Clonal Propagation of Pride of India (Lagerstroemia speciosa) Using Auxin Treatments

Ornamental flowering trees are vital in landscape gardening due to their aesthetic and ecological significance. However, commercial propagation of ornamentals often results in genetic variability and delayed flowering when propagated through seeds. Vegetative propagation helps overcome these limitations by producing genetically uniform and early-flowering plants. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of cutting type and auxin concentrations on clonal propagation of Pride of India (Lagerstroemia speciosa) using IBA and NAA. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) with three replications and seven treatments under a mist chamber. Semi-hardwood and terminal cuttings treated with IBA (1500 ppm and 1000 ppm) performed significantly better than untreated controls. Semi-hardwood cuttings treated with 1500 ppm IBA recorded the highest shoot length (25.00 cm), number of leaves (54.00), number of roots (27.00), root length (35.70 cm) and survival percentage (92.10%). The results demonstrate that clonal propagation through semi-hardwood cuttings treated with IBA at 1500 ppm is the most efficient method for commercial multiplication of Pride of India.