Miscanthus x Giganteus Stem Propagation.

Miscanthus x giganteus, like other grasses, contains an axillary bud at each nodal segment along the stem.  In M. x giganteus, this axillary bud is capable of producing new plants when single node explants are planted directly into soil.  It is unknown, however, how stem node emergence responds to key environmental conditions such as temperature and light.  Here we conducted two experiments under controlled environments to elucidate the role of temperature and light on M. x giganteus stem node emergence. Single node explants of M. x giganteus were placed in growth chambers at 15, 20, 25 and 30° C.  M. x giganteus stem segments were also placed in growth chambers with no light or 16/8 h. light/dark conditions.  Emergence was quantified daily in each experiment, and the influence of temperature, light and node position analyzed.  We found emergence to be affected by temperature and node position, but not by light.  These results have important implications not only for studying apical dominance in M. x giganteus, but also for commercial producers.  These results, combined with published data of M. x giganteus fields, suggest a stem propagation system may be up to 8 fold more prolific than the conventional rhizome propagation system currently utilized.  This increased multiplication rate may have potential to save both time and money for commercial producers of M. x giganteus.