Effects of IBA, bacterial and mycorrhizal treatments on the rooting of Crataegus pseudohetrophylla Pojark. cuttings

This study was carried out to determine appropriate methods for rooting and seedling production of Crataegus pseudohetrophylla Pojark. from hardwood cuttings by IBA, bacterial and mycorrhizal treatments and two different sources of sprout and seedling. For this purpose, cuttings were sown in two separate experiments in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 11 treatments and 3 replications of 10 cuttings in greenhouse benches. Treatments contained dipping the basal end of cuttings in H2O2 (3.5% w/v) followed by the application of IBA at concentrations (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10 g l-1) or dipping in 4 g l-1 IBA and then application of bacterial suspension of Agrobacterium rhizogenes A13, Pseudomonas fluorescens 169, Bacillus subtilis FzB24, and mycorrhizal inoculums of Glomus intraradices. In the first experiment, cuttings from sprout source were sown in greenhouse benches. The seedlings were transplanted to the open field condition after three months, and were assessed for rooting characteristics after a season of growth. In the second experiment, cuttings were prepared from seedlings produced from the first experiment, and the experiment was conducted in greenhouse and open field conditions and with similar treatments to those applied in the first experiments. Results showed that in the first experiment the highest rooting percentage was obtained in the combination of H2O2 with 3 g l-1IBA, and the highest root area, specific leaf area, total seedling dry weight, height, and total chlorophyll contents were obtained when a combination of IBA with bacterial suspension of A. rhizogenes was applied. In the second experiment, the highest rooting percentage was observed for the combination of H2O2 with 3 and 5g l-1IBA, as well as for the combination of IBA with bacterial suspension of A. rhizogenes.