Abstract

Camellia japonica , an excellent flowering shrub for sub temperate and temperate areas, is somewhat difficult to propagate from cuttings since it is difficult to root and takes longer time for rooting. Keeping in mind its high cost and ever increasing demand in hilly areas of Uttarakhand, J&K and Himachal Pradesh, an attempt was made to propagate it from cuttings. Three types of cuttings viz., current season’s growth (Softwood), semi-hardwood (one year old) and hardwood were prepared and dipped in 250 and 500 ppm NAA and 500 and 1000 ppm IBA for 5 minutes before planting in pre-packed moist mixture of sharp river sand in propagation chamber at RHR & TS Mashobra-Shimla during second fortnight of July 2012. A relative humidity of 85-95% was maintained during whole period of studies through manual misting with no temperature control under light intensity range of 2500-3500 foot candles from the month of July to October. Observations on different rooting parameters were recorded and data analysed. Among different concentrations of chemicals used, 1000 ppm IBA was found most effective in producing the desirable results But the type of cutting has no effect on the parameters recorded.

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