Growth of Gigantochloa levis branch cuttings in nursery and field planting in response to indole butyric acid rooting hormone

A range of practical nursery methods was examined in order to obtain high survival of branch cuttings of Gigantochloa levis showing good rooting, culm/shoot and rhizome formation when field planted. Polybag branch cuttings gave the highest survival after one year in field planting although nursery beds tended to provide better growing conditions for preparing planting materials. However, use of commercial indole butyric acid (IBA) 2000 powder enhances both survival and growth of polybag cuttings and was found to be more effective than other applications of IBA. The planting of G. levis in the field showed that the polybag branch cuttings had a higher survival percentage (88.9%) than those of the bare root planting (41.7%) and the newly branch cutting planting (33.3%).