Plant propagation Litsea garciae Vidal. with shoot cutting technique inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abstract

Litsea garciae Vidal. (engkala, kalangkala) is a fruit-producing plant useful as a potential medicinal plant and food. The availability of seedlings is a must if their potential is to be developed. The study aimed to evaluate the formation and growth of roots and shoots of L. garciae shoot cuttings in response to growth regulators and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation. The study used a factorial experiment with a completely randomized design. The treatments tested were growth regulators (without and with rootone-F) and AMF inoculation (without and with AMF). The shoot cuttings were planted in a mixture of cocopeat and husk charcoal (2:1 v/v) and placed in a propagation box in a screen house for 12 weeks. The live percentage, the percentage of callus cuttings, the percentage of rooted cuttings, and the percentage of cuttings sprouting all shoot cuttings planted reached 100%. The interaction between rootone-F and AMF had no significant effect on initiating root and shoot growth. However, cuttings treated without or with rootone-F showed a positive response to AMF inoculation, particularly in primary root formation and secondary root count. The secondary roots’ length and wet and dry weights of the cuttings with rootone-F were significantly lower than those without rootone-F.