Can a general shoot proliferation and rooting medium be used for a number of carnation cultivars?

This investigation was conducted to find the best shoot proliferation and rooting media for 13 virusfree cultivars of carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) recently imported from The Netherlands to Iran. The best shoot proliferation media were Murashige and Skoog (MS) containing 3 mgL-1 (13.95 μM) kinetin and 0.5 mgL-1 (2.69 μM) NAA or 1 mgL-1 (4.44 μM) BA and 1 mgL-1 (5.37 μM) NAA. Average of shoot numbers produced in the establishment media was 2-3, which increased to 30 or higher with some cultivars in subsequent subcultures. For rooting, the in vitro shoots were cultured on the best MS rooting media which is discussed. Transferring to a mixture of sand, leaf-mold and vermiculite (1:1:1, v/v/v) successfully acclimatized the plantlets. It can be concluded that using a general medium for shoot proliferation of used carnation cultivars is possible, but for rooting it is impossible.Keywords: culture medium, Dianthus caryophyllus L., in vitro culture, micropropagatio