Cultural medium for bamboo shoot sprouting and multiplication and a method for sprouting and multiplication of bamboo plantlets

A method for propagating a plant of a bamboo species, said method consisting essentially of:

• a) cleaning and sterilizing a nodal bud of the plant;
• b) maintaining said nodal bud in a first culture medium for sprouting of buds under conditions and for a time suitable for promoting sprouting of the nodal bud to form a sprouted bud;
• c) transferring the sprouted bud to a second culture medium for growth and clonal multiplication of shoots from the sprouted bud;
• said second medium comprising i) a plurality of salts that collectively comprise elements selected from the group consisting of aluminum, boron, calcium, chlorine, chromium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, molybdenium, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, silicon, sodium, sulphur, titanium, vandium and zinc, and ii) a plurality of organic components selected from the group consisting of sucrose, glucose, fructose, myoinositol, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, nicotinic acid, glycine, kinetin, benzyl adenine, malt extract, yeast extract, coconut milk, indolebutyric acid, indoleacetic acid, indolpropionic acid, naphthalene acetic acid and agar;
• d) excising the shoots and culturing the excised shoots under conditions and for a time suitable for initiating and promoting development of roots from the shoots whereby to form plantlets therefrom, the culturing of the excised shoots comprising initially placing the excised shoots on a culture medium for root initiation comprising a hormone or hormones which include an auxin and thereafter transferring the excised shoots to a hormone-free medium and maintaining the excised shoots thereon for a time sufficient for the development of the roots;
• and
• e) transferring the plantlet or plantlets to soil for growth thereon.