Standardization of Different IBA Concentrations on Stenting Method of Propagation in Plum Cultivars Under Polyhouse Conditions

Abstract

This study was conducted during 2015-16 with the objective to reduce nursery production duration of plum under polyhouse conditions in mid-hill areas of HP. Non-rooted cuttings of Pixy plum having graftable thickness were collected from the mother stools in December and then kept in moist sand for two months in a pit. In the last week of January 2016, scion woods of three cultivars of plum namely; Santa Rosa, Mariposa and Frontier were grafted on to the non-rooted cuttings of Pixy plum. The grafts were then treated with different concentrations of IBA and planted in a well prepared nursery beds under ordinary tunnel type polyhouse. Stentlings (grafted stocks) started sprouting after 12 to 15 days of grafting and grafting success was recorded as high as 90.19% with the production of saleable plants up to 94.19% in cultivar Mariposa treated with IBA at 5000 ppm. The other growth parameters such as stentling height, number of laterals per stentlings, root number and root length were observed higher in cultivar Frontier. This method of plant propagation reduced the nursery production duration of plum from two years to one year with satisfactory results with respect to bud take success and production of percent saleable plants in polyhouse under mid-hill conditions of HP.