PROPAGATION OF SUB-HIMALAYAN MAPLE (ACER OBLONGUM) THROUGH STEM CUTTINGS UNDER MIST CHAMBER UNIT

Abstract

Acer oblongum was used to investigate the effect of chemical treatment, time of cutting collection, donor plant and positional effect of the shoot on the rooting behaviour under mist unit. The per cent rooting, primary root number and root length were enhanced markedly after application of chemical treatments. Maximum per cent rooting was observed after treatment with 0.6% IBA + 0.2% p-HBA + 5% sucrose + 5% captan. Irrespective of chemical treatment, donor plant and position of the shoot, the cuttings planted in the rainy season resulted in the regeneration of more roots than those planted in spring. Also, the cuttings of seedling origin showed significantly higher rooting, primary root number and root length than tree cuttings. Maximum rooting (about 50%) was recorded in the treatment combination involving seedling cuttings collected in rainy
season from lower or upper position of the shoot. The tree cuttings gave best response (27%) when collected in the rainy season from the upper portion of the shoot. The cuttings which gave higher rooting percentage also had higher sugar and C/N ratio but low N.