Tissue culture propagation of tropical foliage plants

Procedures were established for clonal multiplication in vitro of Cordyline terminalis Kunth, Dracaena godseffiana Hort., Scindapsus aureus Engler, and Syngonium podophyllum Schott. Shoot tips of actively growing terminals were selected as explants for Cordyline and Dracaena, and lateral buds were employed for Scindapsus and Syngonium. The basal nutrient medium contained Murashige and Skoog salts, 3% sucrose, 100 mg per 1 i-inositol, and 0.4 mg per 1 thiamine-HCl. The optima with respect to auxin, cytokinin, adenine sulfate-2H2O, and NaH2PO4-H2O addenda were determined. Also assessed were the influences of certain physical qualities of the nutrient medium and of the light intensity of the culture environment. The multiplication of each of the four plants was achieved by repeatedly subculturing the shoots that arose in vitro. Rates of plant increase per year per explant were calculated conservatively to be as follows: Syngonium, 5,000:Scindapsus, 100,000; Dracena, 300,000; and Cordyline, 500,000.