Propagation of sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) by stolon cutting with active bud and different nodes number

Abstract

© 2019 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved. Sacred lotus is one of the valuable economic cut flowers in Thailand and Asian countries. The growers usually propagate by cutting stolon segment, since this technique allows cloning to supply uniform planting stock. They however consider that only longer stolon cutting with many nodes and active buds would be suitable as propagules. To clarify this condition, the effect of vegetative propagation technique by node number on plant growth and flowering in ‘Sattabutsaya’ sacred lotus was conducted with 3 stolon cutting types i.e., stolon cutting with 1, 2 and 3 nodes, respectively, using a completely randomized design. All active stolons were planted singly in 1.20×1.00 m circular concrete pots, filled with 1/3 clay soil and 2/3 tap water under natural conditions (May to August 2016). It was found that increasing node number of cutting material increased in total leaf number at 6 weeks after planting (WAP). None of the stolon cutting treatments affected total leaf area, new internode length, flower stalk length and flower length at 3 months after planting. Nevertheless, planting sacred lotus with single node stolon cuttings gave the lowest new stolon length, flower number, percentage of flowering and delay more 2-3 weeks of flowering. Triple nodes of propagated stolon cutting gave the best result in plant dry weight components (flower, pod, new stolon and fibrous root). Planting sacred lotus stolon cuttings with 2 or 3 nodes did not affect total leaf number, new stolon length and girth and visible flowering time. It could be concluded that stolon cuttings with at least two nodes for propagative material is sufficient for creating plant stock for flowering lotus production.