The objective of the work was to study the rooting of semi-hardwood litchi cuttings (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) of Bengal cultivar using indolbutiric acid (IBA) in an intermittent nebulization system. The apical cuttings were collected in October (spring in Brazil), January (summer) and April (fall). The cuttings were properly arranged and transferred to greenhouse with intermittent mist and treated with 0, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg L-1 indolbutiric acid applications, having the cuttings bases been immersed during 10 seconds and with 200 mg L-1 indolbutiric acid application, having the bases been immersed for 24 hours in aeration. They were put to rooting in vermiculite substratum with 1:1 carbonized rice husk. After 100 days, the data referring to live cuttings with leaves percentage, the rooted cuttings percentage for each parcel, average root length per rooted cutting (in centimeters), average number of roots formed per cutting, average weight of the roots fresh matter (in grams) were obtained, average weight of the root dry matter(in grams) were obtained. By the results it was concluded that there is no need of indolbutiric acid for the litchi cuttings, Bengal cultivar rooting and the best time for collecting the cuttings is summer.
Litchi chinensis; plant regulators; vegetative propagation; auxins
