COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ROOTING STIMULANT UNDER RED COLORED AND COLORLESS PLASTIC COVER ON THE ROOTING RESPONSE OF GRAPE (Vitis vinefera) CUTTINGS

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of different rooting stimulants and different colours of plastic cover on the growth of grape (Vitis vinifera) cuttings. Treatments were specifically compared in terms of survival rate, shoot emergence, length of shoot, length of roots, number of leaves, number of shoots, and number of roots of grape cuttings.
Results revealed that rooting stimulants had no effect on the growth of grape cuttings when applied under transparent plastic cover. Rooting stimulants, however, had adverse effect on shoot length, root length, number of leaves and number of shoots of cuttings when used under red plastic cover conditions. The interaction between rooting stimulants and red plastic cover appears to delay growth of grape cuttings. Notwithstanding growth parameters where rooting stimulants significantly vary in effect, the effect of light quality as demonstrated by transparent and red plastic cover had observable differences. Apparently, transparent plastic cover (a demonstration of visible light quality) was not conducive to faster shoot emergence than red plastic cover, but it was conducive to better rooting (greater number of roots) than the latter.
In conclusion, results were not statistically conclusive in terms of light quality and the differences between transparent and red plastic cover, however a comparative advantage is observed in the former in terms of rooting. The effect of rooting stimulants on the other hand were distinct in both regimes of light quality, and were either ineffective or adverse in effect. Overall, it is recommended that further studies should ensure that light is applied such that intensity is equal regardless of quality. It is also recommended to conduct further study on the effect of rooting stimulants, especially in the interplay of auxin and ethylene in grape cuttings and their role in plant growth. Finally, it is also suggested to conduct further study on the interaction of light quality and rooting stimulants on other plants to ascertain the consistency of the effect and further shed light on the mechanisms of such interactions.