Abstract
The effect of physiological age of stem cuttings and pre-planting treatment on adventitious root and shoot growth of stem cuttings of African walnut (Plukenetia conophora) were investigated at Nsukka, Nigeria in 2012. Nodal cuttings of semi-hardwood and softwood categories were dipped in water and coconut water for 30 minutes before planting. Cuttings used as control treatment were neither dipped in water nor coconut water. Factorial combinations of age of stem cutting and pre-planting treatment were arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) and replicated three times. Results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a non-significant main effect of age of stem cutting and pre-planting treatment on number of days to breaking of dormancy and shoot formation. Physiological age of cuttings significantly (p < 0.05) influenced number of shoots formed, length of vine and number of leaves in favour of the semi-hardwood cuttings. Significant interaction between age of cuttings and pre-planting treatment was observed on percentage of cuttings with shoot and number of shoots per cutting. While semi-hardwood cuttings gave higher number of shoot when dipped in water, softwood cuttings (at 2- 4WAP) did better when dipped in coconut water. Available data suggest that softwood cuttings of this species are more amenable to clonal propagation. However, if semi-hardwood cuttings must be used, then dipping in water becomes a necessity. Evidences from this study affirm the practicability of clonal propagation of P. conophora via stem cuttings.Key words: African walnut, Pre-treatment, Vegetative propagation, Stem cuttings.
Highlights
African walnut (Plukenetia conophora) is a perennial climber of the family Euphorbiaceae (Amaeze et al 2011)
The use of mature tissues is credited with certain advantages, the extreme difficulty involved in propagating them through stem cuttings is a major drawback, compelling recourse to other methods namely grafting and budding (Hartmann et al, 2002)
As with other species, propagation by the use of vegetative parts may become imperative under certain circumstances. This include the need to propagate superior germplasm; the need for product uniformity to meet particular market requirements and avoidance of the longer period involved in conventional breeding (Leakey and Akinnifesi, 2008)
Summary
African walnut (Plukenetia conophora) is a perennial climber of the family Euphorbiaceae (Amaeze et al 2011). There is nothing to suggest any difficulty in propagating the species from seed, yet certain factors could make vegetative propagation imperative The use of growth promoting substances to initiate rooting is sometimes essential especially in difficult to root species (Kozlowski, 1971; Oladokun and Ajolo, 1996). In this regard, coconut water is reported to be rich in plant growth hormones such as auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins (Mamaril et al, 1988). To take advantage of benefits accruing from vegetative propagation, it was decided to test the response of the species to two physiological stages of cuttings (soft and semi hardwood) dipped in coconut water and water
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