Lippia alba is a medicinal plant native of the South America it is used because of its sedative property. In this work the cutting propagation of this species was studied aiming at obtain an efficient protocol of plant production. Different types of cuttings were tested (middle with 4 leaves, middle with two leaves, middle without leaves and apical), length of hardwood cuttings (5, 10, 15 and 20cm) and substrates (carbonized rice hulls, vermiculite, soil and Plantmax®). All types of cuttings showed high rates of rooting, confirming that L. alba is an easy to root species. The middle cuttings with four leaves showed the largest root development, contrarily the cuttings without leaves. The cuttings with two leaves also showed good development, easy manipulation and the double of yield in the cutting preparation when compared with the cuttings with four leaves. The substrates did not affect the rooting percent, but the largest root mass was obtained in the carbonized rice hulls. The increase of hardwood cutting length caused a linear growth in all variables. It was concluded that L. alba can be propagated with semi-hardwood cuttings with one pair of leaves or with hardwood cuttings with 20cm of length, in porous substrate and without intermitent mist.
cutting; medicinal plant; Lippia alba
