This experiment was carried out at the Department of Plant Production, College of Agronomical Sciences, São Paulo State University - UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil, from August to December 2006. The experiment included two types of cuttings, with one and two nodes, and three different substrates: fine sand, soil (Dystrophic Red Latosol) and a mix (soil + cattle manure + commercial substrate + vermiculite, at the proportion 3:1:1:1). The experimental design was in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement with four replicates in completely randomized blocks. The following biometric variables were analyzed: percentage of plant survival, leaf number and length, besides leaf and root dry and fresh mass. The obtained results were subjected to Analysis of Variance and the means to Tukey's test with 5% probability. Cuttings with one node had higher percentage of plant survival, compared to those presenting two nodes, and cuttings propagated on the mix substrate had higher values of leaf length, and leaf and root dry and fresh mass. Therefore, P. umbellata cuttings with one node are recommended to be propagated on a substrate with the proportions 3:1:1:1 of soil + cattle manure + commercial substrate + vermiculite.
Pothomorphe umbellata; cutting; medicinal plants; substrates
