Interactive effects of branch type and growth medium on early growth and survival of cutting-propagated Cordia africana (Lam.)

Abstract

Cordia africana Lam is an economically and ecologically valuable tree of the Western Highlands forest of Cameroon that is under pressure of over-exploitation and habitat fragmentation. There is a need for fast and easy means of mass production of quality planting stock for upregulation of the population of the species. An experiment was carried out to investigate the combined effects of branch type and growth medium on early growth and survival of C. africana cuttings. Treatments were comprised of three branch types (primary, secondary, tertiary) of cuttings origin and three growth media (sand, sawdust, 1:1 sand: sawdust) laid out in a split-plot design in a non-mist propagator. Data were collected three months after the initiation of treatments. Sawdust significantly reduced shoot height, stem diameter, stem volume, number of leaves, and leaf area while it increased mortality. There was no significant difference between sand and sand: sawdust for any of the parameters. The five growth parameters were significantly lower in cuttings from tertiary branches than those obtained from primary and secondary branches. In contrast, mortality of cuttings declined from the tertiary to primary and secondary branch types that displayed statistically similar values of the trait. There was no significant interactive effect of treatments on any of the attributes examined in this study. The findings indicate that a tertiary branch and sawdust may not be a suitable source and growth medium, respectively for vegetative propagation of C. africana.