Decreased time from seed to flowering corm size in Zephyra elegans via in vitro cultivation

Experiments were performed to establish a method to reduce the time from seed to flowering in Zephyra elegans. Seedlings took at least four years to produce a flowering corm. Although germination was highest in a water-agar medium, plant necrosis occurred when plants were later transferred; therefore, MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium was selected as the medium for germination. An increase in the light intensity to 9500 lux and in the pH to 6.7, significantly increased the germination rate. Eight weeks after seed germination, seedlings were transferred to MS media with sucrose concentrations of 45, 60, 75, 90 or 105 g L^-1 and a pH 5.7 or 6.7, with the aim of achieving the greatest corm weight gain. After 16 weeks, the best weight gain was obtained in the MS medium with 75 g L^-1 of sucrose and a pH of 6.7. The resulting corms were transferred to pots and grown under greenhouse conditions. Corms weighing under 0.12 g did not sprout, whereas all corms over 0.3 g sprouted and all those over 0.4 g at the end of the in vitro culture stage bloomed in the second year of greenhouse cultivation. The time required for development from seedling to flowering corm was reduced to two years.