EFFECT OF INDOLE BUTYRIC ACID ON GROWTH OF Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex J. C. Wendl. STEM CUTTINGS

A study was carried out to examine the response of Bambusa vulgaris stem cuttings to different concentrations of Indole butyric acid (IBA).  Two node cuttings of Bambusa vulgaris of similar sizes were obtained from mother plants using secateur and treated with IBA at concentration levels of 50 mol., 100 mol., 150 mol., and 0 mol.,as control. They were planted direct in plastic pots containing sterilized river sand and laid out in completely randomized block design and replicated three times in a propagator. The parameters studied were number of leaves per plant, leaf area, culm diameter, biomass and carbon stock, which were assessed weekly for a period of 12 weeks. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) at 5% probability level. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed for all the parameters studied. Stem cuttings with 150 mol. of Indole butyric acid produced the highest number of leaves (9 leaves), largest leaf area of 18.20 cm²and culm diameter of 1.90 cm and highest carbon stock of 14.29 g. Stem cuttings with 100 mol. of Indole butyric acid had largest biomas while, those without Indole butyric acid had the lowest performance for all the characters studied.