Propagation of Spondias Species by Cuttings of Different Lengths Treated with Sugars

摘要

Spondias cytherea Sonn. and S. purpurea L. (Anacardiaceae) are fruit species greatly appreciated in the tropics. However, they are difficult to cultivate because scions are hard to propagate. Many efforts have been made to develop techniques using auxins for propagating Spondias from cuttings. Researchers believe, however that the selection of better quality cuttings and their treatment with carbohydrates could be effective at lower expense. We tested cuttings of different lengths (100, 150 and 200 mm) treated with different concentrations (0,15,30 and 45 g L~(-1)) of two different carbohydrate types; refined sugar as a cheaper treatment and pure sucrose as a control in the propagation of S. cytherea and S. purpurea. For S. cytherea cuttings of 150mm were sufficient for a good rooting and emergence of new shoots. However, for S. purpurea better results were obtained with 200 mm cuttings. For both species there were tendencies for both better rooting and emergence of new shoots when the cuttings were treated with sucrose. However, since the use of refined sugar is far less expensive than sucrose and the difference in rooting of cuttings was not remarkable, we recommend the use of refined sugar for the propagation of Spondias scions. There was no significant difference among the carbohydrate concentrations tested for either species.