Aghdaei et al.: Effect of rooting medium, cutting type and auxin on rooting of pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton) cutting - 10357 - APPLIED ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 17(5):10357-10369. http://www.aloki.hu ● ISSN 1589 1623 (Print) ● ISSN 1785 0037 (Online) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1705_1035710369 © 2019, ALÖKI Kft., Budapest, Hungary EFFECT OF ROOTING MEDIUM, CUTTING TYPE AND AUXIN ON ROOTING OF PEPINO (SOLANUM MURICATUM AITON) CUTTING AGHDAEI, M. 1 – NEMATI, S. H. 1* – SAMIEE, L. 2 – SHARIFI, A. 3 1 Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran 2 Department of Ornamental Plants, Research Center for Plant Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran 3 Department of Ornamental Plant Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, Branch of Khorasan Razavi, Iran * Corresponding author e-mail: nemati@um.ac.ir (Received 27 th Nov 2018; accepted 2 nd Jul 2019) Abstract. To investigate the effect of rooting medium, cutting type and auxin (indole butyric acid (IBA)) on rooting of pepino cuttings (Solanum muricatum Aiton), two separate experiments were carried out in a factorial based on completely randomized design. In the first experiment, the effects of two types of cuttings (middle and distal) and eleven rooting media, and in the second experiment, the effects of three levels of IBA (0, 500 and 1000 mg L -1 ) and seven rooting media (selected based on the results of the first experiment) on the rooting rate of cuttings and some growth characteristics including root length, the longest root length, stem length, fresh and dry weights of root and plant were evaluated. The results of the first experiment showed that the distal cuttings showed better rooting than the middle ones. The highest number of roots (40.5) was found in peat moss + perlite rooting medium. The highest averages of root length and length of the longest root were related to the distal cuttings planted in water and then in peat moss + perlite medium. The greatest root fresh weight was recorded in cuttings planted in peat moss + perlite medium, and the highest root dry weight and plant fresh and dry weights were obtained in distal cuttings planted in peat moss + sand medium. The results of the second experiment also showed that the highest (66) and lowest (26.76) numbers of roots were due to peat moss + perlite and water media, respectively. The greatest root length and length of the longest root was observed in the treatment of 0 mg L -1 IBA in water medium which was higher than in other treatments Moreover, the highest root fresh and dry weights were related to a treatment of 500 mg L -1 IBA in peat moss + sand medium. In general, the most suitable combination for pepino cultivation is the use of distal cuttings treated with a concentration of 500 mg L -1 IBA and planting in the rooting medium of peat moss + perlite, followed by peat moss + sand medium. Keywords: IBA, peat moss + perlite medium, root number and length, distal cutting, root fresh weight Introduction Pepino (Solanum muricatum Aiton), a member of the Solanaceae family, is a tropical and semi-tropical crop and native to the Andean Mountains. It is grown commercially in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Australia and New Zealand for its edible fruits, which are juicy, fragrant, sweet and rich in color and shape. It contains 92% water, low calories, high minerals, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin and ascorbic acid (Prohens et al., 1996; Sudha at al., 2011). Pepino is a greenhouse crop with growing season longer than most greenhouse crops and has a yield of 70-80 tons per hectare (Prohens and Nuez, 1999).