Abstract:

The current year shoots of four new Melestoma varieties, namely ‘Ziqi’, ‘Zishu’, ‘Nishang’ and ‘Jiyue’, were used as materials, three kinds of cutting substrates were set up, and three plant growth regulators were set at three concentrations for the card cuttings experiments, and the rooting time of different treatments, as well as the rooting rate, the number of roots, and the average root length of the cuttings 30 d after the cutting were recorded. The results showed that different cutting substrates and growth regulators had significant effects on the rooting rate, number of roots and average root length of the four new Melestoma varieties, which had the earliest rooting onset and better rooting effect in peat soil; the rooting rate was highest in the ABT 500 mg/L, ABT 500 mg/L, ABT 500 mg/L and ABT 1000 mg/L treatments respectively; the number of roots was highest in the NAA 2000 mg/L, NAA 500 mg/L, IBA 1000 mg/L and NAA 1000 mg/L treatments respectively; and the average root length was longest in the ABT 1000 mg/L, ABT 500 mg/L, ABT 500/1000 mg/L and ABT 500 mg/L treatments respectively. Taking together, the optimal cultivation substrate for the four new Melestoma cultivars was peat soil, and the optimal growth regulator treatments applied to them were ABT 500 mg/L, ABT 500 mg/L, ABT 500 mg/L and ABT 1000 mg/L, respectively. These findings not only provide an important technical reference for the cutting propagation of new and excellent Melestoma varieties, but also have a positive role in promoting its large-scale production and application. It is of great significance to optimize the propagation technology of Melestoma and promote its cultivation and application.

Key words: Melestoma, cuttage, substrate, growth regulators, rooting effect