Maher Hasan(1) and Rima Massa (2)*
(1). Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Damascus, Syria.
(2). Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tishreen, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: Dr. Rima Massa. E-Mail: rima.massa@yahoo.com).
Received: 27/03/2022 Accepted: 19/07/2022
Abstract:
This research was carried out in the laboratory of Soilless- the Faculty of Agriculture (Damascus/Syria) during the year 2020-2021. It aimed to study the effect of some plant extracts and foliar spraying with Zink on the propagation of semi-woody cuttings of Citrus aurantiifolia. Lemon cuttings were cultured using two variables: the first variable was five treatments: the control, cinnamon extract 3 g/l, licorice extract 3 g/l, yeast extract 3 g/l, IBA 2500 ppm; the second variable is two levels: without foliar spraying, and foliar spraying with zinc 250 ppm, in 6-liter plastic tubs filled with a mixture of peat moss and perlite (3:1). The study used a randomized complete block design. Result showed that plant extracts improve the ability of rooting in lemon’s semi-woody cuttings significantly compared to the control (rooting percentage, number and length of roots, number and length of shoots, number of leaves). The cinnamon extract recorded similar results to hormone’s treatment in all studied parameters. The recorded values of rooting percentages were 84.74, 75.52, 58.70, 93.82% for the treatments (cinnamon, licorice, yeast, IBA) respectively compared to the control 33.98%. The result of root’s number were converged in the treatment of licorice extract and the hormone 6.80, 7.24 root/cutting respectively, and significantly, superior compared to the control 2.58 root/cutting. The increase of shoot’s length was 64.16, 50.87, 26.88, 70.23% for the treatments (cinnamon, licorice, yeast, IBA) respectively, compared to the control 3.46 cm. Foliar spraying with zinc did not have a significant effect on the root parameters, but it improved all recorded values .The interaction between two variables (IBA * Foliar spraying with zinc) was significantly increased all studied parameters; the rooting percentage was reached to 95.76%.
Key words: Citrus aurantiifolia, rooting, Zink, plant extracts, semi-woody cuttings.
Full paper in Arabic: pdf