Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen is a medicinal herb that has been used in the Brazilian folk medicine against several illnesses, such as inflammations and reumatism. It has also been playing the role of a ginseng-like tonic herb, helping to fight fatigue and combat stress. Therefore, wild resources have been exploited considerably and informations about suitable methods for its propagation are needed. The aim of this work was to evaluate the suitability of vegetative propagation via cuttings, the shoot cutting position effect, and the substrate on rooting process of Pfaffia cuttings. The treatments followed a 4 x 2 factorial scheme, involving four positions of cuttings in the shoot (basal, middle-basal, middle-apical, and apical) and two substrates (sand + carbonized rice husk and soil + carbonized rice husk, 1:1 v/v). The cuttings, ranged from 15 to 20cm length, were obtained by sucessive cuts of the shoot from the base to the tip. The experimental design was completely randomized with five replications, and 20 cuttings per experimental unity. The experiment was installed on July 17th,1997 and last for 90 days under ambient temperature. The results allowed to indicate that vegetative propagation via cuttings is a feasible method, cuttings taken from the shoot basis and the shoot middle positions show the best physiological features to rooting, and the combination of soil + carbonized rice husk is a suitable substrate for rooting and for the growth of the plantlet in the field.
vegetative propagation; cuttings; Pfaffia glomerata; substrate; physiological types of cuttings
