José Sebastião de Melo Filho

Propagation of Umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa Arr. Cam.), a native plant to Brazilian semi-arid regions, using ethephon and indolebutyric acid (IBA)

Umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa Arr. Cam.) is a plant native to Brazilian semi-arid regions. Currently, there is no protocol for propagation for this species. In this sense, the aim of this study was to evaluate the propagation of Umbuzeiro by cuttings, using ethephon and indolebutyric acid (IBA). In this study, a completely randomized statistical design was used with the doses of ethephon (0, 14.5, 50, 85.5, 100 mg L -1 ) and IBA (0, 872.35, 3000, 5127.65, 6000 mg L -1 ) combined by the matrix Central Compound Box in 4 replicates. After application of ethephon and IBA on plants, cuttings with 20 cm length were prepared and planted in tubes with sand and organic compound (1:1 v/v) and placed in a greenhouse at 50% light under misting. The percentage of sprouted cuttings, length and diameter of the shoots, the percentage of rooted cuttings, live cuttings with and without calyx, dead cuttings, number of roots and length, dry matter of roots, leaf and total dry matter were evaluated. A combination of the doses of 100 mg L -1 of ethephon and 6000 mg L -1 of IBA increased the percentage of sprouted cuttings, number of shoots per cutting, number of roots per cuttings and promoted the rooting of 47.20% of the Umbuzeiro cuttings. The shoot formation and dry matter of Umbuzeiro cuttings were not influenced by the doses of ethephon. The IBA doses increased shoot formation and dry matter production of the umbuzeiro cuttings under greenhouse conditions.