Mate Minicuttings Rooting under Different Environments

Abstract

There is little knowledge about the vegetative propagation of Ilex  paraguariensis, mainly in relation to the minicutting technique and  rooting environmental aspects. This study aimed to evaluate the initial  rooting environment in relation to the survival, shoot vigor and  minicuttings rooting of this species. The experiment was conducted in  a completely randomized design, under a factorial arrange (3x2), with  three clones (A7, A21 and A35) and two rooting environments (simple greenhouse - without control of temperature and humidity; and automatized greenhouse - with automatized control). The minicutting  survival in the exit of greenhouses and in the exit of shadow house  was not influenced by the tested environments, with 51.8 % to 71.9 %  of survival variation. The A7 and A21 clones did not present  significative difference in relation to rooting, with averages of 49.1 %  and 46.4 %, respectively. However, the A35 clone showed the best  development (62.5 % of rooting) when it was cultivated under  automatized greenhouse condition. The automatized greenhouse  favored not only the characteristics leaf and shoot numbers, but also  the shoot length. The minicutting technique for I. paraguariensis may  be considered viable in both evaluated rooting environments, which  presented similar results.