International Journal of Farm Sciences

Rhododendron possessing various aesthetic, sacred, economic and medicinal values faces wide scale human interferences due to its overexploitation and unsustainable extraction making this genus as rare/endangered. In addition to its difficulty in multiplication, scanty information is available regarding vegetative propagation methods of this species. Therefore the present study was an attempt to know the response of Rhododendron arboreum Smith layered shoots to different concentrations of auxin formulations with constant amount of 5 per cent captan +5percent sucrose. Among all the treatments T₅ (0.4%IBA+5%captan+5%sucrose) resulted in better call using (23.33%) and live cutting (16.67%) whereas least live cutting rate of 3.33 per cent was observed in T₆ (0.05% NAA + 5% captan + 5% sucrose) and T₇ (0.10% NAA + 5% captan + 5% sucrose). However different IBA and NAA formulations failed to induce rooting in this species. Thus a comprehensive study involving anatomical, physiological and chemical aspects that interfere with the rooting of this species is needed to decide the further course of action and at the same time an intensive study is also needed to understand its rooting behaviour and conservation.