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Which IBA rooting hormone strength suits dragon fruit cuttings?
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Stem cuttings are the commercial standard for propagating dragon fruit, and in this Indian nursery trial the strength of rooting hormone used on them made a real difference. Of three IBA strengths, the middle one, 6000 ppm, rooted and grew best, and the strongest did worst for survival.
How strong should a quick dip be? A team at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, an agricultural university in Parbhani, Maharashtra, India, put three strengths of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) side by side on cuttings of white-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) over two years (Ghatul et al., 2026). IBA is a synthetic auxin that the authors describe as widely used to make cuttings form roots.
What this means for your grow
If you strike dragon fruit from cuttings, this trial is a reminder that more rooting hormone is not always better. Within the 5000 to 7000 ppm range the team tested, a 10 to 15 second dip at 6000 ppm gave the most roots, the longest shoots and the best survival, while at 7000 ppm sprouting was slower than at 6000 ppm and 32.77% of the cuttings died. There was no untreated comparison, so the trial cannot say how much IBA helps against no hormone at all, and it was run in polythene bags of soil in a semi-arid climate in India.
What did the team do?
The cuttings came from 4-year-old mother plants in the university orchard: pieces 25 ± 1 cm long, cut from the middle of mature, fully hardened stems of the current season, each with 5 to 6 areoles. They were cured in shade for 3 to 4 days so the cut surfaces could dry and callus. The base was given a single slanting cut at about 45°, then the bottom 2 to 3 cm was dipped for 10 to 15 seconds in IBA at 5000, 6000 or 7000 ppm, air-dried in shade for 10 minutes and planted 5 cm deep in black polythene bags holding 5 kg of solarised topsoil.
The trial ran in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons at the university's Central Nursery, with 30 cuttings in each of 15 experimental units a year (three strengths, five replications). The team followed shoot and root growth for 120 days after sprouting, counted survivors and worked out the costs and returns per 1000 cuttings.
What did they find?
- Sprouting: cuttings dipped at 6000 ppm sprouted first, at 34.34 days on average, against 36.96 days at 7000 ppm and 37.41 days at 5000 ppm.
- Roots: at 120 days after sprouting, 6000 ppm gave 18.20 primary roots per cutting and a longest root of 25.20 cm, against 16.70 roots and 23.40 cm at 7000 ppm, and 15.30 roots and 22.20 cm at 5000 ppm.
- Shoots: 6000 ppm also gave the longest shoots at 120 days (38.13 cm, against 34.83 cm at 7000 ppm and 33.37 cm at 5000 ppm) and the heaviest shoots (130.63 g fresh weight).
- Survival: 83.07% of cuttings survived at 6000 ppm, 72.23% at 5000 ppm and 67.23% at 7000 ppm. Mortality at 7000 ppm was 32.77%.
- Money: at the farm-gate price the authors used (₹375 per sapling), 6000 ppm gave 831 sellable saplings per 1000 cuttings and the best return, with a gross benefit-to-cost ratio of 2.33, against 2.04 at 5000 ppm and 1.88 at 7000 ppm.
The results held across both seasons: the authors found no significant interaction between year and IBA strength for any measure they report.
What could it mean?
The authors recommend a quick dip of IBA at 6000 ppm for commercial nurseries producing dragon fruit planting material. They describe 5000 ppm as giving sub-optimal stimulation and 7000 ppm as causing supra-optimal inhibition, which delayed sprouting and increased mortality. Their conclusions apply to choosing a strength within the 5000 to 7000 ppm range under the semi-arid conditions of the Marathwada region. The authors' recommendation is aimed at commercial nurseries; the trial does not show how cuttings would respond in other conditions.
What were the limitations?
No untreated (auxin-free) control was included, so the benefit of IBA over natural rooting cannot be measured from this trial; the results are differences between IBA strengths only. The authors recommend testing against an untreated control and in other agro-climatic zones. One possible mechanism the authors raise (enzymes turning stored starch into sugars) was not tested: they did not measure the enzyme activity.
Trial details
- Where: Central Nursery, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, Maharashtra, India (19.26° N, 76.78° E, 409 m above mean sea level). The authors call it a field experiment in a semi-arid tropical climate (the scarcity agro-climatic zone).
- Crop and material: dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose); cladode cuttings 25 ± 1 cm long and 4.5 ± 0.3 cm in basal diameter with 5 to 6 areoles, from the middle of mature, fully hardened current-season cladodes of 4-year-old mother plants.
- How long: two seasons, 2023-24 and 2024-25; growth recorded at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after sprouting.
- Preparation: cured in shade for 3 to 4 days; single slanting basal cut at about 45°; basal 2 to 3 cm dipped for 10 to 15 seconds; air-dried in shade for 10 minutes; planted 5 cm deep. IBA was dissolved in ethanol, with final ethanol at 2% (v/v) or less. A 2% ethanol solvent control on separate cuttings showed no injury and was not included in the analysis.
- System and substrate: black polythene bags (25.4 × 25.4 cm) filled with 5 kg of solarised native topsoil, a sandy clay loam; pH 7.48 to 7.62 and electrical conductivity 0.18 to 0.21 dS m-1.
- Climate: maximum air temperature 30.0 to 40.0 °C, minimum 12.0 to 22.0 °C, relative humidity 35 to 85% during the experiment; mean annual precipitation 850 to 950 mm.
- Design: three treatments (IBA at 5000, 6000 and 7000 ppm) in a randomised block design with five replications; 30 cuttings per experimental unit (150 per treatment per year and 450 per year); five tagged plants per unit for growth measures. ANOVA with critical difference at 5%; data pooled over the two years after a test of homogeneity.
- Results (pooled): days to shoot initiation 37.41, 34.34 and 36.96 (5000, 6000 and 7000 ppm); primary roots at 120 days 15.30, 18.20 and 16.70; longest root 22.20, 25.20 and 23.40 cm; shoot length at 120 days 33.37, 38.13 and 34.83 cm; shoot fresh weight 103.43, 130.63 and 113.03 g; root dry weight 3.75, 5.28 and 4.45 g; survival 72.23%, 83.07% and 67.23%; root-to-shoot length ratio 0.70, 0.80 and 0.68; gross benefit-to-cost ratio 2.04, 2.33 and 1.88.
- Funding and conflicts: no funding source is stated; the authors thank VNMKV's Departments of Horticulture and Plant Physiology for facilities and support, and declare no conflicts of interest.
- Publication: Plant Science Today, early access, available online 30 October 2026, https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.17149. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- Not reported in the paper: the dragon fruit cultivar or selection, watering amounts and frequency, and the exact planting dates. The methods do not say whether the bags were shaded, though the cost table includes a nursery structure and shade net, and it lists farmyard manure under the growing medium cost.
Links
- The study: Effect of indole-3-butyric acid concentrations on root and shoot morphogenesis and nursery establishment of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose) stem cuttings
- The institution: Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani
References
- Ghatul, S. S., Shinde, S. J., Jabbar, S. S., Hivare, V. S., Jadhav, S. D., Ghanwat, A. B., Manjare, P. B., Ingle, S. B., Pendyala, A. S., Jaiswal, S. B., & Khandare, V. S. (2026). Effect of indole-3-butyric acid concentrations on root and shoot morphogenesis and nursery establishment of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose) stem cuttings. Plant Science Today. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.17149