The effect of various concentrations and exposure times of two plant growth regulators on root formation of stem cuttings of `Tahiti' lime (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) was evaluated. Additional trials evaluated and compared root formation efficiency of stem cuttings of two sweet orange cultivars (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck). The research was carried out in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, in an screen-house with an intermitent water spray system, using 10 cm long, five month old terminal semihardwood stem cuttings, without the three basal leaves. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks, with four replications in all trials. Data was collected 90 days after the beginning of each trial. The parameters analysed were: average number of roots per rooted cutting, percentage of rooting, percentage of callus induction, average length of the longest root, and average number of leaves per rooted cutting. The results showed that: a) rooting of `Tahiti' lime cuttings was high, above 50%, reaching up to 96% in some cases, with no effect of the application of any plant growth regulator; b) Sweet orange cuttings presented low percentage of root formation (around 0,5%), with no effect of the application of any plant growth regulator; c) there were no significant differences among the treatments for all the other parameters; d) the present study showed that plant propagation of `Tahiti' lime through stem cuttings is an efficient and fast propagation method for this Citrus species.
Citrus latifolia; Citrus sinensis; propagation
