INFLUÊNCIA DA POSIÇÃO DAS MINIESTACAS NA QUALIDADE DE MUDAS DE CEDRO AUSTRALIANO E NO SEU DESEMPENHO INICIAL NO PÓS-PLANTIO

The Toona ciliata (Australian cedar), originated from Australia showed high acclimatization in Brazil, where it found appropriate conditions for its growth, particularly in southern Bahia and throughout the southeastern region. However, the plantings presented irregular stems. Besides the seeds are a limiting resource, in result of their production seasonality and short viability period. This study aimed the evaluation of the quality of cuttings grown from 6 cm length apical, middle and basal mini-cutting positions of the sprouts of the mini-strains - from seminal origin - and the initial growth of cuttings. It was established amulti-clone mini-garden containing a total of 284 mini-strains. After cutting off the sprouts of the seedlings - to originate the mini-strains - the mini-cuttings from the above different positions were collected. At the lifting time of the rooting sector, dry mass weight of shoot and root, length, diameter, number of adventitious roots and survival data were collected. The height and diameter were monitored fortnightly, starting from 80 days after the staking of the mini-cuttings. At the end of the production cycle, the dry mass weight of shoot, the root number, the diameter and the length of root cuttings were evaluated. Thirty percent of the cuttings were transplanted to pots of 3.8 L, in the open air where the height and basal diameter, the dry mass of shoot, the leaves and the roots were measured 60 days after the transplanting. Cuttings originated from the basal mini-cuttings at the end of the lifting time of the rooting sector, showed the highest height and diameter, however no difference was pointed out regarding to the basal diameter of cuttings originated from the middle position. There were no differences related to the shoot dry mass and the adventitious root number, the dry mass weight, the total length and the diameter of the adventitious roots of cuttings in relation to the mini-cutting positions in the sprouts. The survival was high, averaging 94.7 % for the apical, 96.3 % for the middle and 96.6 for basal position. Sixty days after transplanting, despite the differences in the diameter and the height of the cuttings at the end of the nursery phase, no difference in the height, the diameter and the dry mass weight of shoots, the leaves and the roots as pointed out in the treatments.