The influences of rooting media and hormone applications on rooting percentage and some root characters in Schefflera arboricola

Abstract

Schefflera arboricola is used as an indoor plant in many places across the world besides the area it covers naturally. Therefore, it is produced intensely. However, it is usually produced through body cutting, which damages rootstock and allows obtaining only few cuttings from a plant. This study makes an attempt to determine the influences of rooting media and hormone applications on rooting percentage and some root morphological characters in cuttings taken from Schefflera arboricola in small amounts without damaging rootstock to the contrary of common practice. In this study, cuttings were treated with 1000 ppm, 3000 ppm, and 5000 ppm doses of IAA, IBA, NAA, and GA3 hormones, and rooting trials were carried out in sand, pearlite, and peat media. The research results show that the employed methods are significantly influential on rooting percentage and root morphological characters, and rooting percentage can be increased up to 75%.

Full text

International Journal of Pharmaceutical Science Invention
ISSN (Online): 2319 – 6718, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 670X
www.ijpsi.org || Volume 4 Issue 2 || February 2015 || PP.25-29
www.ijpsi.org 25 | Page
The influences of rooting media and hormone applications on
rooting percentage and some root characters in Schefflera
arboricola
Hakan Şevik1, Kerim Güney2, Osman Topaçoğlu2, Canan Ünal3
1(Kastamonu University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, 37150, Turkey)
2(Kastamonu University, Faculty of Forestry, 37150, Turkey)
3(Forest Tree Seeds and Tree Breeding Research Directorate, 06560 Gazi / Ankara / Turkey)
ABSTRACT : Schefflera arboricola is used as an indoor plant in many places across the world besides the
area it covers naturally. Therefore, it is produced intensely. However, it is usually produced through body
cutting, which damages rootstock and allows obtaining only few cuttings from a plant. This study makes an
attempt to determine the influences of rooting media and hormone applications on rooting percentage and some
root morphological characters in cuttings taken from Schefflera arboricola in small amounts without damaging
rootstock to the contrary of common practice. In this study, cuttings were treated with 1000 ppm, 3000 ppm, and
5000 ppm doses of IAA, IBA, NAA, and GA3 hormones, and rooting trials were carried out in sand, pearlite,
and peat media. The research results show that the employed methods are significantly influential on rooting
percentage and root morphological characters, and rooting percentage can be increased up to 75%.
KEY WORDS: Schefflera arboricola, Hormone, Rooting Media
I. INTRODUCTION
Schefflera arboricola is an evergreen plant belonging to Araliaceae family. It is naturally found in
Taiwan, Hainan, and China and can grow taller up to 3 to 4 m. [1, 2] Schefflera kind has up to 150 species [3].
Widely used as an indoor plant, Schefflera arboricola is intensely produced and merchandised because of its
common usage. Schefflera arboricola is usually produced by use of branches with some leaf groups on them.
That damages rootstock and allows obtaining only very few number of cuttings from a medium-sized plant (Fig.
1).
Figure 1. The production of Schefflera arboricola through body cuttings [4]
However, it is envisaged that Schefflera arboricola can be produced by using only leaf cuttings. This
mode of production is quite important because it allows obtaining cuttings without damaging rootstocks. In
addition, this method allows mass production, and many individuals can be produced simultaneously thanks to
it. This study investigates the influence of rooting media and some hormone applications on the rooting of leaf
cuttings of Schefflera arboricola and some of its morphological characters.

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II. MATERIAL AND METHOD
In the present study, Schefflera arboricola leaf cuttings were obtained by breaking leaf off the point
where it combined with body. Until the applications were performed, the prepared cuttings were conserved by
keeping the half of leaf stalk in water. 1000 ppm, 3000 ppm, and 5000 ppm concentrations of IAA, IBA, GA3,
and NAA hormones were used as rooting hormones. The cross sections of the prepared cuttings were made to
contact with these hormones for 4 to 5 seconds, and the cuttings were planted in rooting media. Sand, pearlite,
and peat were used as rooting media. They were irrigated once every three days so that they remained humid all
the time. In this way, the cuttings exposed to 13 applications (3 doses from each one of 4 hormones and one
control group application) were taken to 3 different rooting media. Thus, 39 different applications were
performed. The cuttings were kept in the rooting media for 45 days. At the end of this period, measurements
were carried out on the cuttings to determine rooting percentage (RP), the number of roots (RN), the biggest
root length value (RL), the average root length value (ARL), and root diameter (RD). SPSS package was
employed for data evaluation. Firstly, variance analysis was made on the data. Duncan’s test was applied to the
values between which a significant difference at a reliability level of minimum 95% was found in the variance
analysis. Then the results were evaluated.
III. FINDINGS
Table 1 presents the results of the variance analysis applied to the data to determine the influences of the
rooting media on germination percentage and morphological characters.
Table 1. The influences of the rooting media in Schefflera cuttings
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
RP
Between Groups
12736,014
2
6368,007
21,494
,000
Within Groups
67548,077
228
296,263
Total
80284,091
230
RN
Between Groups
48,361
2
24,181
1,043
,354
Within Groups
5285,873
228
23,184
Total
5334,234
230
RL
Between Groups
4020,743
2
2010,371
9,008
,000
Within Groups
50885,604
228
223,182
Total
54906,347
230
ARL
Between Groups
1354,742
2
677,371
8,536
,000
Within Groups
18091,850
228
79,350
Total
19446,592
230
RD
Between Groups
6360,331
2
3180,165
14,424
,000
Within Groups
50267,514
228
220,472
Total
56627,844
230
It is clear from the table 1 that there is no statistically significant difference between the rooting media in
terms of the number of roots. Table 2 indicates the differences between the rooting media in terms of all other
characters at a reliability level of 99.9%.
Table 2. The influences of the rooting media and the Duncan’s test results
Media
RP
RN
RL
ARL
RD
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
Sand
37,50
a
5,09
a
15,226
a
11,587
a
75,09
b
Peat
51,39
b
6,48
a
26,476
b
17,873
b
76,74
b
paerlite
59,29
c
6,31
a
27,490
b
18,776
b
65,82
a
As is seen in the table 2, the highest rooting percentage was obtained in the pearlite (59.26%) medium, which was
followed by the peat (51.39) medium. The lowest rooting percentage was obtained in the sand (37.5%) medium. No
difference was found between the rooting media in terms of the number of roots. The biggest root length value and the
biggest average root length value were obtained in the pearlite medium, and the biggest root diameter value was obtained in
the peat and sand media. Table 3 presents the results of the variance analysis indicating the influences of the applied
hormones on rooting percentage and other morphological characters.

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Table 3. The influences of the hormone applications on cuttings
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
RP
Between Groups
33601,461
10
3360,146
15,835
,000
Within Groups
46682,630
220
212,194
Total
80284,091
230
RD
Between Groups
14409,796
10
1440,980
7,509
,000
Within Groups
42218,048
220
191,900
Total
56627,844
230
RN
Between Groups
1960,704
10
196,070
12,786
,000
Within Groups
3373,530
220
15,334
Total
5334,234
230
RL
Between Groups
15511,616
10
1551,162
8,662
,000
Within Groups
39394,730
220
179,067
Total
54906,347
230
ARL
Between Groups
5034,401
10
503,440
7,685
,000
Within Groups
14412,191
220
65,510
Total
19446,592
230
It is clear from the table 3 that the hormone applications had statistically significant influences on all
characters. These influences are significant for all characters at a reliability level of 99.9%. Table 4 contains the
results of the Duncan’s test that show the differences between the applications as well as the average values.
Table 4. The influences of the hormone applications in the cuttings and the Duncan’s test results
Horm.
Dose
(ppm)
RP
RD
RN
RL
ARL
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
Value
Group
IAA
5000
66,07
de
72,93
bc
8,71
ef
23,849
bc
15,076
ab
3000
50,00
c
65,5
ab
6,25
cde
33,525
cd
20,240
bcd
1000
42,50
bc
59,4
a
1,6
a
13,636
a
12,344
a
IBA
5000
48,86
c
77,73
c
5,55
cd
19,797
ab
12,766
a
3000
30,36
a
59,86
a
1,43
a
11,670
a
10,203
a
1000
50,00
c
68,25
abc
4,5
bc
46,785
e
26,225
d
GA3
1000
37,50
ab
60
a
12,33
g
35,430
d
22,883
cd
NAA
5000
75,00
e
89,33
d
7,67
def
26,882
bcd
19,875
bc
3000
50,00
c
71,75
bc
2,25
ab
33,075
cd
25,580
cd
1000
62,50
d
73,75
bc
9,63
f
27,211
bcd
20,248
bcd
Kont.
0
51,14
c
67,73
abc
5,82
cde
28,560
bcd
19,970
bc
It is seen in the table 4 that the highest rooting percentage value (75%) was obtained in the 5000 ppm
NAA application. Apart from that, the highest root diameter was obtained in the 5000 ppm NAA application.
Among other characters, the biggest number of roots and the biggest average root length value were obtained in
the 1000 ppm GA3 application, and the biggest root length value was obtained in the 1000 ppm IBA
application.
IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The biggest rooting percentage value (75%) was obtained in the 5000 ppm NAA application; the biggest
root diameter value was obtained in the 5000 ppm NAA application; the biggest number of roots and the biggest
average root length value were obtained in the 1000 ppm GA3 application; and the biggest root length value was
obtained in the 1000 ppm IBA application.

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Many previous studies have reported that hormone applications have positive influences on the rooting
percentages and morphological characters of plants. Many studies have dealt with the influences of auxin group
hormones on rooting and plant development. [5, 6], investigated the influences of IAA, IBA, NAA, and GA3 on
body cuttings and root cuttings in Melissa officinalis; [7] investigated the influences of IAA and IBA in Malus
pumila; [8] investigated the influences of IAA and IBA on Prunus spp.; [9] investigated the influences of IAA,
IBA, and NAA in Oryza sativa; [10] investigated the influences of IBA and NAA in Lilium oritential and
Lilium longifolorum; and [11] investigated the influences of Lilium oritential in IAA, IBA, and NAA. The
previous studies mostly show that hormones are influential on rooting. That is consistent with the results of the
present study. V. IMPLICATIONS
In the present study, hormone applications had positive influences on rooting percentage, and every
application yielded different results for different characters. These results may be quite beneficial for Schefflera
production in practice. In the present study, 1 leaf (along with its stalk) was used as a cutting in Schefflera.
Despite that, quite high rooting percentages were obtained (Fig. 2). These results indicate that many plants can
be produced out of one plant when an appropriate medium is provided and the proper application is performed.
In addition, when this method is employed, rootstock is not harmed, and the form of the plant is conserved.
Figure 2. Rooted Schefflera arboricola cutting
The present study revealed that different applications influence morphological characters to different
degrees. This result demonstrates that applications should be performed in accordance with the requested
characters. For example, when high rooting percentage is requested, 5000 ppm NAA application should be
performed; when a big number of roots are requested, 1000 ppm GA3 application should be performed; and
when long roots are requested, 1000 ppm IBA application should be performed.
Quite important data may be obtained if similar studies are carried out in species whose mass production
is important such as ornamental plants or medical and aromatic plants. Studies of this sort may help save labor,
time, and cost in plant production. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project supported by the Kastamonu University Scientific Research Projects (Project number is
KUBAP-01/2013-45). We thanks the Kastamonu University Scientific Research Studies Project Management
Coordination.

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