Cutting Propagation by Water Culture of Casuarina equisetifolia

Abstract

Asexual reproduction ensures that advantageous genetic traits and characteristics of parental trees are passed onto progeny. Furthermore, seedlings grow very fast during the developmental period. To enhance the population size and improve reproduction of Casuarina equisetifolia, this study investigated how various factors influence the rooting quality of water-cultured C. equisetifolia. Using a recently developed technique, young branch cuttings were grown in water culture. To identify optimal conditions for water culture reproduction, various cuttings aged 3 and 6 mo were expored to a napthaleneacetic acid (NAA) concentration of 50 ppm. Cutting lengths of ＜ 10 cm had better rooting quantity than 10~15-cm cuttings. The rooting percentage of cuttings with wound treatment was 86.7% compared to 73.3% for cuttings without wound treatment. The cutting types used in this 'water culture' of rooting quantity were 2.1 for cuttings with branches and 1.8 for those without branches. The results of this study can be used to develop techniques to improve the rooting rate and lower the costs of growing C. equisetifolia seedlings for use in coastal regions of Taiwan.