Ginkgo biloba L. mini-cuttings: indole butyric acid, substrates, and biochemical composition of the mother plants

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of the Ginkgo biloba mini-cutting technique, as well as the influence of substrates and different concentrations of indole butyric acid (IBA) on adventitious rooting in addition to the protein and sugar content in the mini-cutting. Mini-cuttings were 4 ± 1 cm in length, with the bases immersed in solutions of 0, 1000, 2000, and 3000 mg L-1 IBA. They were then planted in polypropylene tubes using two substrates (vermiculite and Tropstrato®) and maintained under greenhouse conditions for 60 d. The experiment was carried out with a 2 × 4 factorial scheme (substrates × IBA). There was no influence of IBA application on the promotion of rhizogenesis in Ginkgo biloba mini-cuttings. The rooting percentages were higher than 55% regardless of the treatment used. The vermiculite substrate showed a higher number of roots (4.94) and lower mortality (11.60) of mini-cuttings than Tropstrato®. We conclude that the mini-cutting technique is feasible for Ginkgo biloba, and the use of IBA is not necessary. We found that the induction ofadventitious rooting depended on the biochemical composition of the mother plants, due to the translocation of non-reducing sugars and leaf proteins for root formation.