The serial minicutting is a usual technique for commercial propagation of Eucalyptus and its application has been shown positive effect on the rooting of clones with poor rooting potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the serial minicutting technique on minicuttings rooting and survival, and the vigor of the 'Paluma'guava plantlets. It was carried out two experiments in randomized blocks design with four replications and five plants per plot. At sixty-two days after cutting, it was verified that the minicuttings showed survival higher than 90% and 90% of rooting. The plantlets produced by minicuttings of the subculture (plantlets obtained from ministumps originated from rooted minicuttings), at 138 days after cutting, showed height smaller than that observed in plantlets obtained from minicuttings of the first culture (plantlets obtained from ministumps originated by the conventional cutting process). On the other hand, evaluations at 145 days after cutting demonstrated that the plantlets produced by minicuttings of the subculture presented the same growth vigor in the leaf area, leaf number and dry mass of the shoot and the root when compared to minicuttings of the first culture.
Psidium guajava; clonal propagation; minicutting; rooting
