In the year 2016, in the greenhouse of the Biotechnical Faculty, we studied the influence of the substrate pH value on the root formation of palmate maple cuttings. The experiment included the basic type Acer palmatum Thunb. and two red leaf cultivars A.p. 'Bloodgood' and A.p. 'Dissectum Garnet'. The experiment was initiated with three replicates of 20 cuttings per each variety or type, in a substrate with four different pH values, 3.2, 4, 5, and neutral 7. The cuttings were cut from different old stock plants and inserted in pre-prepared flower beds in the middle of June. The necessary amount of lime was claculated for each bed separately. Each cutting was treated with a hormone powder (0.5 % IBA + 10 % Captan based on talc). After the end of the vegetation period, when the plants passed into dormancy, the results were evaluated based on survival, rooting, calus formation, acrobasal and basal rooting, and the number and length of the roots. After a number of evaluation parameters, the substrate with the pH value of 5.0 was shown as the best substrate. The highest rooting rate was of the 'Bloodgood' cultivar 14.8 % and in substrates with pH value 4.0 8.3 % and pH 5.0 8.3 %. In general, the relatively poor results can be partly attributed to the different age of the stock plants and to a shorter breakdown of the fogging system.
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