This study was carried out during spring of the two successive years of 1998
and 1999 on 20·25 cm length stem cuttings with 1-2 leaves of F. retusa, F. infectoria
and F. religiosa taken from the middle portion of two-years-old branches of trees
grown at EI- Mansoura University Campus. Hydrogel and different techniques of
applying ISA were used in order to improve the rooting of cuttings of the three Ficus
species that vary in their rooting ability. These techniques were 1000 mglL. Indole-3-
butyric acid (ISA) in the form of solution, talc powder, and toothpicks loaded with ISA
(in the presence or absence of hydrogel in sandy medium), in addition to planting
cuttings in sandy medium incorporated with hydrogel-charged with the ISA. The
study aimed to investigate the effect of these treatments on rooting and root and
shoot characters of the cuttings of the three Ficus species as well as to study the
anatomical changes that take place within the cutting as a result of ISA treatment. In
addition, in the second season, the relationship between the differences in the
internal phytohormones content, the anatomical structure, and the rooting ability and
root characters of the three Ficus species were also studied. The results showed
that 1000 mg/L. ISA solution quick dip plus hydrogel in the medium produced the
highest number of rooted cuttings, the highest survival percentage of the cuttings,
and the greatest number of roots. Impregnated toothpicks plus hydrogel in the
medium resulted in the fastest rooting, while charged hydrogel incorporated to the
rooting medium resulted in the longest and heaviest fresh and dry weight of roots per
cutting. As for shoot growth. IBA solution plus hydrogel treatment produced the
greatest number of shoots and leaves per cutting, the heaviest fresh and dry weights
of leaves, and the largest leaf area. In general, talc powder treatment ranked fourth
after the other three application techniques. The results also showed that the
presence of hydrogel in the medium improved the effect of any particular treatment.
Two weeks after treating Ficus retusa cuttings with ISA, the internal anatomy
showed great proliferation and extension of the cortex, phloem tissues, and cambial
zone, and the formation of meristematic centers which was developed as root
primordia. Four weeks after treatment, the roots passed through the cortical tissue
and emerged on the cutting and vascular connection tissues were also observed in
the growing roots. The untreated cuttings showed similar anatomical changes, but
those changes were observed two weeks later. The comparison among species showed that there was a relationship among
the phytohormones contents of the cutting, the anatomical structure of the stem, and
the differences in the rooting ability of cuttings of the three species. Ficus retusa
cuttings had the highest GA3 and IAA concentrations, but the lowest ABA
concentration among the three species, while F. religiosa had the lowest G~ and
IAA and the highest ASA concentration, and Ficus infectoria had intermediate
concentrations of the three phytohormones. Also, the cuttings of F. retusa had the
highest percentage of rooting and were the fastest to root, gave the highest
percentage of survival after rooting, and the greatest number of new roots, while F. infectoria ranked the second, and F. religiosa was the third. On the other hand, F.
retusa and F. infectoria did not significantly differ in either their root lengths or roots
dry weight, but both species were significantly higher than F. religiosa. The stem
structure of both F. infectoria and F. religiosa had thicker cortex tissue which was
composed of more collenchymatious cell layers and had thinner phloem tissue and
cambial zone than F. retusa. In addition, F. religiosa had thicker continuous phloem
fiber rings composed of larger number of sclerified fiber cells than F. infectoria, while
F. retusa stem had a discontinuous phloem fiber ring that was composed of smaller
number of weak sclerified fiber cells which may explain the differences in rootability
among the three species.