Seasonal effect on rooting behaviour of important bamboo species by culm cuttings

Abstract

We investigated the influence of season on the rooting behaviour of eight important bamboo species viz., Bambusa balcooa, B. bambos, B. nutans, B. tulda, B. vulgaris, Dendrocalamus giganteus, D. hamiltonii and D. strictus. We collected 2–3 node culm cuttings in three growing seasons viz. spring (March), summer (June) and rainy (August) from superior candidate plus clumps (CPCs) centralized in the germplasm garden. Cuttings were placed horizontally in sand and were provided with intermittent misting at regular intervals. Bamboo species exhibited differential rhizogenesis behavior in different seasons. The study reveals significant variation in sprouting and rooting behaviour in different bamboo species. B. bambos had maximum rooting (78.89%), followed by B. vulgaris (74.44%). In general, the potential of different bamboo species for rooting was found to be in the order: B. bambos > B. vulgaris > B. balcooa > D. hamiltonii > B. tulda > D. strictus > D. giganteus >B. nutans. The maximum rooting was recorded in spring (56.67%), which was closely followed by summer (54.58%). In winter season, minimum rooting (36.67%) was observed. The interaction effect of species × season was also significant on sprouting and rooting parameters. In B. balcooa, B. nutans, B. vulgaris, D. hamiltonii and D. strictus, cuttings collected in summer season showed maximum sprouting and rooting, whereas, B. bambos, B. tulda and D. giganteus had maximum rooting in spring. The maximum number of roots developed per cutting was observed in B. tulda (43.8) during spring season.