Response of Plane Tree (platanus Orientalis) to Cuttings and Planting Dates

Field experiment was carried out at Ornamental Nursery, Department of Horticulture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Agricultural University Peshawar, during 2009 to study “the response of plane tree cuttings to different planting dates”. Three types of cuttings (hardwood cuttings, semi-hardwood cuttings, Softwood cuttings) and three dates (6 January, 21 January and 5 February) were studied. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement. Sprouting percentage (%), survival percentage (%), plant height (cm), number of leaves plant, stem thickness (cm), Stem weight (g), Number of roots plant, Root length (cm) and Root weight (g) were significantly affected by types of cuttings and different planting dates. Hardwood cuttings showed that maximum sprouting percentage (57.56%), survival percentage (44.78%), plant height (182.64cm), number of leaves plant (26.47), stem thickness (1.26cm), stem weight (95.58g), number of roots plant (12.55), root length (47.25cm) and root weight (28.12g), while in case of planting dates maximum sprouting percentage (48.56%), survival percentage (40.56%), number of leaves plant (25.33), stem thickness (1.07cm), stem weight (88.00g), number of roots plant (10.55) and root weight (19.89g) were observed in cuttings planted on 6 January. The results of interactions showed that maximum sprouting percentage (75.67%), survival percentage (65.67%), plant height (195.50cm) and maximum number of leaves plant (29.77) were observed in hardwood cuttings planted on 6 January. Hardwood cuttings performed best in most of the parameters while Semi-hardwood and Softwood cuttings showed poor performance. It may be concluded that planting hardwood cuttings enhances sprouting percentage (%), percent survival and other physiological parameters. Among planting dates 6 January is recommended for hardwood cuttings propagation of plane tree.