An experiment was carried out to evaluate the influence of substrate and type of stem cuttings on the rooting of Luehea divaricata. The experiment was conducted at a Forest Seedbed at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), from December 2006 to February 2007. Herbaceous stem cuttings were used (with and without leaf), of plant matrices of approximately two years of age distributed as substrate (peat, Plantmax®, vermiculite, Mecplant ®) in factorial 2 x 4. The experimental design was completely randomized and consisted of bifactorial combination with five units per repetition and 10 repetitions per treatment. The evaluations have been performed 60 days after the implantation of the experiment. The variables observed were: survival, rooting, number of roots, length of roots and dry mass of the roots and of the aerial part. The type of stem cuttings presented influence for the variables analyzed, considering that 100% of the stem cuttings without leaf died before rooting. Stem cuttings cultivated in Plantmax® showed higher length of the roots than Mecplant®. The use of peat and Plantmax® substrate enabled more values for the dry mass of leaf and roots. Stem cuttings with a pair of leaf grown in Plantmax ® are indicated in the vegetative propagation of Luehea divaricata.
açoita-cavalo; forest species; vegetative propagation
