EFFECTS OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC ROOTING SUBSTANCES ON ROOTING AND SHOOTING PERFORMANCE IN DRAGON FRUIT (HYLOCEREUS SP.)

Abstract

Dragon fruit is an emerging fruit in Nepal. The covered area of this fruit has been expanding during the last few years. Vegetative propagation through stem cutting is the easiest and cheapest method for large-scale propagation to produce genetically identical plants. Synthetic rooting hormones have proven to be effective, but their high cost limits their use. Therefore, more research in vegetative propagation using natural substances is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate how natural substances and synthetic hormones affect the rooting and vegetative growth of dragon fruit stem cuttings in Khumaltar, Lalitpur. The experiment was developed from September 4, 2020 to January 19, 2021. Three treatments were evaluated in a completely randomized design (CRD) with five replications: i) no hormone application (control), (ii) Aloe vera gel (1 mL cutting-1), and (iii) indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) powder (0.5 g cutting-1). Root and shoot growth were evaluated. The results showed that the aloe vera treatment produced the highest number of shoots (2.2) and roots (9.9), similarly to the IBA treatment. The aloe vera treatment considerably increased shoots (30.35 cm) and roots (25.92 cm) length, coinciding with an increase in root (4.55 g) and shoot (102.6 g) weights compared to the other treatments. However, there were no significant differences in shoot diameter in all the treatments. Finally, natural substances that are locally available, such as Aloe vera gel, could be used as an efficient root promoting substance for dragon fruit cuttings.

Keywords

• dragon fruit
• root
• shoot
• auxin
• aloe vera