The effect of cutting the bulbil-porang (Amorphophallus muelleri) on its germination ability

Abstract

Bulbil, an aerial tuber specifically found on porang, is one tool for multiplication of porang (Amorphophallus muelleri).. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bulbil cutting on the number of tubercles, the proportion of black and white tubercles, the potential for shoot production, the number and height of shoots produced from both cutting (2 and 4 cuts) which appeared in the abaxial or adaxial parts, and the direction of shoot growth. This study was designed using a completely randomized design, each unit of observation was four-replicated. The obtained data were analyzed using Anova, Tukey or independence T-test. The results showed the number of shoots from the whole bulbil, bulbil cut (two or four) differed significantly. The highest number of shoots obtained from bulbil cut was 4 which was 9 shoots. Those highest number of shoots was supported by the highest white tubercle. However, the potential for shoots to emerge from both whole and cut bulbils were almost the same, the length of the shoots did not differ significantly between them as well. The ratio between white and black tubercles seemed to affect the number of shoots, the high ratio produced more shoots. The tubercle ratio from intact bulbils, cut-2 bulbils and cut-4 bulbils tend to increase but not significantly different. The length of shoots that appear from the adaxial and abaxial parts was not different as well. All shoots from both the whole bulbil and cut bulbil grew upwards, none of which grows horizontally or towards the earth.