Effects of rejuvenation and fertilizer application on orthotropic shoot formation of bagtikan [Parashorea malaanonan (Blanco) Merrill] and white lauan (Shorea contorta Vidal) stock plants

The results of the study showed that the number of shoots in bagtikan [Parashorea malaanonan] increased by 133.33 percent with the application of hedging and bending. While in white lauan [Shorea contorta], both hedging and bending and fertilizer application had increased the number of shoots. The number of days of shoot emergence in bagtikan was shortened by 53.33 percent with the application of hedging and bending while the application of fertilizer had no effect on it. In the case of white lauan, treatments had no significant influence on the number of days of shoot emergence. It was observed that majority of the stock plants in both species had their first orthotropic shoots appear at the apical portion of the stem under hedging and bending treatment, fertilization treatment and combination of hedging-bending and fertilizer at various levels. Likewise, the application of hedging and bending resulted to the scattered shoot formation to majority (50-100 percent) of the stock plants in both species. Due to adverse climatic conditions (low rainfall and high air temperature), the effect of treatment in the height of shoots became insignificant in both species. An increase of 8.33 percent in the diameter was observed in white lauan with the application of high level of fertilizer. But in bagtikan, the various levels of fertilizer applied were too small to create a remarkable increase in the diameter of shoots. Because of the unfavorable micro-climate conditions that prevailed in the rooting area, the test for the rooting of cuttings in this study became unsuccessful. Hence, the study failed to relate the levels of fertilizer applied to the stock plants to the rooting capacity of cuttings. The results of the study disclosed that rejuvenation and fertilizer application of stock plants can help a lot in the mass vegetative propagation of bagtikan and white lauan. The said treatments are likely to reduce the cost of establishing and maintaining a hedge orchard of the species studied