THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, IBA AND WOUNDING ON THE ROOTING OF LEUCOSPERMUM ‘TANGO’ STEM CUTTINGS

Leucospermum spp. are usually propagated by stem cuttings. Leucospermum ‘Tango’ (L. lineare ‘Diadem’ x L. glabrum ‘Helderfontein’) is one of the most promising pincushion cultivars introduced in the Canaries.
To study the effect of wounding (two shallow and opposite incisions), IBA concentration (0, 2000, 4000 ppm), and two environmental conditions (a glasshouse and a well ventilated fiberglass greenhouse) on the rooting process, terminal cuttings were rooted under a fog system in a glasshouse, and under a microjet irrigation system in a greenhouse.
In both cases the bottom heat was 22 ± 2°C. In the glasshouse, at 10 weeks from planting, all treatments showed percentages of transplantable cuttings of 90 % or higher.
Wounding or IBA treatment was not necessary to get satisfactory rooting percentages.
In the greenhouse, at 10 weeks from planting, treatment of cuttings with 4000 ppm of IBA was necessary to get percentages of transplantable cuttings of 80 % or higher.
The combination of IBA + wounding did not improve significantly rooting percentages versus IBA alone.
At 16 weeks, all treatments in the fiberglass greenhouse, except one, showed rooting percentages higher than 90 %. The environmental conditions of the glasshouse accelerated rooting in comparison to the fiberglass greenhouse environ¬ment.

VIII International Protea Research Symposium

J.A. Rodríguez-Pérez, A.M. de León-Hernández, M.C. Vera-Batista, I. Rodríguez-Hernández, J.V. Marín-Llorente

Proteaceae, protea, propagation, terminal cuttings, growth regulators concentration

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.805.4