3. Results
3.1. The effect of IBA on rooting of olive cuttings
The two olive cultivars differed significantly in their rooting
capacity, while experimental season had a significant influence
on rooting response of cuttings (Table 1). ‘Arbequina’ exhibited
the highest rooting percentage, while ‘Kalamata’ exhibited the
highest percentage of rotten cuttings and cuttings with callus.
Exogenous application of IBA 2000 mg L−1 significantly increased
cuttings rooting percentage in the easy-to-root cv ‘Arbequina’ irrespective
of season. However, in the difficult-to-root cv ‘Kalamata’,
IBA treatment was ineffective. Rooting percentage of ‘Arbequina’
cuttings was highest in summer (76%) and followed by that in
autumn (40%), while in spring the rooting percentage was the
lowest (37%). On the other hand, ‘Kalamata’ cuttings presented
only 1% rooting in spring and summer while it reached 3% in
autumn.