In vitro multiplication and rooting of ‘F12-1’ (Prunus avium L.) and ‘Maxma 14’ (Prunus mahaleb L. × P. avium L.) rootstocks

A study was carried out to establish efficient and reliable in vitro multiplication protocols for ‘F12-1’ (Prunus avium L.) and ‘Maxma 14’ (Prunus mahaleb L. × P. avium L.) rootstocks. Shoot tips of ‘F12-1’ and ‘Maxma 14’ were collected in the spring and cultured on MS medium. After the in vitro cultures were sufficiently established, experiments were conducted to assess the influence of different levels of benzyladenine (BA) and thidiazuron (TDZ) on multiplication of these rootstocks. After six weeks, data were collected on percent multiplication, shoot number, shoot length, percent rooting, root number and callus formation. The best multiplication rates (90 and 86.6%) for ‘F12-1’ rootstock were obtained with 20 μM BA and 2.27 μM TDZ concentrations. ‘Maxma 14’ rootstock multiplied the best (93.3%) on medium supplemented with 20 μM BA and 9.08 μM TDZ. Both rootstocks rooted the best (70 and 60%) with 9.84 μM IBA. The plantlets were transferred to glasshouse for hardening.