Influence of the cut length of plagiotropic branches in conilon coffee stem cuttings for the seedling production.

In the literature, no studies investigated which portion of the plagiotropic branches should be removed by pruning conilon coffee stem cuttings, as well as the effect of the remaining length of these branches on rhizogenesis, growth, and physiology of clonal seedlings. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the remaining length of plagiotropic branches of conilon coffee stem cuttings on the growth and physiology of conilon coffee clonal seedlings. The experiment was conducted in the Fazenda Experimental de Marilândia, ES, Brazil, under a completely randomized design with five treatments and fifteen repetitions. The treatments referred to the length of plagiotropic branches (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 cm from the point of insertion with the stem). After 120 days of cultivation, vegetative growth and physiological aspects of the seedlings were evaluated. The remaining plagiotropic branches between 1.5 and 2.0 cm long provide the best vegetative growth and physiological response of the conilon coffee seedlings. The lengths that provide the worst response, both in terms of growth and physiological aspects, were 0.5 and 2.5 cm.