An investigation on rooting and growth of stem cuttings of rose genotypes show high and low sensitivity to exogenous ethylene treatment

Ethylene as a plant hormone plays various functions in a variety of physiological phenomena including seed germination, root initiation on stem cutting, senescence and organs abscission. In our previous investigation, five rose genotypes were identified showing high-sensitivity or low-sensitivity to exogenous ethylene treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rooting capacity and bud growth in stem cuttings of these genotypes. Although significant differences were found in rooting ability of 1-cm cuttings but 2-cm cuttings did not show any difference. IBA treatment did not affect root formation in low sensitive or high sensitive plants. The highest and lowest mean rooting time belong to genotypes '76.67' and 'Vanilla' respectively. There were significant differences in plant height and dry weight of shoots and roots of genotypes. This study showed that the rooting capacity was not affected by degree of plant sensitivity to ethylene.