ASHS 2025 Conference

Southwest Native American Tribes, such as the Navajo, Hopi, and other Pueblo, have grown peaches since at least the early 1600’s, making them a nutritionally and culturally important food source. Historically, peach propagation was primarily done by seed, with only one written account of stem cutting propagation occurring within the Zuni Pueblo. Little is known about the effectiveness of different propagation methods for rapidly replicating Southwest seedling accessions and maintaining parent tree genetics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rooting success of softwood and hardwood cuttings taken from Southwest peach seedling accessions originating from five locations within the Navajo and Hopi Tribal communities. All cuttings were collected from mature trees established in Thatcher, UT. Two trials of cuttings were conducted in July and November of 2024. Each seedling tree had 18 cuttings per trial. Trial one had softwood and hardwood cuttings and trial two had only hardwood cuttings. Each cutting was measured 12 cm long, had at least three nodes planted into the potting media. Trial one cuttings had the first 3 node leaves cut in half, with all other leaves removed. Cutting treatments included a control (no treatment), Hormodin 1, and Hormodin 2, with six replications for each treatment. All cuttings were placed under a mist system with controlled temperature and relative humidity. Rooting success was assessed over three months by visually evaluating live tissue and new growth. Rooting success was dependent upon seedling parent location, treatment, time of year, as analyzed by analysis of variance. Cuttings from Canyon del Muerto had greater rooting success compared with those from Navajo Mountain. The Hopi and Navajo Mountain cuttings had decreased rooting success as the Hormodin concentrations increased. Canyon del Muerto cuttings benefited from Hormodin 1 treatment. The results of this study will help determine the potential of Southwest peach seedlings for replication as a viable rootstock for the fruit industry.