Las Proteaceas son plantas originarias de África del Sur y Australia siendo de
gran interés ornamental como flor cortada y follaje compuestas por unos 80 géneros y más
de 1700 especies.
En Canarias estos cultivos se han extendido, sobre todo en La Palma, Tenerife
y Gran Canaria, la floración de estas variedades es en épocas invernales lo que es importante
para revalorizar la comercialización de este cultivo y por lo tanto la actividad agrícola de las
islas.
En concreto, la isla de La Palma, posee una mayor superficie de cultivo y unas
condiciones de clima, humedad y características de los suelos que son adecuadas para
desarrollar cultivares de Leucospermum como `Tango´, `Succession II´ entre otros y `Ayoba
Peach´ objeto de este estudio. La creación de una cooperativa entre los propios agricultores
(Sociedad Cooperativa de Próteas de La Palma) y la colaboración conjunta con la Universidad
de La Laguna, ha hecho posible la realización de este ensayo.
Debido al uso que se está haciendo en los últimos años de la aplicación de
diferentes tipos de enraizantes químicos y orgánicos como IBA y SEFEL (Sistema de
Elaboración de Fertilizantes Ecológicos Líquidos), se decidió realizar este ensayo para
estudiar la influencia de los mismos, así como, comparar cuál de ellos muestra un mayor
potencial de enraizamiento bajo las mismas condiciones y el mismo medio de enraizamiento.
En este ensayo se emplearon estacas apicales y subapicales con lesionado o sin él. Los
datos obtenidos se sometieron a un estudio estadístico sobre el porcentaje de estacas con
raíces trasplantables y el índice de enraizamiento, determinando cuál de los tratamientos
ofrecía mejor comportamiento.
El enraizante que proporcionó mejores resultados respecto al porcentaje de
estacas con raíz trasplantable fue el tratamiento con SEFEL + 4000 ppm de IBA lesionado
tanto en esquejes apicales como en subapicales.
Proteaceas are a family of Angiosperms in the order Proteales. It consists of 80 genera
and some 1,700 species native to South Africa and Australia. Among the most prominent
genera we can mention: Leucospermum, Leucadendron and Protea.
This crop came to our islands through the Botanical Garden of La Orotava in the
seventies through a program of introduction of Australian and African plants, but it was not
until 1982 when field plantations were carried out in some mid-range areas of the island of
Tenerife.
Its interest is ornamental, the most important characteristic being the floral stem,
blooming in autumn-winter when other flowers are scarce. Another aspect to highlight is the
long duration of the flower, which makes it very suitable for export (Rodríguez Pérez, 2007).
The main producing areas of economic importance are located in the southern
hemisphere: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe; As for the northern
hemisphere, they are located in Israel, California, Hawaii, Portugal and Spain, particularly in
the Canary Islands.
This crop began in the Canary Islands in the 80s, with Tenerife and La Palma being
the islands with the most cultivated area. On the island of La Palma it has been growing with
greater boom due to the fact that farmers have joined with cooperatives, which has allowed it
to promote its commercialization abroad and also because of the promotion by the Island
Council, providing technical advice.
The cultivation of these for cut flower or for cut green (as floral complement plants) are
an interesting alternative. For this reason, there are already more than 50 hectares in the
Canary Islands, with Proteacea crops on the islands of Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria.
Consequently, with the increase in cultivation areas, a better knowledge of the crop, in all its
aspects, including propagation, is necessary.
The rooting of cuttings is highly influenced by the environmental conditions in which it
is carried out, such as high relative humidity, an adequate temperature of the substrate and
air, aeration and availability of water in the substrate, air renewal and correct lighting, it is
necessary control them as a mismatch could lead to total failure (Loach, 1988).
In addition to optimizing environmental conditions, the percentage of rooting of cuttings
can be increased by making use of a number of additional techniques both physical and
chemical. In different studies it is concluded that Leucospermum responds very well to
propagation through terminal cuttings treated with 4000 ppm of IBA, in a rooting substrate
composed of peat-polystyrene in the ratio 4: 6 (v / v).
However, due to the use that is being made lately with other growth regulators and
with substances of proven efficacy on the rooting of some woody species, in addition to 4000
ppm of IBA was used, SEFEL (System for the Preparation of Liquid Ecological Fertilizers) (
Acosta, 2013).
That is why the new exclusive variety of this project, Leucospermum “Ayoba peah”,
whose parents are L. lineare x L. cordifollium x L glabrum, was the object of study, since there
are no works yet that can demonstrate its capacity rooting in apical and subapical cuttings.
Currently, the use of organically grown products is also more demanding in the
floriculture sector. For this reason, this study has experimented with the use of biofertilizers
prepared according to the SEFEL methodology.
Based on a previous work on the application of IBA and SEFEL as rooting stimulants
in the propagation of cuttings of the Proteas genus (Soriano Martín, B 2017.) it is concluded
to carry out this study to compare how these rooting stimulants influence, in the cultivar of
Leucospermum `Ayoba Peach´.
