In vitro establishment and multiplication of Vaccinium virgatum Ait. ‘Delite’

Micropropagation in blueberries has been studied, but there are only a few in vitro protocols in the group of rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium virgatum), which are more adapted to warmer climates. In this study, we evaluated the establishment and the multiplication stages in vitro in ‘Delite’ rabbiteye blueberry, comparing different sterilization treatments for initial establishment and different orientations of the stem segment in the multiplication culture medium. The surface sterilization was attempted with nodal segments immersed in a varying amount of time in sodium hypochlorite (0.5%). For multiplication, we used five-node stem segments and three treatments (vertical, inclined at 45°, and horizontal orientations). The surface sterilization of nodal segments using 5 min immersion in sodium hypochlorite led to 96.7% of uncontaminated explants, 96.7% of survival rate, and 83.3% of explants with axillary shoot growth. The vertical orientation led to 100% explants with shoot proliferation, 1.8 new shoots explant^‑1, 5.1 cm long with 12.7 leaves shoot^‑1. We concluded that 5 min immersion in sodium hypochlorite was efficient in the establishment and that stem segments in the vertical orientation were more efficient in multiplication. These findings can contribute to the establishment of protocols for in vitro propagation and germplasm conservation of ‘Delite’ rabbiteye blueberry.