Response of sweet potato vine cuttings to physical and chemical root inducing treatments

Impomoea batatas, the sweet potato, is the only representative of the Convolvulaceae considered to be an important vegetable crop in tropical and subtropical countries. They are a good source of carbohydrates and vitamin A. They are used in alcohol and starch preparation.

Sweet potatoes are grown from plants produced from roots of the previous crop or from vine cuttings. In regions with short growing seasons, and for early production, the crop is grown from plants produced from roots bedded in a hot bed or cold frame,

Meyer (21) found that planting Porto Rico sweet potatoes slips deeper in the soil resulted in an increase in yield. He found that planting the slips with two nodes under the soil surface resulted in an average yield of 203 bushels per acre, while an average of 241 bushels per acre was obtained when four nodes of the slips were covered with the soil and an average of 274 bushels per acre when six nodes were covered with the soil in the ridge. This work suggests the greater number of roots in the soil, the greater the yield of storage roots.

The effects of physical treatments and synthetic growth regulating substances on root initiation and development on cuttings of various kinds of plants have been studied for more than fifty years and significant increases in rooting observed,

This present work has been designed to determine the effect of physical and chemical root inducing treatments on initiation and development of roots on vine cuttings of Centennial and Goldrush sweet potatoes.