In vitro clonal propagation of Gardenia latifolia Ait.: a toy making woody tree

An efficient, in vitro clonal propagation protocol has been established for Gardenia latifolia Ait. using mature nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium fortified with cytokinins (BA/Kn/2-iP) (1.0-5.0 mg l(-1)) in combination with auxin IAA (0.5 mg l(-1)). Maximum bud break (87 %) with shoot number (7.2 +/- A 0.26) observed on MS medium supplemented with BA (4.0 mg l(-1)) and IAA (0.5 mg l(-1)). Maximum number of shoots (30 +/- A 0.46) with shoot length of (0.9 +/- A 0.03 cm) observed on MS medium supplemented with BA (2.0 mg l(-1)), Kn (2.0 mg l(-1)) and IAA (0.5 mg l(-1)). Further elongation of shoots (3.5 +/- A 0.06 cm) was achieved on MS medium supplemented with BA (1.0 mg l(-1)) and IAA (0.1 mg l(-1)). About 70 % of root induction occurred in half-strength MS medium supplemented with IBA (4.0 mg l(-1)) in 4-6 weeks. Further elongation of roots with average length (9.0 cm) was achieved in culture bottles containing vermiculite and A1/4 strength MS salts. After their partial hardening in these bottles for 30 days they were transferred to pots containing a mixture of soil and vermicompost (1:1) for acclimatization. The acclimatized plantlets were established in the field successfully with 85 % survival rate.