DefinePK

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study is an attempt to develop an appropriate technique for rooting juvenile cuttings of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) under nursery conditions. Top shoot cuttings of 2-0 seedlings were treated with various concentrations of Indole-butyric acid (IBA) in talc formulation and tested for root initiation in three different seasons i.e. March, July and October using sand media by following randomized complete block design. The results indicated maximum rooting (85.4%) with 4000 ppm IBA treatment. Maximum average rooting was observed in October (78.0%). The untreated cuttings showed lowest rooting percentage of 15.4 and 28.6 in March and July seasons respectively Interestingly more than 70% rooting was obtained in October without any hormone treatment. The analysis of variance indicated significant differences for rooting between treatments (F = 9.3) and seasons (F = 18.2). The observations on average root length / cutting (cm), average number of roots/cutting and average number of secondary roots were non-significant. The highest average root length/cutting (8.90 cm) was attained in October whereas maximum average number of roots/cutting (2.90) and maximum average number of secondary order roots (4.42 cm) were observed in March.