Quality of Amazonian spinach (Alternanthera sessilis L.) seedlings propagated by cuttings

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of Amazonian spinach seedlings propagated by cuttings. The experiment was carried out in the garden of the Federal University of Acre, from April to May 2022. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with three treatments and seven blocks. The treatments were the number of nodes per cutting, where: T1 = cutting with 1 node, T2 = cutting with 2 nodes and T3 = cutting with 3 nodes. For the evaluations, 10 useful plants were used in the block plot, which at 21 days of cultivation were evaluated: height, stem diameter, leaf length and width, number of shoots, number and length of roots, fresh mass of the aerial part and of roots, shoot and root dry mass, total fresh and dry mass, and the Dickson quality index was calculated. There was a significant effect of the number of nodes on the cutting for seedling production. Cuttings with 3 nodes provided superior seedling quality. The treatments (1 and 2 nodes) although presenting lower seedling quality than the one with 3 nodes, complete seedling formation occurred. Cuttings with 3 nodes provided the formation of quality seedlings for spinach from the Amazon.