Effect of IBA and Soilless Growing Media on Rooting of Cuttings in Karonda (Carissa carandas L.)

Abstract

The present investigation evaluated the effect of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and soilless growing media on rooting and shoot growth of karonda (Carissa carandas L.) cuttings under protected conditions at Lovely Professional University, Punjab. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications and seven treatment combinations. Treatments comprised soil as the control and combinations of cocopeat, perlite and vermicompost supplemented with IBA at 6000 or 8000 ppm. Three representative cuttings were selected randomly from each replication for recording growth observations. The assessed shoot characters included number of leaves, leaf length and width, plant height, number of shoots, leaf area, chlorophyll content and survival rate, whereas root characters included root length, root diameter, number of roots, length of the longest root, and fresh and dry root weights. The treatment combining cocopeat, perlite and vermicompost with IBA at 8000 ppm (T₇) consistently produced the highest values for the principal shoot and root growth parameters reported in the study. The soil control (T₁) generally recorded the lowest values. These findings indicate that, among the treatment combinations tested, the integrated use of cocopeat, perlite and vermicompost with 8000 ppm IBA was the most effective treatment for promoting rooting and subsequent shoot growth of karonda cuttings under the stated experimental conditions.