A temporary immersion system for potato microtuber production was designed
using 4-l vessels. This culture technique showed several advantages compare
d to solid cultures: i.e., three fold increase in shoot length, more intern
odes per plant and improved vigor. In the tuber induction stage, microtuber
s can be induced at all plant nodes, indicating that the tuberization is no
t restricted to specific regions. For both cultivars tested, Desiree and At
lantic, an average of 3.1 and 2.8 tubers per single node cutting was achiev
ed after 9 weeks in culture. The size and weight of the tubers were higher
than on solid media. Scale up was performed with cv. Atlantic in 10-l polyc
arbonate flasks and 12 units were mounted containing 150 single nodal cutti
ngs each. An average of 2.6 tubers per inoculated cutting was obtained, wit
h 1.3 g fresh weight per microtuber. Temporary immersion is a valuable opti
on for potato microtuber production, as well as for shoot production during
the planting season.