INFLUENCE OF SOIL BASED GROWING MEDIA ON VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION OF SELECTED CULTIVARS OF OLEA EUROPAEA L.

Pothwar region of Pakistan is a natural habitat of Olen spp. There is a high demand of certified olive plants to establish olive orchids in the region, because native wild species are non-fruit bearing. Plants of certified fruit bearing olive (Olen europaea L.) cultivars are rarely available. Vegetative propagation of olive is highly responsive to texture of soil based growing media. This study examined the effect of growing media composition (soil texture and nutrients) on vegetative propagation of five cultivars of olive. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two factors factorial having 25 repeats of each four treatments. Plant growth and survival data were collected and analyzed for the influence of soil attributes. In sandy loam soil, cv. Bari-1 had 82% plant: survival, highest number of roots per plant (3.5), and longest root length (13.01 cm). Highest number of shoots per plant (4.25) and maxinium shoot length (15.64 cm) were also recorded for Bari-1 with sandy loam growing media. Silt loam soil is least suitable growing media for vegetative propagation of olive. In the silt loam soil, plants survival rate was 59% for cv. Gemlik, number of roots per plant Was 1.5 for cv. Ottobrattica, minimum root length 5.65 cm, minimum number of shoots per plant one, and minimum shoot length 7.42 cm were recorded for cv. Pendolino with silt loam soil. Results suggested that sandy loam growing media is better than the others for vegetative propagation of olive. Cultivar Bari-1 performed better than the others examined in this study by indicating highest (I) survival percentage, (2) root and shoot length, and (3) number of roots and shoots produced within a specific period of time.