Sprouts production and rooting of Piptocarpha angustifolia minicuttings

Abstract

Piptocarpha angustifolia Dusén ex. Malme (Asteraceae) is a brazilian native and pioneer tree species, occuring in Araucária Forest, with potential to ecosystem restorarion and introduction in forest, agriculture and pasture systems. Its propagation by seed presents irregular production and low number of feasible seeds while vegetative propagation by cutting of mature plants with semihardwood shoots didn´t present rooting response. This work aimed to evalue adventitious rooting by minicutting technique using minisprouts from seeds. The minisprouts were collected and dipped in ascorbic acid solution (1%) and minicuttings were produced with 5 cm lenght mantaining a pair of leaves in the apex installed in a medium with vermiculite and carbonized rice husk (1:1 v v-¹). The evaluation was made after 90 days considering percentage of rooting minicuttings, number and lenght average for minicuttings, percentage of living minicuttings, percentage of minicuttings with callus and dead minicuttings. The higher production of minicuttings was verified in winter and spring, varying between 113.4 to 259.2 units for square meter a month. The adventitious rooting reached 45% in winter with 6.3 roots and an average of 9.8 cm of length, without using plant growth regulator.