Effect of plant growth regulator in the initial development of seedlings of citrus rootstock 'Cleopatra'

Abstract

Obtaining the rootstock is one of the time consuming steps in the production chain of citrus seedlings, due to the time required for seed germination and early seedling development. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the effects of the use of plant growth regulator on initial seedling rootstock citrus mandarin "Cleopatra". The treatments were related to the concentrations of the commercial product Stimulate ®: control (without plant growth regulator), 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 mL.kg^-1 seed. The seeds were sown in trays of 72 cells. After 70 days of germination, the following characteristics were evaluated: length (cm) and diameter (mm) of the stem, number of leaves, leaf area (dm²), dry weight of leaf, stem and root (g), root length (cm) and concentration of chlorophyll "a", "b" and total (mg.m^-2). The application of Stimulate ® growth at a dose of 6 mL.kg^-1 promoted the growth of seedlings of citrus rootstock 'Cleopatra' mandarin, and its use is promising, leading to a reduction in production time rootstock focus on achieving grafting.