Abstract

African Teak (Milicia excelsa (Welw.) belongs to the Moraceae family. Vegetative propagation has been proposed to overcome some of the reproductive biology challenges in the species. The study was to determine the influence of stem size on sprouting and survival of stem cuttings of African teak. The experiment was conducted at Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya. The propagation materials were collected from healthy mother trees from the Coast and Western regions of Kenya. A Randomized Complete Block Design was used. The cutting lengths were 3, 6 and 9 cm. The planting medium was composed of river sand. Data were collected monthly on the number and height of sprouts and the cutting survival at the end of 150 days. Data were then subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GENSTAT 15th Edition. Separation of means was performed using the SED. The results showed that the cutting length had a significant effect on the number of sprouts, F=43.45, df=2, p= 0.001 and height of sprouts produced, F=48.25, df=2, p=0.001. None of the cuttings obtained 50% of survival though the highest survival percentage obtained was 48.1% from cuttings with 9 cm length. The survival of cuttings obtained from 6 cm length reached 41.27% while 3 cm length attained 31.75%. It was concluded that cutting length positively influences the sprouting of cuttings; hence longer cutting should be selected for propagation. Further studies should take into account the optimum cutting length and the factors which influence the shoot formations and cutting survival including diseases prevention and age of cuttings.

Key words: Milicia excelsa, stem cuttings, vegetative propagation.