Effect of BAP Combine with Shoot Tip Cutting on Propagation of Philodendron In Vitro

Philodendron (Philodendron erubescens) ‘Red Emerald’ and ‘Pink Princess’ cultivars are ornamental plants that are popular around the world because of their beautiful leaf shapes and colors. Propagation by cuttings produces a small number of plants, so it is not suitable for commercial propagation. The objective of this research was to study the effect of BAP combine with shoot tip cutting on the propagation of ‘Red Emerald’ and ‘Pink Princess’ Philodendron in vitro. ‘Red Emerald’ and ‘Pink Princess’ Philodendrons with a height of about 1 cm were selected, roots were cut, and each species was divided into 2 groups of 30 plants each: 1) explants weren’t cut off the shoot tip (non-topped explant) and 2) explants were cut off the shoot tip which one node (topped explant). Then, the explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) combined with 1 g/L activated charcoal and were cultured for 15 weeks. The results found that the shoot tip cutting method could increase the number of plants of ‘Red Emerald’ and ‘Pink Princess’ Philodendron significantly more than the method without shoot tip at the 95 percent confidence level. After transplanting, the survival rate was as high as 100 percent with every treatment and they could grow into a complete plant normally.