The vegetative growth of plants depends on the nutritional conditions of the soil, mainly in relation to the N element. This element favours the formation of cytokines and auxins, essential hormones for sprouting and rooting, respectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of nitrogen fertilization of Ilex paraguariensis mother trees on epicormic sprouts emission and rooting of its cuttings. Five treatments of fertilization were applied on the mother trees: control; 250 g of urea (N); 250 g of NPK (5-20-10); 500 g of NPK, and; 250 g of NPK with 30 g of micronutrients. Two evaluations (at 240 and 480 days) were carried out for: trees with sprouts emission (%), average sprouts number and their average length (cm). Sprouts were collected at both vegetative evaluations after the application of the experiment (August 2016) and sectioned into cuttings. Cuttings variables were evaluated: survival (%); rooting (%), callus formation (%) and average root number. The best response to epicormic sprouts emission was obtained with 250 g of NPK at 480 days for trees with sprouts (>75%), sprouts number (4.4) and sprouts length (9.9), but considerable results were also obtained at 240 days with urea. For cuttings, the best results were also obtained from sprouts obtained at 480 days for most treatments (>80% survival and rooting). Nitrogen fertilization is essential for a successful vegetative rescue and propagation by cuttings of I. paraguariensis, and longer periods may be able to boost these results.
