Abstract

Scientific confirmation of the traditionally known health benefits of pomegranates caused a tremendous increase in the consumption and production of this highly valuable fruit tree. Reproduction of pomegranate plants with seeds shows great variability in tree vigour and fruit quality. Cuttings is one of the most successful and preferred methods for the propagation of pomegranates. It is easy, quick, economic and most the convenient method of obtaining true-to-type trees in considerably less time; however, it has a high rate of mortality. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effects of cutting length, collection time of cuttings and rooting media on the sprouting of dormant semi-hardwood cuttings collected from pomegranate cv. Wonderful. Studies conducted with the completely randomized block design with four replications, each replication containing 25 individual cuttings. According to the results, the highest sprouting percentage obtained from the 10 cm cuttings collected 43±3 days before sprouting (DBS) and grown in soil with 98%. Results showed that the sprouting percentage is higher at the shorter cuttings. It was also concluded from the results that, as time pass, the sprouting percentage of the cuttings decrease, and is important to collect cuttings about 40 days before sprouting. The growing media was found to significantly affect the sprouting percentage and soil was found to be better than perlite media.

Key words: Perlite, rooting, soil, sprouting, transplant.