SPINELESS MANDACARU PLANTS MULTIPLICATION

Spineless mandacaru (Cereus sp.) plants are some of the most sought Cactaceae products, both for ornamental and for forage usages. Due to the lack of natural occurrence of these plants in the collecting spots in Brazilian northeast, as well as to the absence of information about the natural origin of this material, the introduction from cultured material is strategically important. With this goal, Brazilian Agri¬cultural Research Corporation - Tropical Agroindustry (Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical) has introduced 21 accesses of spineless mandacaru, which are multiplied for germplasm conservation and utilization. The aim of this work was to evaluate the multiplication rate of some spineless mandacaru accesses from the Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical Cactaceae Collection, in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil, where this study was conducted. 25 plants were utilized of access 59, 4 plants of access 116 and 4 plants of access 167, materials that were introduced from Fortaleza (Ceará State) and Petrolina (Pernambuco State). The plants (from stem cuttings 30 cm length) were cultured in pots (capacity 5 L), which were filled with fine sand, vermicompost and hydromorphic soil (5:3:2 v/v), conducted at nethouse with 50% of shading for 18 months, watered three times a week (300 ml per pot/watering), supplemented with 50 ml of nutritive solution JADS every 15 days and 50 ml of urea solution (1 g L^-1) every 30 days per pot. During the last five months shoot formation per plant and shoot surviving rate after planting were evaluated. The developed shoots were cut when at least 10 cm long, and were planted in pots (capacity 1 L) with the same substrate. At 5 months, the average shoot yields were 3.92; 2.75 and 2.00, respectively, for accesses 59, 116 and 167. All the shoots survived after planting.