Effect of IBA Concentration on Rooting of Sugar Maple

Abstract

Softwood cuttings of `Commemoration' and two selections of Caddo maple (83-NR3 and 90-7185) were collected on 24 May 1995 from specimen trees located at the Wichita Horticultural Research Center. Uniform cuttings 14–19 cm long containing 4–5 leaves were dipped in selected IBA hormone solutions for 10 seconds and stuck in a rooting mix consisting of 30% Canadian sphagnum peat and 70% perlite (v/v). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse located at Kansas State Univ. To achieve a high relative humidity around the cuttings, a fog generator (Humidifan, turbo XE 1000) was installed and operated for 12 hours per day. The experiment was a factorial design with 3 maple selections, 4 hormone concentrations and 3 replications. After 10 weeks cuttings were evaluated for rooting using a visual rating scale of 1–5. There was a significant difference between the maple cultivars and the IBA levels tested. `Commemoration' cuttings rooted the best among the maple cultivars with all of the IBA treatments. The best rooting of Caddo maple selection (83-NR3) took place with 10,000 ppm IBA. None of the cuttings of the other Caddo maple selection (90-7185) rooted regardless of the hormone concentration. The rooted cuttings were potted in 15 cm plastic containers filled with Metro Mix 702 for future production.