Aromatic and medicinal plants vegetative propagation using reduced-cost nursery facilities

Abstract

Stem cuttings rooting depends greatly on favourable conditions of temperature and humidity of the substrate and the air. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the rooting and growth of stem cuttings of several medicinal and aromatic plant species (MAP) at the shelter located in the green spaces of ESAE with an expeditious watering system, using 3 daily watering periods; conditions that can be commonly found on MAP farms in the beginning of activity. The trials took place between April and July 2015. Three different types of cuttings (each with four repetitions of 10 cuttings) for each species were prepared. The results of average cutting rooting were greater than 90% for the species Rosmarinus officinalis L. (99%), Lavandula dentata L. (98%) and Mentha cervina L. (95%); being greater than 65% for Lavandula × intermedia Emeric ex Loisel. (77%) and Salvia officinalis L. (65%). The results were significantly lower (p≤0.05) for Aloysia triphylla (L’Her.) Britton (12%) and Thymus vulgaris ‘Variegata’ (4%), mainly due to unfavourable wind conditions during the rooting period of the cuttings. For L. × intermedia rooting results were significantly higher for tip softwood cuttings (98.8%) compared with basal hardwood cuttings (32.5%); for Aloysia triphylla, the rooting results (%) were significantly higher (p≤0.05) for semi-ripe cuttings; for T. vulgaris the best results were obtained with hardwood cuttings with heel. For R. officinalis and L. dentata no significant differences in rooting rates were found for the 3 types of tested cuttings. The results indicate that it is possible to produce different MAP species, with high satisfactory rooting, from stem cuttings with low cost infrastructures in spring in the Alto Alentejo region.