Master’s Degree Awarded to Ms. Manal Al-Sharabi in Ornamentals
Ms. Manal Al-Liwa’ Abdullatif Al-Sharabi was awarded a Master’s Degree in Ornamentals with an average of Excellent and a grade of (93) for her thesis titled: The Effect of Some Natural Stimulators on the Rooting of Stem Cuttings of Ficus nitida Thunb Cultured on Sand and Sand Mixed with Zeolite Media, which was submitted to the Department of Horticulture and Its Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment – Sana’a University. The MA defense was held on Wednesday, December 24, 2025.
The MA Viva-voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:
# | Committee Members | Designation | Position |
1 | Prof. Adel Sultan Salman Al-Qadasi | Internal Examiner | Chair |
2 | Prof. Mansour Abdulhalim Ali Al-Dhabhani | Main Supervisor | Member |
3 | Assoc. Prof. Fatehi Ahmed Mohammed Al-Shawesh | External Examiner | Member |
The study aimed to:
Investigate the effects of natural stimulators (honey, cinnamon, licorice, moringa, and aloe vera) on the rooting of basal stem cuttings of Ficus nitida, and compare them with the control and the synthetic rooting hormone (IBA).
Assess the effect of combining natural stimulators on the rooting success percentage of Ficus nitida stem cuttings.
Compare the effect of sand alone versus sand mixed with 30% zeolite on improving rooting quality and quantity.
The study yielded a number of key findings summarized as follows:
Treatment with honey solution and cinnamon powder outperformed the control and other biological stimulators.
Treatment with the growth regulator IBA surpassed the control and biological stimulators in all studied root traits except rooting percentage.
Growing media did not show significant differences in most studied root and vegetative traits; however, sand exceeded the sand–zeolite mixture in the average length of the longest four roots and the average shoot length.
The sand–zeolite mixture outperformed sand alone in the number of roots and the number of new shoots.
In light of these findings, the researcher recommended:
Propagating Ficus nitida trees using basal stem cuttings collected at the beginning of spring.
Treating basal cuttings with cinnamon powder or honey and planting them in a sand–zeolite mixture (30%).
The defense session was attended by a number of academics, researchers, students, colleagues, and the researcher’s family.
The MA Viva-voce Committee Resolution
