Effect of Exogenous Indole-3-acetic Acid and Naphthalene Acetic Acid on Regeneration of Damask Rose Cuttings in Three Growing Media

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of various levels of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) treatments i.e., 0, 25, 50, 75, 100 mg L(-1) on the regeneration of damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) cuttings in different growing media at the research farm of Arid Zone Research Institute D.I. Khan during 2004. The data revealed significant effect of different levels of growth regulators and growing media on the rose establishment parameters viz., plant height, plant spread, number of primary shoots, secondary shoots and survival percentage. Maximum plant height (134.2 cm), plant spread (46.3 cm), primary shoots (6.3), secondary shoots (25) and survival percentage (94.72%) were recorded when the rose cuttings were applied with NAA at the rate of 50 mg L(-1). Among the plant growth regulators, Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) was found to be superior to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for its stronger effect regarding all parameters. The optimum level of Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) was found in the range of 50 and 75 mg L(-1), while no such conclusion could be drawn for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) as all growth parameters were linearly increased up to the highest concentrations of IAA i.e., 100 mg L(-1). Regarding growing media, the leaf mould appeared the best in terms of its positive effect on establishment of rose cuttings by giving the maximum plant height (125.1 cm), plant spread (37 cm), primary shoots (5.2), secondary shoots (19.48) and survival percentage (85.67%), followed by soil + leaf mould, while soil media was least effective.