The effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria was evaluated for root biomass of cuttings, number of mini-cuttings per mini-stump and productivity of mini-clonal hedges (number of mini-cuttings x rooting percent) of eucalyptus in the nursery. Except for clone 57, all other showed increase in root biomass, with an average of 53, 52 and 69% for clones 129, 1274, and 7074 respectively. In general, significant differences were found for mini-cutting production, but not for the productivity index (number of mini-cuttings x rooting percent). Isolate S1 had a substantial effect on the production of mini-cuttings, with increases varying from 11 to 23% for clones 129 and 1274 respectively. For clone 7074, the average increase was 15%. The results clearly indicated that rhizobacteria could be employed to maximize the vegetative propagation of eucalyptus by cutting.
Eucalypt; rhizobacteria; clonal propagation; mini-clonal hedges
