Evaluation of Different Rooting Media and Root Trainer Sizes for Clonal Propagation of Casuarina spp.

Abstract

The present study comprised experiments on the evaluation of different rooting media and root trainers for cuttings sprouting and rooting and plant growth performance in the interspecific hybrid of Casuarina equisetifolia × Casuarina junghuhniana (IFGTB-CH-2). The experiments were conducted under controlled mist chamber conditions in the Research Farm of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during the year 2023–24. In the first experiment, thirteen rooting media (vermiculite, cocopeat, sand and mushroom compost in the ratio of 25, 50, 75, and 100%) were tried. Vermiculite (50%) + cocopeat (50%) showed the maximum rooting (88.33%), survival (85.00%) and shoot length (25.78 cm) followed by other combinations (75:25% and 25:75%). Plants can also be produced in sand, a locally available cheap material, though the rooting (70.00%), survival (60.00%), and shoot and root growth were not at par with the other media used. In the second experiment, root trainers of four different sizes (90, 150, 250 and 300 cc) were tried. The larger-sized root trainers (250 and 300 cc) promoted more root growth and shoot and root biomass than the smaller-sized ones (90 and 150 cc). However, non-significant differences were observed among root trainers for rooting (81.67-83.33%), survival (80.00-83.33%), shoot length (25.56-26.89 cm), and collar diameter (1.55-1.61 mm). Since larger containers required more rooting media and longer time for root plug formation and accommodated only 12 cuttings per tray, smaller-sized root trainers accommodate 40 cuttings per tray, require less rooting media, take less time to form root plugs and may be used for transplanting.