Effect of plant parts and presence of leaves in cuttings on the production of Mentha sp. seedlings

Abstract

Mentha sp. (mint) is an herbaceous plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family and is easily propagated by stem cuttings. We aimed to evaluate
the effect of plant parts and presence of leaves in mint cuttings on the survival and vigor of seedlings. The experiment was carried
out in a 3x2 factorial scheme (plant parts x presence of leaves, respectively) with three replications of 15 seedlings. Data was
analyzed using software JMP IN, SAS Institute, and means were compared by Tukey test at 5% probability. The results showed
that apical cuttings showed the highest means in all tests. Additionally, cuttings with leaves showed higher means than those
without leaves. Survival of apical cuttings with and without leaves at 20 days after planting was 93.3% and 73.3% respectively.
Shoot fresh weight was 8.2 g in apical cuttings with leaves and 5.0 g in apical cuttings without leaves. Root dry weight was 7.3
and 4.3 g in apical cuttings with and without leaves, respectively, while root length was 11.4 and 11.5, respectively. We conclude
that apical cuttings bearing leaves provide the highest rates of survival and vigor in mint seedlings.