Clonal propagation of Bambusa vulgaris by leafy branch cuttings

Bambusa vulgaris Schrad ex wendl is a widely cultivated bamboo species in rural Bangladesh for its versatile uses. The vegetative propagation becomes the only viable alternative for this species because B. vulgaris does not set seed after sparse flowering, which makes seedling progenies unavailable. A low-cost propagation trial was conducted to explore the clonal propagation techniques for the species with two types of small branch cuttings, nodal leafy cuttings and tip cuttings. The cuttings, after treating with 0, 0.1%, 0.4%, and 0.8% IBA solutions, were kept in non-mist propagator to let them to root for assessing the rooting ability. The cuttings were rooted in four weeks and were allowed to grow in the polybags for 10 months under nursery condition to assess their steckling capacity. The study reveals that both types of branch cuttings are able to develop roots, shoots, to survive and to form rhizome under the nursery condition. Rooting ability of the cuttings was significantly enhanced by the application of rooting hormone — IBA. The highest rooting percentage in nodal leafy cuttings and the tip cuttings (56.67% and 51.0%, respectively) were observed in 0.8% IBA treatment, followed by 0.4% IBA and the lowest (34.3% and 30.0%, respectively) was in control. The highest number of root developed per cutting (9.77 and 8.33 in nodal leafy cuttings and the tip cuttings, respectively) was also obtained from the cuttings treated with 0.8% IBA solution, followed 0.4% IBA treatment and the lowest (3.1 and 2.1, respectively) was in the cuttings without treatment. However, the length of the longest root varied significantly neither with the cutting types nor the concentrations of IBA solution. Survival percentage of the stecklings in nursery condition was significantly enhanced by IBA.