Vegetative reproduction of allium ampeloprasum l. In vivo and in vitro

Sprouting of dormant bulblets and tissue culture techniques have been developed for bulb production of Allium ampeloprasum L., a native plant of Israel, which has recently been introduced for cultivation. Infiltration of decorated dormant bulblets with the cyto- kinin benzyladenine or CEPA (an ethylene-releasing compound) significantly increased sprouting. Infiltration with gibberellin inhibited sprouting, and negated the promotive effect of the cytokinin when the two were given together. Various tissues were used as an explant source for in vitro propagation. The shoot tip, together with part of the basal plate of the bulb or bulblet and the young inflorescence head, had the highest capacity for shoot regeneration. A high cytokinin (benzyladenine) to auxin (naphthalene acetic acid) ratio (6:1) induced the production of the largest number of shoots from which bulblets developed. Subculture of regenerated shoots to a hardening medium containing the auxin indolebutyric acid, but lacking cytokinin, stimulated the production of bulblets which survived transplanting to non-aseptic condition without further hardening. Such bulblets did not become dormant and were capable of producing flowers two years after their differentiation in vitro. Bulbs produced from tissue culture flowered, and were true to the clone used as an explant source.