Development of micropropagated plants of Agave americana var. Oaxacensis during greenhouse acclimatization

Abstract

American agave var. Oaxacensis Gentry is a long-lived species that takes approximately 20 years to reach its reproductive stage. In Oaxaca, Mexico, this species is used as raw material to make distilled beverage mezcal. To increase the cultivation area with this species, it is proposed to propagate it in vitro, in addition to conventional propagation methods. Micropropagated plants must go through an acclimatization period, but environmental adaptation conditions, such as the substrate and nutrient supply, which affect the survival and magnitude of plant growth are unknown. The objective of the research was to evaluate the morphological characteristics of micropropagated plants of A. americana var. Oaxacensis that were tested for different substrate mixtures: peat-sand: 33.3% + 66.6% v/v, 66.6% + 33.3% v/v, 75% + 25% v/v; as well as, the supply of nutrients by fertigation with dilutions 0, 50 and 100% of the Steiner formulation, during 290 days of its acclimatization for which a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement was used, at the end of this period, of a total of 135 plants, 100% of these survived. The plants that reached a larger size had the following characteristics: 5.5-5.6 leaves, the greater leaf of 17.7 to 18.2 cm in length, 2.4 to 2.5 cm in width, the stem of 2.4 to 2.5 cm in diameter, and corresponded to those established in substrate with 66.6% peat + 33.3% sand v/v or 75% peat + 25% sand v/v, and which were also fertigated. The fertirrigated plants with 100% nutritive solution achieved larger size than the plants irrigated with only water.