Comparison of Rooting Capabilities of Turkish Tea Clones

Abstract

In this study, single leaf cuttings of 10 Turkish tea (Camellia sinensis) clones Hamzabey-1, Ardeşen-1, Fener-3, Hayrat-1, Çiftekavak-1, Muradiye-10, Tuǧlali-10, Gündoǧdu-3, Kömürcüler-1 and Derepazari-7 were rooted under greenhouse conditions at seven different collection times without using any plant hormones. The cuttings were collected on 28 August, 4 September, 11 September, 19 September, 25 September, 4 October and 10 October. Rooted plants were removed from rooting medium in mid- May. Plant survival, root dry weight, shoot dry weight and shooting percentage were recorded depending on the tea clones and collection times. The highest survival percentage by mean values of collection times was obtained from cuttings planted on 25 September (92.3%), followed by 19 September (84.3%), 10 October (83.6%), 4 October (79.2%) and 11 September (78.9%). Çiftekavak-1 had a higher mean plant survival ratio (92.83%) than other clones, and this was followed by Hayrat-1 (90.93%). Muradiye-10 (88.54%), Gündoǧdu-3 (87.59%). Tuǧlali-10 (79.97%) and Ardeşen-1 (79.00%). In addition, the survival percentage and shooting percentage were 100% for cuttings of Hayrat-1 planted on 11 September, Çiftekavak-1 and Hayrat-1 planted on 19 September, and Çiftekavak-1 and Muradiye-10 planted on 25 September. The clone Çiftekavak-1 had the highest root dry weight (1.99 g) and shoot dry weight (0.93 g) per cutting by mean values at all collection times, and is recommended to the tea farmers.