Growth and Quality of Clonal Plantlets of Conilon Coffee (<i>Coffea canephora</i> Pierre ex A. Froehner) Influenced by Types of Cuttings

To achieve high crop yieldin agriculture, the production of plantlets of superior quality is one of thebasic prerequisites. For conilon coffee, the current recommendation in theproduction of clonal plantlets through vegetative propagation is to usediagonal cuttings, in bevel form. However, there are indications that othertypes of cutting have been successfully used to produce plantlets. In thiscontext, this experiment was conducted with the objective of studying thedevelopment of plantlets of conilon coffee obtained by different types ofcuttings. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse. The cuttings wereobtained from the middle portion of orthotropic stems of standardized plants.The experiment followed a split plot in time design, with three types ofcuttings (bevel, sharp bevel and straight) and two times of evaluation, withfour repetitions. At 30 and 120 days after planting, plantlets were collectedand evaluated. The results show the increase occurred in the variables due tothe straight cut when compared to the others, except for stem diameter.Emphasizing in this context, the straight cut promoted an increase in seedlingheight, production of biomass and in the Dickson’s quality index when comparedto cuttings in bevel and sharp bevel.