oa Establishment of an efficient protocol for rooting and acclimatization of two Qatari date palm cultivars Shishi and Lulu

This study aimed to establish a new protocol for in vitro rooting and acclimatization of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in different cultivars “Shishi and Lulu”. In order to increase growth and achieve a higher survival rate of plantlets through the acclimatization stage. The plantlets of the two cultivars were cultured in media in three successive steps (each of 6 weeks). In First and second steps kinetin and malt extract were tested to optimize the quality of plantlets in the presence of α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). Third step were cultured plantlets onto liquid media with poly ethylene glycol. The obtained results showed that, plantlets grown on malt extract at 750 mg/l had wider and greener leaves 0.81, 0.74 mm and encouraged the adventitious roots number per plantlet 6.88, 6.10 in Shishi and lulu cultivars. Results demonstrated that the new established protocol is efficient in acclamation date palm. The highest survival rate was 98.66, 87.66 % of two cultivars at the acclimatization stage within a short period (3 month).