Effects of commercial plant hormones on the survival, rooting and growth of stem cuttings of an herbal tea plant, aidia racemosa

Abstract

Objective: The effects of three commercial plant hormones (Seradix containing 0.1% indolebutyric acid or IBA, Clonex containing 0.3% IBA and 'A fruit plus' containing cytokinins, gibberellins and auxins) on growth of Aidia racemosa (Cav.) Tirveng stem cuttings were investigated. Methodology: The cuttings treated with hormones and distilled water (control) were planted in soil and perlite media. The survival and rooting percentages, number and length of new roots per cutting, number and surface area of new leaves per cutting and the relative growth rates were assessed every 4 weeks for 16 weeks. Results: Clonex-treated stem cuttings showed slightly higher survival (75% at week 4 and 35% at week 16) and rooting (35% at week 16) percentages than other treatments. There were no significant effects of the hormone treatments on the various growth parameters investigated, however, it seems that stem cuttings treated with seradix and 'A fruit plus' produced higher number of new leaves (0.35 and 0.30, respectively) and clonex-treated stem cuttings produced larger leaves (0.72±0.66 cm2) than the other hormone treatments. Conclusion: This study suggests that clonex is the most suitable commercial hormones for the vegetative propagation of A. racemosa but more studies need to be conducted to provide an alternative but efficient way to produce planting materials of A. racemosa for the mass production of herbal tea.