Evaluation of Coconut Water as a Natural Biostimulant for Enhancing Root and Shoot Development in Acerola Cherry (Malpighia emarginata L.) Stem Cuttings

An experiment was conducted in a home garden in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka to evaluate the response of coconut water (CW) on the growth of stem cuttings of acerola cherry and to determine the optimal CW concentration for improved root and shoot formation. Acerola cuttings with three nodes were treated with various CW concentrations, while water was used as a control. These cuttings were planted in polybags containing a mixture of topsoil, red soil, and cow dung in a ratio of 1:1:1 (v/v/v). The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with eight replications. The treatments included five CW concentrations (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%) along with a control. Cuttings soaked in CW showed superior growth parameters compared to the control. At 60 days after planting, the cuttings treated with 10% (v/v) CW concentration exhibited significantly higher values in the measured growth parameters, including newly formed shoot length (7.29 cm), root number (5.25), longest root length (5.64 cm), rooting percentage (93.75%), fresh shoot weight (15.19 g), fresh root weight (2.5 g), dry shoot weight (8.85 g), and dry root weight (1.31 g). Lower values were recorded in the control for these parameters. The results demonstrated that CW had a positive impact on the growth of acerola cherry stem cuttings, with a 10% (v/v) CW concentration being the most effective for root and shoot formation among the tested treatments.