Dr. Suresh Kumar Rooting Response of Acer acuminatum Cuttings to IBA, Girdling and Season Rooting Response of Acer acuminatum Cuttings to IBA, Girdling and Season Indian Journal of Ecology (2018) 45(4): 806-809 Abstract : The effect of Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), season and pre-conditioning (girdling) was evaluated on the rooting performance of Acer acuminatumcuttings. Girdling was done one month prior to collection of cuttings from the forest in two seasons (spring and monsoon). The representative cuttings were treated with different concentrations of IBA. IBA at 0.75% IBA provided significantly maximum sprouting (71.67%), rooting (41.25%), root length (8.84 cm), number of roots (7.84) and mean dry root weight (396.17 mg/cutting). The rooting of A. acuminatumcuttings was influenced by season of planting giving better results during the spring season (March-April). Rooting process was also significantly better for girdled cuttings of A. acuminatum. Therefore to achieve the highest rooting success, girdled cuttings of A. acuminatumshould be collected in spring season (March-April) and treated with 0.75% IBA. Keywords: Maple, Pre-conditioning of Cuttings, Plant Growth Regulators, Asexual Propagation Manuscript Number: 2763 NAAS Rating: 4.96 1 2 Suresh Kumar, G.S. Shamet , Neena Kumari and Nagaraj Hegde Department of Forestry, Mizoram University, Aizawl (Mizoram) -796 004, India 1 2 Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Department of Forest Products Dr. Y.S. Parmar UHF Nauni, Solan -173 230, India E-mail: suresh@mzu.edu.in Acer acuminatum (Wall. ex D. Don) is an important hardwood species of north-west Himalayas and is small to moderate sized, dioecious, deciduous tree, which grows in open ravines on shady aspects between 2400-3300m above mean sea level. Due to its unchecked exploitation and poor natural regeneration, the mass propagation of the species is desired. Propagation of trees through seeds is an easy, effective and beneficial method. However, it has the disadvantage of producing genetically unique seedlings which emerge different from others. A. acuminatumproduce more than 60 percent parthenocarpic fruits, while the remaining seeds have physiological dormancy which requires long moist stratification (Kumar et al 2017). Many plants have the capability to propagate themselves asexually; while some others require human involvement to achieve the same (Brown 2008). Vegetative propagation methods such as cuttings, budding, layering or micropropagation are the only option to multiply genotypically superior trees but the challenge is to get the adventitious roots of the propagules. Some of the maple species found to be difficult-to-root. In vegetative propagation, auxins are commonly used to induce root formation in cuttings, mainly when working with the difficult- to-root woody species (Acquaah 2005). Pre-conditioning of the cuttings (blanching, girdling, etc.) play significant role in further increasing the rooting success in many plants. At the same time, season of collection of cuttings also plays an important role in the physiological processes of root formation in the vegetative propagation (Hartmann et al 2002). The information on propagation of A. acuminatum through cuttings is not available. In the present study the effect of IBA and girdling on the rooting success of A. acuminatum cuttings in spring and monsoon season was examined for two years. MATERIAL AND METHODS The cuttings of Acer acuminatum were collected from Pattidhank forest (31°10' to 31°11' N and 77°59' to 77°62' E) of Theog Forest Division (Himachal Pradesh). Vigorously growing, disease free shoots were selected and marked after an initial survey. Pre-conditioned cuttings were obtained from selected trees after allowing pre-callus growth caused by removing quarter inch wide bark. The debarked portion was covered with black tape and left undisturbed for about one month, enabling the callus to grow. The callused cuttings and plain cuttings (without debarking) were collected and wrapped in sphagnum moss and drenched with water to prevent drying while transporting them to experimental nursery at Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni-Solan. The different IBA formulations were tested along with I : 1 talc only, I : 5% captan + 5% sucrose + talc. The I , I , I , I and 2 3 4 5 6 I contains IBA @ 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0 and 1.25 percent along 7 with 5 percent captan + 5 percent sucrose + talc. The required amount of IBA was dissolved thoroughly in a small quantity of absolute alcohol (10 ml) and desired amount of sucrose (2.5 g) and Captan 50% WP (5.0 g) and talcum powder (50g – 7.5g – IBA in respective formulation in g) into the beaker. The continuous stirring of the mixture was done with a glass rod to form homogeneous slurry. The alcohol in the mixture was allowed to evaporate in a cool, dry and dark place to avoid degradation of auxin. The dried formulations were grounded to a fine powder. All the cuttings were given two vertical slits at the base before treatment with IBA. The basal portion of the cuttings was dipped in Carbendazim 50% WP solution (2 g/l) for five seconds to avoid pathogen infection and 30 cuttings per treatment were treated with respective IBA concentration. Excess powder was tapped off from the cutting base. Two types of cuttings viz., girdled (G ) 1 and fresh/non-girdled (G ) were planted during spring 2 (March-April: S ) and monsoon (June-August: S ) season. 1 2 The cuttings were planted 7-8 cm deep in the polythene bags filled with sand. In order to minimize the water loss in the cuttings, all other leaves were removed by leaving half of the top two leaves. Irrigation and weeding was carried out as and when required. Drenching of Carbendazim 50% WP (2 g/l) each replicated (10 cuttings/replication) thrice in randomized block design (factorial). The data for two years of investigation were pooled after performing homogeneity test. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Effect of IBA on rooting behaviour of cuttings: The significantly higher sprouting (71.67 %) and rooting (41.25 %) was observed with IBA @ 0.75% (Table 1). The maximum callusing after four months was with I (5% captan + 5% 2 sucrose + talc). The minimum rooting success (6.67 %) and root dry weight (80.88 mg) was in control. Maximum root length, number of roots and root dry weight was with allocation of IBA @ 0.75% followed by 1.00%. The auxin treatment increased root number and root length in cuttings of Pongamia pinnata (Kesari et al 2010), Acer pseudoplatanus, A. platanoides, and A. campe stre (Spethmann 2007) and Acer velutinum (Farhadi et al 2007). Contrary to this, Rioux et al (2003) in A. saccharum, did not found any significant effect of auxin concentrations on root induction. 807 Vegetative Propagation of Acer acuminatum LOG IN SIGN UP DOWNLOAD PDF