Evaluation of techniques for ‘Dominga’ acerola softwood cuttings multiplication

Abstract

This research was an attempt to evaluate different types of substrate and cutting preparation for acerola cutting rooting on different seasons. Softwood cuttings of ‘Dominga’ acerola with 12 cm of length obtained from the Acerola Germoplasm Bank – Universidade Estadual de Londrina, were used in this work. It was studied three types of subtrate (vermiculite – small granules; vermiculite – medium granules and charred rice peel) and two types of cutting preparation (with and without basal lesion). The lesion consisted in two cuts of 1 cm of length on the cutting basal portion. Thus, the cuttings were treated with indole-butiric acid (400 mg.L-1) through basal immersion during 5 seconds and then immediatly placed in plastic boxes containing the substrates for rooting in a mist chamber system. The trial was carried out in two seasons (summer and fall). A randomized design with four replications was used as statistical model and each plot was composed by 10 cuttings. After 60 days, the following parameters were evaluated: porcentage of rooting; number of roots per cutting; roots length; percentage of dead cuttings; and fresh and dry matter roots weigth. Through these data, the effect of substrate and cutting preparation on rooting was evaluated using Tukey´s multiple rang test (P < 0,05). It was possible to conclude that: charred rice peel substrate showed the best results for the rootings parameters; the basal lesion on cuttings did not result on rooting improvement; and the cuttings collected on fall, compared with those collected on summer, showed low porcentage of rooting.