Rooting of apical cuttings of fig trees with a lopping system

Abstract

The only fig tree cultivar used for commercial purposes in Brazil is the 'Roxo de Valinhos' propagated using stem cuttings. In an attempt to increase the efficiency of fig tree yields to produce green figs, a management system was developed with lopping. The present study aimed to look at the rhizogenic potential of ligneous apical cuttings collected from fig trees submitted to different amounts of lopping. Plants managed with six and twelve branches were submitted to one, two or no looping, and the cuttings were treated or not with a solution of 2000 mg dm-3 of indolbutyric acid (IBA) for 10 s. The cuttings were collected in July, standardized with a 20 cm length and 10 mm diameter and buried to ¾ of their length in a moistened sand bed. After 60 days, it was concluded that the cuttings collected from plants on which lopping had been performed favored the increased percentage of rooted and sprouting cuttings; the application of IBA increased the proliferation of roots and shoots.