In vitro propagation of three Haemanthus species

In vitro adventitious shoot formation was initiated from bulb and leaf expl ants of Haemanthus deformis, H. humilis, and H. albiflos. The initiation me dium used was Murashige and Skoog (MS) without plant growth regulators, alt hough shoots and callus were later subcultured onto MS medium containing 2 mg l(-1) kinetin and 1 mg l(-1) IAA, which stimulated shoot and root develo pment, especially from the callus. H. humilis was the first species to init iate shoots from bulb explants. with 76% direct organogenesis. H. deformis had 20% shoot and root formation from bulb explants and 30% shoot formation from leaf explants. H albiflos produced 50% shoot formation from leaf expl ants and the callus developed numerous shoots once placed on medium with gr owth regulators. On average it took 18-20 weeks from shoot initiation to ob tain plantlets ready to be acclimatised. Leaf explants in general took long er to initiate shoots, although they produced more shoots per explant, and also had less contamination compared to the bulb explants. Plantlets with r oots were successfully acclimatised in vermiculite under misthouse conditio ns, and hardened off in a 70% shade-house.