Indole butyric acid and substrates influence on multiplication of blackberry 'Xavante'

Blackberry is a shrubby plant specie which has a high economic importance among agriculture crops. Brazil is the major country of Latin America with the highest future scope for blackberries. For availability of good quality and maximum quantity of seedlings, the present study was carried out at the Universidade Estadual de Londrina,PR from January to March in 2013. The aim of the study was to evaluate the multiplication of blackberry Xavante' cuttings under different type of substrates treated with different levels of indole butyric acid (IBA). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with 2 factors, i.e., substrate (rice husk, vermiculite and coconut fiber) and IBA (0; 1,000; 2,000 and 3,000mg L-1, with 5 replications. Each replicate consisted of 10 cuttings. The variables studied were: cutting rooting, cutting survival, leaf retention, cuttings with new leaves, number of major roots, length of major roots and roots dry weight. Most of the variables were significantly affected by both substrate and IBA. Rice husk and vermiculite performed better than coconut fiber and provided the same results for most of the variables, while coconut fiber showed lower performance for all of the variables studied IBA significantly affected the rooting and the number of major roots. It is concluded that for multiplication of blackberry Xavante', both rice husk and vermiculite can be used along 2,000mg L-1 of IBA.