In vitro propagation of Anthurium

Abstract

Foliage anthuriums are gaining importance as indoor plants and are highly valued in the internal market and for export. The availability of planting materials however is very limited. The present studies were conducted to standardize methods for in vitro propagation of two important foliage species Anthurium bakeri and Anthurium magnificum. In vitro germination of seeds of A. bakeri were best supported by Nitesh medium followed by Vacin Went medium, Murashige and Skoog medium was not found suitable for germination or subsequently growth. Among the growth of seedlings (0.5 mg l-1). NAA did not promote see germination or growth but induced callusing in the seedling early germination (0.1 mg l-1) and subsequent growth (0.5 mg -1). Tissue culture studies revealed that leaf segments were the best explants for callus induction and subsequent growth as compared to periole segments, Nitsch medium was found to be the best for the growth. Among the growth regulators BA (0.1 mg l -1) + 2,4-D (0.1 mg l-1) were found more suitable for callus induction and subsequent growth in A. bakeri. Nitsch medium was also found to be the best for A. magnificum. Explants was observed in a combination of BA (1 mg l-1), however higher concentration of BA (5 mg l-1) inhibited the production of callus and its further growth. It was observed during the experiments that callus formation was promoted only in dark (45-60 days). The cost of production per in vitro seedling was Rs. 0.67.