Influence of leaf area on clonal propagation by mini-cuttings of two varieties of Ficus benjamina L.

Abstract

Due to the peculiar characteristics of the species Ficus benjamina L., this plant is used on a large scale in afforestation for ornamental purposes and thermal comfort. However, its multiplication depends on clonal propagation techniques, due to the impossibility of obtaining viable seeds for seminal propagation in the semi-arid region. The leaf area rate that must be maintained in the multiplication propagules is a very important factor for the production of quality seedlings, as it influences the initiation and rooting of the species. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the influence of different degrees of leaf reduction on minicuttings of two varieties of Ficus benjamina L.. In order to obtain vegetative propagules for the installation of the experiments, a mini-clonal Hedge was established for each variety. The minicuttings were made up with 10 cm in length and the levels of leaf area reduction evaluated were three whole leaves, three leaves reduced to 1/2 and three leaves reduced to 1/3. Ten weeks after planting, the minicuttings were transferred from the rooting environment to the shade house and at sixteen weeks the experiment was finalized. For each variety, an experiment was installed in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three treatments, three replications and plots consisting of twelve mini-cuttings, resulting in an experiment for each variety consisting of 108 mini-cuttings. At seven and sixteen weeks, survival data were analyzed and at the end of the experiment, rooting and aggregation of roots in the substrate. Weekly, up to sixteen weeks, data were collected from roots observed in the extremity of the tube. Regardless of the variety, the leaf area of the mini-cuttings that presented the best results for the clonal propagation of the species Ficus benjamina L., was the ones using mini-cuttings with leaf area reduced to three whole leaves.