Combined Effect of Rooting Media and Indole – 3 – Butyric Acid (IBA) on Quality of Epipremnum aureum Cuttings

Abstract

Epipremnum aureum, ‘Marble Queen’ is a common foliage plant that is used extensively in interior scaping, making it an economically important species. Stem cuttings are the most common and simplest propagation method for producing new Marble Queen plants, and both rooted and unrooted cuttings are exported. The present production process for exporting rooted cuttings of Marble Queen takes around 3 months. Therefore, the study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different rooting media, and the application of Indole – 3 – Butyric Acid (IBA) on various shoot and root morphological characteristics in Marble Queen stem cuttings. The experiment was completely randomized in a factorial 2×4 design (2 rooting media × 4 doses of IBA) comprising ten replicates and was conducted as two parallel experiments under the production of rooted and unrooted cuttings. In experiment one, the rooting performance at the production of rooted cuttings was evaluated while in experiment two the rooting performance at unrooted cuttings production was evaluated after an export simulation (48 hours cold storage at 21 ºC). In this study single nodal cuttings of Marble Queen were treated with 0 mg·L-1, 250 mg·L-1, 500 mg·L-1, and 1000 mg·L-1 concentrations of IBA, and rooting trials were carried out in coir dust and oasis media. The variance analysis was performed on the data. Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) and Chi–square tests were used to evaluate the difference in mean values of parametric and non - parametric data, respectively. The results showed that the rooting medium has a significant effect on root growth. Coir dust recorded the highest number of roots per cutting, roots-to-shoot fresh weight ratio, and average root diameter in both experiments. Meanwhile, the oasis medium recorded minimum days to bud and root initiation, as well as a higher number of buds in both experiments. The 500 mg·L-1 concentration of IBA recorded early rooting and a higher number of roots. Thus, oasis medium with 500 mg·L-1 IBA application can support early root and shoot growth of Marble Queen stem cuttings. However, coir dust with the same concentration may be more suitable for efficient growth and development.