Type of cuttings and concentration of indolbutyric acid on the lychee tree propagation

This work was carried out with the objective to study rooting potential of lychee cuttings cultivar Bengal treated with different concentrations of indolbutyric acid (IBA). Semi hardwood and hardwood cuttings of lychee tree were collected of branches of stock plants of cultivar Bengal standardized with 12 cm of length, and submitted to application of four concentrations of IBA (0, 2,000, 4,000, and 6,000 mgL(-1)) for 15 seconds immersion. Later the cuttings were placed in polyestyrene trays containing vermiculite as substrate and maintained in greenhouse under intermittent mist with moistness and temperature controlled. The experimental design was completely randomized, with the factorial 2 x 4, with 4 replicates and 10 cuttings each plot. After 130 days, the rooting percentage, survival percentage, callus formation percentage and medium root number per cuttings were evaluated. It was conclued that the IBA increases the rooting percentage of lychee cuttings. Semi hardwood cuttings showed higher the rooting potential in comparison with the hardwood cuttings. The utilization of lychee cuttings is a method applied in the changes production of this fruitful.