Effect of light intensity and rooting hormone on propagation of Bambusa vulgaris Schrad ex Wendl. by branch cutting

Untreated and treated (with 0.2% solution of rooting hormone IBA) branch cuttings of Bambusa vulgaris Schrad ex Wendl. were allowed to root under four different light regimes, viz ., open sun, tree shade, partial shade and deep shade. Rooted cuttings were then grown under the open sun for 6 months to assess the performance of stecklings. Rooting ability of cuttings and growth performance of stecklings were found affected significantly both by light intensity and IBA treatment. Highest rooting percentage (84%) was in IBA treated cuttings rooted in the tree shade followed by untreated cuttings under the same light regime (73.3%) and the lowest (60%) was under the deep shade. The number of roots per cutting was also the highest (7.9) in the treated cuttings rooted under tree shade and the lowest (4.1) for untreated cuttings grown under the open sun. However, the longest root was in cuttings rooted under tree shade (17.1 cm) without IBA and the shortest (9 cm) was in deep shade regime. The highest survival percentage was 95.2% in treated cuttings rooted in the open sun and the lowest was in case of deep shade without IBA treatment, while maximum number of shoots were developed in treated cuttings rooted under tree shade. Shoot length was the highest in treated cuttings rooted under partial shade.