LED night lighting improving mini-budding technology in Hevea brasiliensis

Mini-budding, exploiting seedlings of about 20 days, is a major technology for planting material propagation of rubber tree in China. The first pair leaves should be kept on rootstocks for assimilation. Manually axillary bud picking is needed to promote scion bud germination, but it is difficult and labor intensive. In this study, topping was carried out on the position below the first pair leaves and the subsequent plants were subjected to LED night lighting. The plant growth and the plant survival rate were improved by night lighting. The scion growth of the 1st flush was not comparable to that of plants with leaves on rootstocks. The high amount of chlorophyll content in the leaf might be response for this. The plant survival rate of the treatment was similar with that of plants with leaves on rootstocks. Thus, applying LED night lighting to the plants without leaves on rootstocks improved mini-budding technology by avoiding axillary bud picking.