MICROPROPAGATION AND ROOTING OF HEBE 'PINK FANTASY'

The genus Hebe (Plantaginaceae) provides many ornamental cultivars for a variety of uses in the nursery sector. Sterile cultures were easier to establish from shoot tip explants than nodes. Both produced axillary shoots; single nodes and shoot tips were used in micropropagation on WPM medium with BA, (0.2 mg L^-1), + α-NAA, (0.001 mg L^-1) and sucrose (2% w/v). The sterility of cultures was determined by the absence of bacterial growth in explants cultured on Tryptic Soy Broth. The micropropagation rate increased to 3.48 by the third culture cycle but in subsequent cycles the quality of shoots deteriorated. Shoot quality and the total yield of explants was increased significantly by reducing BA level to 0.1 mg L^-1 giving propagation rates greater than five over seven culture cycles. Improvement in the quality of shoot cultures was also achieved by culturing shoots on propagation medium containing activated charcoal 0.3% w/v. Charcoal gave 100% rooting (controls 15%) and the production of significantly more and longer roots compared to controls. The viability of rooted shoots at the weaning stage ranged from 78 to 95%.