INFLUENCE OF LEAF AREA ON THE ROOTING PERCENTAGE OF KIWIFRUIT CUTTINGS, PRE-TREATED WITH IBA 3000 PPM

Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson) is very interesting and a very
important fruit tree in the world’s horticultural history. While the area under cultivation and kiwifruit production in the world is increasing year by year (over 2 million tons), a big issue is the seedling production. Kiwifruit can be propagated with seeds, vegetative cuttings, and micropropagation. The paper presents the influence of leaf area on rooting of greenwood and semi-hardwood cuttings of kiwifruit. The study was conducted during two consecutive years, 2012-2013, in a private greenhouse in Lezha, using two periods of taking cuttings: July 5, with greenwood cuttings, and
September 5, with semi-hardwood cuttings. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two variants (full leaf cuttings and half leaf cuttings) and three replications, with a plot size of 100 vegetative cuttings for variant for each replication, was used. Vegetative cuttings were pre-treated with indol-3-butyric acid (IBA) 3000 ppm and were planted on a perlite-peat mix (60:40) supporter, under controlled environmental conditions (air temperature 22-26oC, basal perlite-peat mix temperature 17-18oC, and 90-95% RH). In July, the experimental greenhouse was shaded with a black mesh. Obtained results showed that greenwood and semi-hardwood cuttings with ½ of leaf area rooted better than cuttings with full leaf area, in both planting periods (55.3% versus 51%, and 68% versus 64%). The highest rooting percentages were achieved using semi-hardwood cuttings planted in September 5 with ½ leaf area (68%) and full leaf area (64%). Differences between variants were testified using LSD and statistical ANOVA-tests.