Antitranspirant, Water Stress, and Growth Retardant Influence Growth of Golden Pothos

Abstract

Cuttings of Epipremnum aureum (Linden & André) Bunt. were soaked for 5 seconds in 5% Folicote or Stressguard antitranspirant solution, planted immediately or after 6 hours, and misted or not misted during the daylight hours for 2 weeks. Neither antitranspirant affected the growth of misted cuttings. However, in nonmisted cuttings, Folicote resulted in delayed first leaf unfolding and small plants. Misting improved shoot growth relative to not misting. In a second experiment, Stressguard sprayed on leaves of stock plants resulted in slow growth of cuttings taken from them, while Folicote had no effect. Water stress induced by delayed planting resulted in water loss and slow lateral shoot growth in both experiments. Application of uniconazole at the four-leaf stage at 0.05 to 0.4 mg/0.5-liter pot reduced stem elongation, leaf count, and the length of nodal roots. Uniconazole increased individual leaf size on the main shoot and promoted the growth of basal lateral shoots. While stem and total plant dry weights were reduced, total leaf dry weight was not affected by uniconazole. Uniconazole continued to provide good control on the elongation of newly emerged lateral shoots and promoted the production of more and larger leaves when evaluated 4 weeks after the main shoot was severed above the fourth basal node. Chemical name used: (E)-1-(p-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4-trizol-1-yl)-1-penten-3-ol (uniconazole).