Influence of lavender shrub age on rooting of cuts and the obtaining standard young plants

Spicate lavender is a long-year subshrub of Lamiaceae family, 50-60 cm height. Lavender is multiplied by cuts and seeds. The researches showed that seeds multiplication gives very heterogeneous progeny, which is differed by many traits (morphological structure of a bush, flowering dates, essential oil content, etc.). Essential oil content of such plants, as a rule, is by 30-40% less than plants of vegetative propagation. The known methods of the vegetative propagation of lavender are as following: separation of rooted cutsplantlings from shrubs, division of shrubs, cutting. Cutting at cultivation of young lavender plants in the cold nurseries has the highest coefficient of propagation. Cutting of lavender in production is made on shrubs of three-five year old, also good developed and younger plants (one-two year old) can be involved. The researches were conducted in submountain zone of the Northern Caucasus in the Voznesensky branch in 2013-2016. The lavender variety Voznesensky-34 was used for research with following scheme: 1 - cuts from the one-year shrubs; 2 - cuts from two-year shrubs; 3 - cuts from three-year shrubs (control); 4 - cuts from five-year shrubs. Phonological observations, account of rooting cuts, estimation of young plants development before digging up, biometric analysis were conducted during vegetative period. The researches showed that cuts rooting of the lavender variety Voznesensky-34 depended more on the weather condition of a year of the research (2013-2016) than the age of shrubs. The cuts from one- and two-year lavender shrubs on rooting and obtaining of the standard young plants per a square unit were not inferior to the cuts from the three- and five-year shrubs. It is possible to involve not only three- and five-year shrubs but good developed, matured cuts from one-two year shrubs to produce young plants of the lavender variety Voznesensky-34.