Abstract

The bougainvillea plants (Bougainvillea spp) are appraised as decorative plants because of their lovely blossoms that bloom several times throughout the year. It is believed to have originated from South America, but widely cultivated in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Propagation of these plants can be done by using vegetative methods such as stem cuttings, grafting or tissue culture. The present investigation was carried out with the objective of standardizing a rapid and simple protocol for propagation and sprouting Bougainvillea spectabilis plants under fiberglass house conditions. Different types of stem cuttings, viz. terminal, middle and basal cuttings (15-20 cm long), were treated with IBA (Indole butyric acid) at 2000 ppm and cultured in various types of growing media viz. soil, soil +sand (1:1), soil +sand +peat moss (1:1:1), and soil +sand +peatmoss +FYM (1:1:1:1). The results indicated that basal stem cutting realized significantly the highest values of rooting percentage (> 97%) at all growing media used, compared with the terminal and middle cuttings (< 20%) after 60 days of planting. Similarly, the basal stem cutting yielded the greatest values in terms of root length (cm) and number of roots per cutting, with no significant difference among different media and cuttings. The basal cuttings significantly recorded the highest values for all parameters studied irrespective of the type of growing media used. Significantly, the height of rooted cuttings, after 90 days of planting was the greatest (67.66 cm) in the medium containing soil+ sand (1:1), compared to the other media investigated. The number of shoots and leaves per plant at the different media were statistically on a par. The research determined that hard- wood cutting and soil medium is the best cutting and medium for rooting of bougainvillea spectabilis plants.