CUTTING PROPAGATION WITH AUXIN APPLIED VIA THE ROOTING SUBSTRATE

Stem cuttings of golden euonymus ( Euonymus japonicus `Aureo-marginatus'), shore juniper ( Juniperus conferta `Blue Pacific'), white indian hawthorn ( Rhaphiolepis indica `Alba'), and `Red Cascade' miniature rose ( Rosa `Red Cascade') were successfully rooted in plugs of a stabilized organic substrate that had been soaked in aqueous solutions of the potassium salt of indole-3-butyric acid (K-IBA) at 0 to 75 mg·L –1 before inserting the cuttings. Cuttings were rooted under intermittent mist in polyethylene-covered greenhouses with rooting periods appropriate for each species. Rooting percentages showed some increase with increasing auxin concentration with juniper cuttings, but were similar among treatments for the other three species. Number of roots per rooted cutting increased with increasing auxin concentration with cuttings of juniper, Indian hawthorn, and rose, and was greatest using around 60 mg·L -1 K-IBA for cuttings of juniper and Indian hawthorn and 30 to 45 mg·L -1 K-IBA for cuttings of rose.