Standardization of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. delicosa) propagation through hardwood cuttings.

Abstract: Hardwood cuttings (20-30 cm long) from kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa [A. deliciosa]) cultivars Hayward, Monty, Toumuri, Abbot, Bruno, and Allison were immersed in IBA at 0, 2500, 3000, 3500, and 4000 ppm for 15 seconds and transferred to rooting beds containing either sand or sawdust. Significant variations were recorded among IBA treatments and cultivars, and between rooting media. Among the cultivars, Abbot recorded the highest rooting percentage (59.38%). Among the IBA rates, 3000 ppm resulted in the highest rooting percentage with both sand (59.55%) and sawdust (77.53%) rooting media. Higher rooting percentage was obtained with sawdust (45.64%) than with sand (37.09%) as the rooting medium. Cuttings rooted on sand exhibited greater number of fibrous (19.75) and secondary (18.48) roots, as well as new shoot growth (12.47 cm), than the cuttings rooted on sawdust (4.27, 3.20, and 4.73 cm, respectively). The results indicate that sawdust is more suitable for root initiation, whereas sand is mo