Lateral shading of stockplants enhances rooting performance of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cuttings.

Abstract: Two-year-old stockplants of guava were topped leaving 25-cm-tall stumps. Shoots were allowed to develop at three light levels, i.e. open sun (100% daylight), lateral shade (50% daylight) and overhead shade (12% daylight). Bud activity, shoot growth and morphology, and rooting ability were studied. Active bud percentages were higher in shaded stockplants, leading to as many shoots as in 100% daylight. Although number of nodes per shoot tended to increase in shaded stockplants, estimates of cutting yield did not largely vary with the light regimes. Light intensity had no significant effect on the rooting success of cuttings. However, shade cuttings produced significantly higher number of roots and root dry mass per cutting than those from 100% daylight. The benefits of shading on rooting performance of cuttings was more pronounced in shoots developed in 50% daylight than those in 12% daylight. Lateral shade had a positive shade effect on shoot development likely by improving physiological conditions conducive f