Improved Propagation and Growing Techniques for Oleander Nursery Production

Abstract

In the first trial, we examined rooting of stem cuttings in relation to number of nodes and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) treatment in several Nerium oleander clones grown in Sicily. In a second trial, we tested the effect of different forcing dates and shading on oleander plants for gardens and natural landscapes. Three- and four-node cuttings, ranging in length from 10 to 14 cm, were significantly superior to two-node cuttings (8–10 cm long) in terms of rooting percentage and number of roots per cutting. The application of IBA improved rooting percentage and root number as compared to untreated control. Irrespective of IBA, rooting percentages ranged from 94% in clone 1 to 52% in clone 4. Shaded plants forced in October were significantly higher than those forced in November and in December. Beginning of flowering was delayed in unforced plants. Plants forced in October flowered significantly sooner (first decade of March) than unforced ones (first decade of May) and reached complete flowering almost two months earlier (last week of March).Shading had little effect on plants forced in October and in November as compared to unshaded plants in terms of start of flowering, but it slightly hastened beginning of flowering of December forced plants as compared to their unshaded counterparts.