Int. J. Agric.Sc & Vet.Med. 2014 J S Wazir, 2014 Research Paper ISSN 2320-3730 www.ijasvm.com Vol. 2, No. 1, February 2014 2014 www.ijasvm.com. All Rights Reserved EFFECT OF NAA AND IBA ON ROOTING OF CAMELLIA CUTTINGS J S Wazir 1* *Corresponding Author: J S Wazir, wazirjs@yahoo.co.in Camellia japonica, an excellent flowering shrub for sub temperate and temperate areas, is somewhat difficult to propagate from cuttings since it is difficult to root and takes longer time for rooting. Keeping in mind its high cost and ever increasing demand in hilly areas of Uttarakhand, J&K and Himachal Pradesh, an attempt was made to propagate it from cuttings. Three types of cuttings viz., current season s growth (Softwood), semi-hardwood (one year old) and hardwood were prepared and dipped in 250 and 500 ppm NAA and 500 and 1000 ppm IBA for 5 minutes before planting in pre-packed moist mixture of sharp river sand in propagation chamber at RHR & TS Mashobra-Shimla during second fortnight of July 2012. A relative humidity of 85-95% was maintained during whole period of studies through manual misting with no temperature control under light intensity range of 2500-3500 foot candles from the month of July to October. Observations on different rooting parameters were recorded and data analysed. Among different concentrations of chemicals used, 1000 ppm IBA was found most effective in producing the desirable results But the type of cutting has no effect on the parameters recorded. Keywords: Camellia, Rooting, IBA, NAA, River sand INTRODUCTION Camellia japonica is a famous late winter to spring flowering shrub, suitable for planting as specimen plant or as a flowering hedge or in group plantings under semi-temperate and temperate areas. It is the ornamental brother of common tea plant and belongs to family Theaceae. The shining evergreen dark green leaves in combination with hundreds of compact single (anemone shaped), semi-double and fully double flowers (paeony or rose shaped) ranging in colour from pure white to pink, red and bicolour shades adorn the whole plant during late winter and spring months every year. The plant can attain a height of 3-5 meters depending upon its planting location. Frost free, east facing locations with some wind protection and shelter from wall or building receiving full morning sun and partial sun during rest of the day are ideally suited for its successful culture. It requires lime free soil for its luxuriant growth and 1 Regional Horticultural Research & Training Station, Mashobra, Shimla 171007, India. 122
profuse flowering. The ideal ph range for its successful cultivation varies between 4.5 to 5.5. The aerated substrates having high organic matter content in the form of well decomposed leaf mould made from rotten oak and rhodo leaves along with sand so as to make the medium sufficiently porous, serve as excellent media for this plant. Substrates having neutral or alkaline ph should be adequately modified by adding sulphur or gypsum to bring down the ph to a desired level (4.5-5.5). It is commercially propagated by cuttings, layering and grafting mostly in the north eastern region, comprising of Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong by some specialist propagators in large quantities every year from where they are brought to other parts of temperate India including Uttarakhand, J&K and H.P. Plant growth regulators particularly synthetic auxins like Napthelene Acetic acid and Indole Butyric acid have long been known for inducing roots in cuttings when placed in a suitable propagating medium like sand, coco peat or combination mixtures of coco peat and perlit e or vermiculite and perlite. Keeping in view the very high cost of camellia planting material and difficulty in raising it from cuttings, the present investigations were carried out to study different concentrations of NAA and IBA on rooting potential of soft, semi-hard wood and hard wood cuttings of camellia cv. Hope in coarse river sand medium in a propagation house. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigations were carried out in propagation mist chamber of Regional Horticultural Research and Training Station, Mashobra from July 2012 to October 2012. The climate of the area is typically temperate. The average soil temperatures during whole period of investigations varied from 17 to 25 C. The objective of the experiment was to study the effect of different concentrations of NAA and IBA on rooting of three types of Camellia Japonica cuttings. 12-20 cm current year s growth (Softwood), semi-hardwood and hardwood cuttings of cv. Hope were taken from old stock plants. One leaf on a single bud cutting and two leaves on a three bud cutting were kept in all three types of cuttings. Fresh Sharp river sand in one bed (6 feet length x 2 feet width x 1.5 feet depth) was pre packed with plenty of water before planting of cuttings. Stock solutions of 500 ppm NAA and 1000 ppm IBA were prepared fresh. 250 ml of solution for each treatment was sufficient for dipping of cuttings. Cuttings were dipped for 5 minutes (without wounding the basal portion) in each concentration of growth regulator solution before planting. The concentrations of NAA were 250 and 500 ppm and that of IBA as 500 and 1000 ppm respectively with tap water as the control. Distance from cutting to cutting was kept as 5 cm and depth of planting was 5 to 7.5 cm. There were 6 cuttings per replication with 5 replications for each treatment. The ph of the irrigation water was maintained at 5.0 to 5.5 by the addition of few droplets of sulphuric acid each time before manual spraying. Experiment was laid out in split plot design with type of wood (softwood, semihardwood and hardwood) as the main plot and growth regulators (NAA and IBA) as the sub plot. Observations on rooting percentage, length of longest roots and sprouts, number of roots per cutting, leaves and sprouts were recorded after 94 days of insertion of cuttings. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results presented in Table 1 clearly show that cutting treatment with NAA and IBA greatly promoted rooting percentage in all the three types of camellia cuttings, with maximum rooting 123
Table 1: Effect of NAA and IBA on Various Rooting Parameters in Camellia Japonica PGR/Aspects Softwood/Current Season s Growth Semi-Hardwood Hardwood Rooting Percentage NAA-250 ppm 58.00(49.65) 44.84(42.00) 54.74(47.75) NAA-500 ppm 74.80(60.00) 68.00(55.65) 71.40(57.92) IBA-500 ppm 81.52(64.89) 64.80(53.79) 78.12(62.63) IBA-1000 ppm 84.96(67.89) 73.00(59.05) 79.72(63.76) Control (Tap Water) 46.54(42.98) 51.54(45.89) 48.28(44.01) C.D = 6.61 (P = 0.05) Longest Root Length (cm) NAA-250 ppm 6.38 8.00 8.10 NAA-500 ppm 9.94 13.18 10.94 IBA-500 ppm 13.34 16.04 13.88 IBA-1000 ppm 18.30 15.08 13.56 Control (Tap Water) 5.94 6.52 6.48 C.D = 1.73 (P = 0.05) Number of Roots Per Cutting NAA-250 ppm 4.78 6.86 8.58 NAA-500 ppm 11.04 12.20 9.58 IBA-500 ppm 11.54 13.98 10.26 IBA-1000 ppm 11.34 14.54 12.02 Control (Tap Water) 4.92 4.60 6.48 C.D = 1.709 (P = 0.05) Note: Values in parenthesis are arc sine transformations of percentage obtained in softwood cuttings when treated with IBA 1000 ppm (84.96%) followed by IBA 500 ppm (81.52%) as compared to controls where maximum 46 to 52 percent rooting success could be achieved with all three types of cuttings. Similar findings on enhanced rooting percentage in camellia have been reported by Mac Donald (1974). The positive effects of Indole Butyric acid in commercial vegetative propagation from cuttings have also been well established in other crops like Azaleas and Bougainvillea by Carville (1967), Brydon (1964) and Shepherd and Winston (2000). Because of IBA s poor translocation, it remains near the site of application and hence acts as one of the best root stimulators. Softwood cuttings of camellia when treated with IBA 1000 ppm produced the longest root (18.30 cm) followed by IBA 500 ppm (16.04 cm) in case of semi-hardwood cuttings. However, cuttings treated with NAA 250 ppm and tap water (controls) resulted in smallest root length, ranging from 5.94 cm to 8.10 cm. This can be attributed to the effectiveness of comparatively higher doses of both the rooting hormones in early induction of callus formation and faster emergence and development of roots in the treated cuttings. Maximum number of roots per cutting was also reported in semi-hardwood camellia cuttings after 124
Table 2: Effect of NAA and IBA on Various Rooting Parameters in Camellia Japonica PGR/Aspects Softwood/Current Season s Growth Semi-Hardwood Hardwood Number of Leaves NAA-250 ppm 3.20 3.10 4.32 NAA-500 ppm 4.22 4.10 4.04 IBA-500 ppm 3.86 4.20 4.76 IBA-1000 ppm 4.80 4.94 4.44 Control (Tap Water) 3.26 3.06 3.22 C.D = 0.52 (P = 0.05) Number of Sprouts NAA-250 ppm 1.07 1.00 1.12 NAA-500 ppm 1.00 1.00 1.18 IBA-500 ppm 1.00 1.12 1.06 IBA-1000 ppm 1.00 1.12 1.06 Control (Tap Water) 1.01 1.01 1.00 C.D = N.S (P = 0.05) Length of Sprout(s) (cm) NAA-250ppm 1.70 1.80 2.14 NAA-500 ppm 2.04 2.34 2.32 IBA-500 ppm 2.56 2.16 3.40 IBA-1000 ppm 4.18 3.32 3.48 Control (Tap Water) 1.58 1.22 1.86 C.D = N.S (P = 0.05) Note: Values in parenthesis are arc sine transformations of percentage treatment with IBA 1000 ppm (14.54) followed by IBA 500 ppm (13.98) which again reflects the high efficacy of IBA in producing the desired results when compared to the controls (4.60). These results are in close conformity with the findings of Gupta and Kher (1991) who reported an increase in the number and length of primary roots in Bougainvillea. IBA 1000 ppm also resulted in maximum number of leaves in semihardwood (4.94) and softwood cuttings (4.80) where as non significant differences were obtained with respect to number of sprouts after treatment with all growth regulator concentrations. However maximum sprout length was also obtained with IBA 1000 ppm (4.18, 3.32 and 3.48 cm respectively) in all three types of cuttings. REFERENCES 1. Brydon P H (1964), The Propagation of Deciduous Azaleas from Cuttings, Proc. Inter. Plant. Prop. Soc., Vol. 14, pp. 272-276. 2. Carville L (1967), Propagation of Knap Hill Azaleas from Softwoods, Proc. Inter. Plant. Prop. Soc., Vol. 17, pp. 255-258. 3. Gupta V N and Kher M A (1991), A Note on the Influence of Auxins in Regeneration of 125
Roots in the Tip Cuttings of Bougainvillea spp. Var. Garnet Glory Under Intermittent Mist, Haryana Journal of Horticultural Sciences, Vol. 20, Nos. 1-2, pp. 85-87. 4. Mac Donald B (1974), Camellia Propagation, Proc. Inter. Plant. Prop. Soc., Vol. 24, pp. 152-154. 5. Shepherd H and Winston (2000), Effect of IBA on Rooting of Stem Cuttings of Bougainvillea ( Bougainvillea spp.) cv. Thimma, Bioved Research, Vol. 4, Nos. 1/2, pp. 37-40. 126