Soft Wood Grafting in Mandarin (C. reticulata Blanco): A Novel Vegetative Propagation Technique

Abstract

Studies were carried out at ICAR Research complex for NEH Region Umiam, Meghalaya, India on soft wood grafting in ‘Khasi’ mandarin under poly house, net house, and open field conditions at 15-day intervals from June 15 to October 15. Early sprouting, graft success, and scion growth were found to be better under poly house than other conditions. Similarly, the best graft success and early sprouting were observed to be better under the open condition than the net house, but growth performance of the plants was found to be better under the net house than the open condition. Grafting from June 30 to August 15 gave the best graft success, plant height, scion diameter, leaves, branch/plant, and minimum days for sprouting under all conditions. A gradual decrease in graft success and an increase in days to sprouting was noticed with grafting after August 15. Soft wood grafting of ‘Khasi’ mandarin was also performed on different rootstocks viz. C. jambhiri, C. karna, C. reshni, C. latipes, C. taiwanica, ‘Dancy’ tangerine, C. grandis, ‘Naity jamir’, and ‘Karun jamir’ rootstocks. The best graft success, plant survival, plant height, branch/plant, and minimum time for sprouting of the graft was recorded in C. jambhiri, while, leaves/plant, rootstock, and scion diameter was the best in ‘Karun jamir’ rootstock.