Effects of different cutting traits on bud emergence and early growth of the Chinese vegetable Toona sinensis

• Different cutting traits have effects on T. sinensis young sprouts production.
• Cuttings from 1-year-old seedling stem displayed better in growth than other ages.
• Cuttings derived from apex and middle in spring and base in autumn showed better in growth.
• Cuttings cultivated by cuttage exhibited better in growth than hydroponics.
• Chinese toon could be cultivated all year round for vegetable production.

This study assessed the effects of different cutting traits on bud emergence and early growth of the Chinese vegetable Toona sinensis. This work, including two indoor box experiments, was conducted in 2013 and 2014 at Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province, China. The plant characteristics include survival rate, number of buds, number of branches, maximum length of new shoot, number of new leaves, biomass, OD (Optical Density) value of soluble sugar and soluble protein, and concentration of chlorophyll. These characteristics were quantified with seedling age (1-year to 4-year-old seedlings), cutting position (apex, middle, base of the seedling stem) and cultivation methods (hydroponics and cuttage) in the age experiment, and cutting season (spring, summer, autumn, winter), cutting position (apex, middle, base of the seedling stem) and cultivation methods (hydroponics and cuttage) in the season experiment. Results showed that cuttings derived from 1-year-old seedling stems displayed better morphological and physiological characteristics than from other seedling ages. Cuttings of newly obtained from 1-year-old fresh seedling stems and derived from four seasons were all sprouted well in two cultivation methods (hydroponics and cuttage). Cuttings derived from apical and middle positions in spring and basal positions in autumn displayed better performance than the other treatments. Cuttings cultivated by cuttage exhibited better physiological characteristics than by hydroponics. We concluded that the cuttings of Chinese toon could be cultivated all year round for vegetable production. To obtain faster and more even stands of Chinese toon sprouts in plant factory, we recommended the use of cuttings from 1-year-old Chinese toon seedling stems, apical and middle parts from spring and basal positions from autumn, and use of cuttage method.