Abstract:
The climate in Sri Lanka is ideal for growing a wide range of ornamental plants, which are widely
used in the landscape industry for both aesthetic and functional purposes. Despite the presence of
many native plants with high potential ornamental values, a large number of exotic plants are
currently favored for landscaping. Given the difficulty of seed propagation and the scarcity of successful
propagation techniques for commercialization, this study aims to develop a successful propagation
technique for two selected ornamental native trees: Syzygium zeylanicum (Yakadamaran) and
Memecylon umbellatum (Korakaha) which are having a high ornamental value. In the present study,
softwood and semi hardwood cuttings were treatedwith two different Plant Growth Regulators
(PGR) at a rate of 8000 ppm (IBA and IAA) along with non-treated control and established in sand :
coir dust(1:1), sand : coir dust : topsoil(1:1:1) media. The experiment was carried out in three factor
factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 10 replications comprising 12 treatment
combinations inside a propagator under a net house. The study was conducted separately for each
species as two different experiments. After a 3-month period following planting, the number of
shoots, number of roots, and survival percentage were recorded. It was found that the interaction
effect of cutting type, potting media, and hormone type was significant in terms of the number of
shoots and roots (p<0.05), but not for survival percentage in S. zeylanicum. Moreover, interaction
effect of onlypottingmedia and hormone type is significant(p<0.05) on number of shoots and roots in
M. umbellatum. Overall, semi hard wood in the sand: coir dust: topsoil mixmedium treated with IAA is
recommended as it provided a well-developed quality root system along with a moderately high
survival rate in propagation of both species.
