Propagation of Hypoxis hemerocallidea by inducing corm buds

Abstract

African potato is facing rapid decline of wild populations due to large-scale harvesting, necessitating efficient means of propagation. Propagation of African potato is difficult due to seed dormancy and the species does not naturally propagate easily from corms. This study aimed to develop a simple and affordable propagation protocol for African potato. Chipping, scooping and cross-cutting methods were used to expose buds on small, medium and large African potato corms. There were no significant differences in number of ‘daughter corms’ between chipping and scooping for the large corms, as well as chipping and scooping for medium and small corms at the end of the experiment. Cross-cutting did not lead to formation of ‘daughter corms’. The number of leaves on ‘daughter corms’ was only significantly higher in the scooped medium corms compared with chipped small corms at the end of the experiment. Chipping showed a significantly higher number of roots compared with scooping. The chipping and scooping methods resulted in fully developed ‘daughter corms’ planted individually. These methods can be recommended for multiplication of African potato corms. This study provided novel and relatively affordable methods for in vivo multiplication of African potato, which can potentially help conserve wild populations.