Studies on effect of IBA and growing media on cuttings of calotropis (Calotropis gigantea L.)

The present experiment “Studies on effect of iba and growing media on cuttings of calotropis (Calotropis gigantea L.)” was carried out at Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Station, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad from February to May 2024. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with fifteen treatment combinations replicated thrice. Terminal cuttings were treated with different concentrations of IBA viz., G1: Control, G2: IBA @ 300 ppm, G3: IBA @ 500 ppm along with different media viz., R1: Red Soil, R2: Red Soil + Sand (1:1), R3: Red Soil + Sand + FYM (2:1:1), R4: Red Soil + Sand + Vermicompost (2:1:1), R5: Red Soil + Sand + Vermicompost + FYM (1:1:1:1) (v/v) and the results were record. G3: IBA @ 500 ppm and Red Soil + Sand + Vermicompost + FYM (1:1:1:1) recorded maximum plant height (33.46 and 46.22 cm) at 60 and 90 DAP, maximum number of fully expanded new leaves per rooted cutting ( 9.30 and 13.35) at 60 and 90 DAP, minimum duration of days taken for sprouting (8.48), maximum number of shoots per cutting at 30, 60 and 90 DAP (7.00, 8.18 and 9.44), the maximum length of longest shoot per cutting at 30, 60 and 90 DAP (4.64, 6.39 and 9.33 cm), the maximum percentage of survival rate (66%), maximum fresh weight of shoots per cutting (47.91 g). From this study, it can be concluded that among the various IBA concentrations tested, specifically G3: IBA @ 500 ppm followed by G2: IBA @ 300 ppm and among the rooting media R5: Red Soil + Sand + Vermicompost + FYM (1:1:1:1) followed by R4: Red Soil + Sand + Vermicompost (2:1:1) and interaction G3R5 showed significant performance in terms of shoot growth parameters.