Effect of cutting diameter and hormonal application on the propagation of Ficus roxburghii Wall. through branch cuttings

Abstract

Fruit gathering from Ficus roxburghii Wall., a multipurpose tree, hinders its regeneration through seed. The present study was undertaken to propagate this species using branch cuttings treated with different hormones in two different seasons: rainy-July and spring-March. In both seasons (rainy and spring), large sized (1.25-2.5 cm diameter) cuttings resulted in statisti- cally higher growth of all the studied parameters than that of small sized (< 1.25 cm diameter) cuttings, except the number of shoots in both the seasons and number of lateral roots in rainy season. The effect of hormonal treat- ments (Indole-acetic acid, Indole-butyric acid and Naphthyl-acetic acid) was also significant on all the studied parameters in both the study seasons except in the case of number of shoots in rainy season where the influence was not-significant. The interaction large size x IBA 100 ppm resulted in significantly better growth of the studied parameters in both seasons except for the number of lateral roots, number of shoots, shoot length and number of leaves in rainy season. This study implies that species is amenable to cloning with different hormonal treatments. In general, it was observed that growth and development of cuttings was better in spring than the rainy sea- son. Therefore, for the successful propagation of Ficus roxburghii, large sized cuttings are to be treated with IBA 100 ppm and be planted in spring. Keywords Ficus roxburhgii cuttings, on-farm, plant hormones, growth, regenera- tion.