The present work was conducted at the Experimental Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo Univ. during the two successive seasons; 1998/99 and 1999/2000 on four fixed dates representing the four seasons of the year. Semi-hard and terminal cuttings of Ficus retusa var. hawaii and Ficus benjamina var. exotica were treated by IBA or NAA with five different concentrations; 0,1000,2000,3000 and 4000 ppm. Data were collected on the following characters: rootintg and surrvival percentage, average number and length of adventitious roots per cutting, root fresh and dry weight and root index. The study revealed the following, In both species, IBA treatments caused a pronounced increase in rooting potantial compared with NAA. The highest rooting percentages were achieved with 3000 ppm concentration of both IBA and NAA. Planting cuttings of Ficus retusa var. hawaii in January (winter) produced the highest rooting percentages, followed by those planted in April (spring), while cuttings planted in July (summer) and October (autumn) showed the lowest rooting percentage.Planting cuttings of Ficus benjamina var. exotica in April (spring) produced the highest rooting percentage followed by those planted in July (summer), while cuttings planted in January (winter) and October (autumn) showed the lowest rooting percentage. Ficus retusa var. hawaii semi-hard cuttings produced the highest rooting potential as compared with terminal cuttings. On the contrary, Ficus benjamina var. exotica terminal cuttings produced the highest rooting percentages as compared to semi-hard cuttings. The normal mortality percentage ranged between 5-7%. The lowest mortality percentages were found at winter planting date and spring planting date for Ficus retusa var. hawaii and Ficus benjamina var. exotica, respectively.
The highest number of roots per cutting was achieved with 3000 ppm IBA and NAA in both species. Although, all IBA treatments produced a pronounced increase in advantitious root length. In both species NAA assigned concentrations did not cause any significant increase in average length of adventitious roots. The average fresh and dry weight of roots developed on cuttings of both Ficus retusa var. hawaii and Ficus benjamina var. exotica treated with IBA was higher than that treated with NAA. Planting cuttings in winter produced the highest root index in Ficus retusa var. hawaii. While, the lowest root index was achieved at summer planting date. Planting cuttings in spring produced the highest root index in Ficus benjamina var. exotica. While, the lowest root index was obtained at autumn and winter planting dates.
The anatomical study shows that cuttings treated with 3000 ppm IBA activates the cambil initials forming a wider cambial zone which develop a small callus of parenchyma cells which activates the formation of adventatious root premordia.