More Anthurium

What’s better than one elegant, bright, sassy anthurium? Lots of them! But how’s the best way to propagate this iconic Hawai‘i plant? Find out more Friday, June 26, 9:30 a.m. at Jaclyn Nicole Uy’s defense of her MS thesis, “Rapid In Vitro Multiplication of Anthurium Using a Temporary Immersion System (RITA^®)” via Zoom.

Jaclyn, in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, works with the anthurium collection at the Magoon Research Station as a grad assistant. Her MS thesis committee consists of Teresita Amore (chair), Richard Criley, Richard Manshardt, and Maureen Fitch.

In vitro plant culture allows a grower to propagate more anthurium plantlets than conventional stem cuttings or plant division, and it offers the possibility of growing plants free of common diseases that may be propagated as well through those methods. RITA^® is a “temporary immersion system for in vitro plant culture that ensures improved yields compared with culture on a gel medium” that has also been used successfully for coffee and banana. But how does it work on anthurium? Wait and see!