the last years have indicated a necessity to observe other propagation parameters as well, such as the number and the length of the main roots and sprout growth. The aim of our experiment was to optimise the method of the propagation of olive leafy cuttings. We used in our ex-
periment the well-developed fog-system, and not only did the results deal with the rooting success but also with other parameters of the rooting and sprout growth. Some technical problems (insufficient fogging) caused relatively low rooting success on average, although some variants were more successful. However, it can be concluded that the new concepts in the propagation of leafy cuttings in various woody species (fog-system, lime of cutting, over-wintering) can be successfully vised also in the olive propagation process. I he propagation method based on the fog-system does not require heating of the cutting bases, so the propagation costs are incomparably lower as in the mist system. The experiments should be continued to accurately determine and improve the steps of the process.
UPORABA SISTEMA MEGLENJA PRI RAZMNOŽEVANJU ZELENIH POTAKNJENCEV OLJKE
Gregor OSTERC
Inštitut 7a sadjarstvo, vinogradništvo in vrtnarstvo. Oddefek za agronomijo. Biotehniška fakulteta. Univerza v Ljubljani,
SI-1000 I. jtibljaiui, Jamnikarjeva 10 i E-mail: gregor.osterc@bf.uni-lj.5i Dunja BANOEIJ MAVSAR Inštitut 2a sredozemsko kmetijstvo in oljkarstvo Z RS Koper, $1-6000 Koper, Caribatdi jeva 18
Franci ŠTAMPAR
inštitut za sadjarstvo, vinogradništvo in vrtrtaislvo. Oddelek za agronomijo, Biotehniška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani,
SI-t 000 Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101
POVZETEK
Proces razmnoževanja zelenih potaknjencev oljke s sistemom pršenja je dobro poznan. Vsi dosedanji rezultati temeljijo le na rezultatih koreninjenja. Razvoj metod razmnoževanja zelenih potaknjencev pri lesnatih rastlinah v zadnjih 15 letih je močno zaznamovan s pojavom in razvojem sistemov meglenja. Poskus razmnoževanja zelenih potaknjencev sort 'istrska belica' in '/eccino' z meglen jem je pokazalda je takšno razmnoževanje možno. Rastline so v razmnoževalni sezoni razvile do 7 glavnih korenin ter pognale do 20 cm dolge poganjke.
Ključne besede: ol jka, sistem meglenja, razmnoževanje zelenih potaknjencev, ukorentnjanje
REFERENCES
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