Cladode size and collection time for pitahaya propagation

Abstract

Cutting is a propagation method with the advantages of early production and uniform cultivation. Some factors influence propagation and rooting, such as the cutting size and the time of year the collection is performed. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the ideal size of white-fleshed red pitahaya cladodes and the time of their collection for crop propagation by cutting in view of the physiological quality of the produced clonal plants to enable more appropriate cultural management and increase the cultivation area. The experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Engineering (UNESP) using three cladode sizes (cuttings) with lengths of 10, 20 and 40 cm collected in two seasons (summer and winter). The experimental design used was completely randomized in a split-time scheme, with no dependence on the factors and 20 replicates. Evaluations of the biometric factors related to sprouts and cladode rooting were carried out 60 days after cutting. According to the results, there were significant differences among treatments, with a significant interaction of the number of sprouts. It can be concluded that, regarding the size of the cladodes, it is recommended, when possible, to use cladodes 40 cm in length; regarding the time of collection, it is recommended that collection be conducted in the winter period to favor the development of better-quality clonal plants.

Characterization of yellow pitahaya (Selenicereus megalanthus Haw.) genotypes under two productive systems in Colombia

“…Several authors suggest that cladode characters such as cladode width (mm), distance between areoles (mm), number of spines, length of areoles (mm), margin ribs of cladode and its waxiness could be used for identification of Hylocereus and Selenicereus spp. (Rodrigues et al, 2021;Mejía et al, 2013). Abirami et al (2021) in the morphological, biochemical and molecular characterization of three species of Hylocereus from India, found that cladode characters such as number of spines (Verona-Ruiz et al, 2020;Oliveira et al, 2020), length of areoles (mm) as 1-4, margin ribs of cladode (convex or concave) and its waxiness (weak or strong white waxy or light waxy) could be used for identification of three Hylocereus spp.…”

“…The availability of this information would be of great assistance in developing an appropriate method for the cultivation of a particular species (Callejas-Chavero et al, 2021) Among pitahaya propagation techniques, cutting stands out, as it enables the uniformity and quality of seedlings by cloning selected genotypes from mother plants in addition to eliminating the youth period (Zem et al, 2015). Rodrigues et al (2021) evaluated the ideal size of white-fleshed red pitahaya cladodes and the time of their collection for crop propagation by cutting in view of the physiological quality of the produced clonal plants to enable more appropriate cultural management and increase the cultivation area. Analyzing only the cladode size, a positive relationship was observed between the number of sprouts and sprouting percentage in the cladodes of the greatest studied lengths.…”

Efecto del ácido indolbutírico en la propagación de Hylocereus undatus “pitahaya” bajo condiciones de invernadero

“…Sin embargo, no todas las plantas tienen la capacidad de enraizar espontáneamente, motivo por el cual es necesario aplicar fitohormonas o fitorreguladores que estimulen la formación de raíces. Las auxinas son hormonas reguladoras del crecimiento vegetal por lo que, en dosis muy pequeñas, regulan los procesos fisiológicos de las plantas, entre las más empleadas destaca el ácido indolacético (AIA), el ácido indolbutírico (AIB) y el ácido naftalenacético (ANA) (Bertsouklis et al, 2022;Fontanetti et al, 2021;Maroto, 2008;Xu et al, 2022). La aplicación de auxina exógena en esquejes, es una práctica utilizada para promover y/o mejorar el proceso de rizogénesis.…”