Different Responses to Adventitious Rhizogenesis under Indole-3-Butyric Acid and Seaweed Extracts in Ornamental’s Cuttings: First Results in Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
A manuscript titled Different responses to adventitious rhizogenesis under indole-2 3-butyric acid and seaweed extracts in ornamentals: first results 3 in Photinia x Fraseri 'Red Robin' seems like good paper. However, the manuscript needs to be corrected. Please find here some questions and suggestions that may be useful in improving the submitted manuscript.
1. What is the novelty of this paper as compared to many other reported papers in this field? The process of rooting cuttings and the use of various stimulators is often and thoroughly described in the literature
2. How were the concentrations of the applied factors selected? Why only one concentration of Rhizopon AA was used?
3. Can the authors describe in detail the causes of callus formation when treating the seedling with seaweed extracts?
4. It would be good to attach a photo of the plants as evidence showing the differences in the morphological parameters of the aboveground parts with different treatments.
5. There is no comparison regarding the qualitative characteristics of rooted cuttings in the discussion section (analysis of chlorophyll, total leaf area or number of leaves).
6. Keywords should be revised. They do not quite represent the manuscript .
7. Please ensure uniformity in the unit format in this experiment.
8. The author should pay attention to the rules of editing the manuscript. The title of the figures should be placed under the photos.
9. Please, check the grammar, and spell-check is necessary throughout the manuscript.
10. Please check the References, use italics where appropriate, and always include DOI in a uniform form (DOI or https:// doi.org).
Author Response
The authors kindly thank the reviewer for the suggestions and proposed corrections.
1 What is the novelty of this paper as compared to many other reported papers in this field? The process of rooting cuttings and the use of various stimulators is often and thoroughly described in the literature
The novelty of this research is to evaluate the response of Photinia x Fraseri 'Red Robin' to the application of biostimulants based on seaweed extracts. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature about cutting protocols involving the use of alternative stimulators to IBA in Photinia. (Lines 114-119).
2 How were the concentrations of the applied factors selected? Why only one concentration of Rhizopon AA was used?
The IBA concentration of 1% was chosen based on previous studies that observed how high doses of IBA improve the quality of rooted cuttings. For example, Hammo et al., 2013 and Hasan and Hammo, 2021, have achieved the best results with 0.8%, while Bonamino and Blazich, 1983 applied IBA at 1%. The concentrations of Kelpak used in this study were 2 and 3 ml/L respectively because they were applied by foliar application and not by drenching. The doses of goteo have been established on the basis of the available literature (see lines 147-148, 155-158 and 162-165).
3 Can the authors describe in detail the causes of callus formation when treating the seedling with seaweed extracts?
Done (Lines 388-394)
4 It would be good to attach a photo of the plants as evidence showing the differences in the morphological parameters of the aboveground parts with different treatments.
We cannot insert the requested images, as there are not enough detailed photos concerning the above-ground part
5 There is no comparison regarding the qualitative characteristics of rooted cuttings in the discussion section (analysis of chlorophyll, total leaf area or number of leaves).
Added comparison in discussion (Lines 450-453)
6 Keywords should be revised. They do not quite represent the manuscript
Two keywords have been added to lines 43-44
7 Please ensure uniformity in the unit format in this experiment
The units format in the tables has been corrected
8 The author should pay attention to the rules of editing the manuscript. The title of the figures should be placed under the photos
Done (Lines 265-266 and 323-324)
9 Please, check the grammar, and spell-check is necessary throughout the manuscript
The manuscript has been reviewed and corrected by a native English-speaking reviewer
10 Please check the References, use italics where appropriate, and always include DOI in a uniform form (DOI or https:// doi.org).
Done
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This is a very interesting manuscript concerning the use of seaweed biostimulators in rooting of P. x fraseri ‘Red Robin’. Even the fact that the influence of these products was not positive corelated with rooting of cuttings as compared with IBA, these results could be useful for future rooting experiments in the same or another species. Thus, in my opinion the manuscript is suitable for publication after minor revision. Bellow are some specific remarks
Line 124 (daytime) of 27°C. By wich way, In july and august such a low temperatures were achieved?
Line 125. ad water droplet size in mist system
Line 157. peat and perlite... Please ad the companies of these products
Line 174-177. Even the fact that Rhizopon AA was applied in this way, maybe a sprayed application of IBA or possibly K-IBA should be tested, for better evaluation of the results
Line 213 & 222. stove ..... until constant humidity. Please give more details
In tables different letters ... ad in columns were needed
Author Response
The authors kindly thank the reviewer for the suggestions and proposed corrections.
1 Line 124 (daytime) of 27°C. By wich way, In july and august such a low temperatures were achieved?
The temperature indicated in the rooting greenhouse was obtained in the months of July and August, using a mist system (Line 132)
2 Line 125. ad water droplet size in mist system
Added droplet size (100 micron) (Line 133)
3 Line 157. peat and perlite... Please ad the companies of these products
Substrates companies added (Line 170)
4 Line 174-177. Even the fact that Rhizopon AA was applied in this way, maybe a sprayed application of IBA or possibly K-IBA should be tested, for better evaluation of the results
In future research, the authors will evaluate the use of different methods of application of the IBA or the use of the K-IBA
5 Line 213 & 222. stove ..... until constant humidity. Please give more details
Changed “costant humidity” into “costant mass”, time on stove added (48 hours) (Lines 226-227 and 236)
6 In tables different letters ... ad in columns were needed
Done
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
