Technical viability of the production of sweet potato plantlets in trays

The cultivation of sweet potato requires high amount of stems per area unit and the rooting of mini-cuttings can contribute to the production of large number of plants in a short time. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the technical viability of plantlets production of sweet potato in trays. The treatments consisted of mini-cuttings (segments with two nodes removed from the middle and upper thirds of branches) of 30 clones of sweet potato which were grown for 35 days in trays and then transplanted to a permanent site. The experimental design was completely randomized with four replications. The following characteristics were evaluated: percentage of rooting and survival of plantlets after transplanting. The average mini-rooted cuttings was approximately 95%. The survival rate of the clones in the field was above 98%. It was concluded that it is technically viable the production of sweet potato in trays.