Indole Butyric and Boric Acids in the Rooting of Atemoya “Thompson” Stem Cuttings

The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of indole butyric acid (IBA) and boric acid to induce rooting on atemoya “Thompson” cuttings. A randomized block design with 10 treatments and four blocks was laid out. The treatments consisted in the use of different levels of IBA (i.e., 0, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 mg/L) with or without boric acid at 150 mg/L. The cuttings were placed to root in expanded polystyrene (EPS) trays with 72 cells and kept in a greenhouse under misting. At 120 d after planting, leaf dry and fresh masses (g), root dry and fresh masses (g), percentage of rooting, live cuttings (LC), live cuttings with callus (LCC), number of roots per cuttings and number of emitted leaves (NEL) were evaluated. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and comparison of means by Tukey test at 5% probability. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in both application methods (separate or associated with boric acid) for all evaluated variables, except for LC, in which boric acid provided higher survival rates. It could be concluded that the propagation method using either separate IBA application or associated with boric acid is unsuitable to induce rooting on atemoya “Thompson” cuttings.