Muamba J. Kabeya
This study was conducted to evaluate differential response of synthetic plant hormones and chemical fertilizer (Phostrogen) on rooting ability of vine cuttings of two cultivars (TDr 95/18544 and TDr 89/02565) of Dioscorea rotundata in two different planting media (solution and carbonized rice husk). Three leafy nodes cuttings were prepared from healthy mother plants. Using a clean razor, the leaves of the two lower nodes were detached and then immersed into 270ml cups capacity containing two sets of planting media (i) solution medium of different treatments vis. Chemical fertilizer (CF), CF + IBA, CF + NAA, Water (W) +IBA, and W + NAA (ii) Solution of different concentrations of 10 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg/ 100 ml for 1% IBA and 0.4% NAA powder each, mixed with 100 g of carbonized rice husk. The vine cuttings were sampled for rooting 3WAP. The rooting percentage in all hormone treatments varied from 27.44% to 98.95% for the 2 cultivars of D. rotundata evaluated. TDr 95/18544 had an overall better response of all hormone treatments in both media compared to TDr 89/02565. The rooting percentage in carbonized rice husk was better compared to solution medium ranging from 72.4 to 99.9 %.
