Vegetative propagation of <i>Chrysophyllum albidum</i> G. Don by leafy stem cuttings

Abstract

Chrysophyllum albidum is a tree species that is commonly intercropped with cocoa and is valued for its edible fruits. Since the provision of clonally propagated superior genotypes of this species would be beneficial to farmers, investigations were conducted to optimize its vegetative propagation. In the study, the first experiment examining the effect of leaf area on propagation success involved cuttings with leaf areas of 0 (leafless), 20, 40, 80, 160 and 200 cm2. The results showed that cuttings with a leaf area of 40 cm2 gave the highest rooting percentage (77.8% after 10 weeks), which was significantly higher than the other treatments (P < 0.001). The second experiment demonstrated that the use of different IBA concentrations ( 25, 50, 100, 200 and 300 μg l-1 of water) did not give a higher rooting success than the control. The third experiment looked at the effect of four rooting media (fine sand, topsoil, sawdust and 1:1 mixture of topsoil and sawdust), and found that callusing was much lower for the latter treatment. It was concluded that C. albidum can be successfully propagated using stem cuttings with a leaf area of 40 cm2 in a propagating medium of sawdust or a 1:1 mixture of topsoil and sawdust.