Rooting behavior of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) hardwood cuttings in relation to genotype and irrigation frequency

Abstract: The study was conducted to determine the best irrigation frequency for rooting hardwood cuttings of some pomegranate genotypes that are cultivated in Halabja province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The hardwood cuttings were collected from 11 genotypes, which were 'Salakhani Trsh' (G1), 'Salakhani Mekhosh' (G2), 'Amriki' (G3), 'Twekl Sury Trsh' (G4), 'Twekl Astury Naw Spy' (G5), 'Hanara Sherina' (G6), 'Kawa Hanary Sherin' (G7), 'Kawa Hanary Trsh' (G8), 'Malesay Twekl Asture' (G9), 'Malesay Twekl Tank' (G10), and 'Sura Hanary Trsh' (G11). The genotypes were subjected to irrigation applications by 1-day, 2-day, 7-day, or 10-day frequencies. Among pomegranates, G11, G6, and G7 produced 95, 90, and 83% rooting percentages, which were significantly higher than the rest of other genotypes. The lowest rooting percentages (28, 36, 38, and 40%) were found in G1, G5, G3, and G10, respectively. The effect of irrigation frequencies on the genotypes confirmed that a 7-day frequency was the best irrigation frequency to achieve the maximum rooting percentages (93, 86, 80, 73, 53, and 40%) in G6, G9, G2, G4, G3, and G1, respectively. In contrast, the minimum rooting percentage (20%) was recorded in G3 with a 1-day frequency and in G1 with 10-day frequency. In this study, it was found that the cuttings of G11, G6, and G7 had the best ability to form roots, and irrigation with a 7-day frequency was the best for the cuttings of all the 11 pomegranate genotypes investigated.