Monstera Thai Constellation Tissue Culture Protocol

JungleBotanics Plant Science | Protocol review 28 September 2026

Micropropagation of Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’ from axillary buds

This protocol describes the published axillary bud route and identifies the decisions a small laboratory must validate before adopting it. It applies directly to ‘Thai Constellation’. Other Monstera cultivars, including Albo, Aurea and Burle Marx Flame, require separate testing. It is a literature-based procedure, not a claim that JungleBotanics has achieved the reported yield.

Evidence and scope

University of Florida researchers established cultures from nursery-grown axillary buds and multiplied shoots on modified MS medium containing B5 vitamins, sucrose, gellan gum, BAP and NAA. Their study also assessed bioreactors and acclimatisation. The steps below reproduce the reported jar-based medium and establishment conditions where specified; choices marked local validation are proposed quality controls for our lab. Read the primary study.

Materials

• Healthy, identified donor plant with several bud-bearing nodes; running water and soap.
• Verified laminar-flow cabinet, sterile forceps and scalpels, sterile distilled water, labelled autoclavable jars.
• Modified MS basal salts with B5 vitamins, sucrose, gellan gum, BAP and NAA. Do not substitute ordinary MS vitamins silently.
• Fresh sodium hypochlorite solution with 2% actual NaOCl, verified from the stock label. A 2% dilution of bleach is a different concentration.
• Calibrated pH meter, validated liquid sterilisation cycle, culture space at 25 °C with measured low light.

Media per litre

For 1 mg/mL hormone stocks, 7.5 mL BAP and 0.5 mL NAA produce the listed concentrations in 1 L, provided the stocks are accurately prepared and compatible with the medium. The paper dispensed about 40 mL per baby-food jar and autoclaved multiplication medium at 121 °C for 25 minutes. Validate heat penetration and sterility for your actual vessels and load; do not infer that an unreliable pressure cycle is adequate.

Method

1. Record and collect. Assign a donor and accession ID. Photograph the parent and choose axillary buds from vigorous growth. Keep separate donor stems separate throughout the process.
2. Clean and disinfect. Wash buds with soap and water. The study immersed buds in 2% NaOCl for 20 minutes, rinsed them, removed the outer leaf layer and tissue, then repeated fresh 2% NaOCl for 20 minutes and rinsed three times. This is a harsh treatment. Local validation: compare contamination and living-bud recovery on a small batch before applying it to a valuable donor.
3. Initiate. Trim damaged outer tissue aseptically and place one intact bud per labelled jar on multiplication medium. Record the date, medium batch and donor. Avoid placing a leaf blade without a bud and expecting the same axillary route.
4. Multiply. Incubate around 25 °C under 16 hours light and 8 hours dark at roughly 50 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹. In the study, shoots were assessed and separated after about 60 days. Divide healthy shoot clusters into shoots while retaining viable basal tissue; minimise callus carried forward when fidelity matters. Record normally formed shoots per original bud and any glassiness, browning or all-green sectors.
5. Root. Transfer separated shoots to the rooting medium. The paper maintained these cultures at 25 °C, the same 16-hour photoperiod and about 50 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹, then transplanted rooted plants after about 60 days. Do not treat that time as a guaranteed readiness date.
6. Acclimatise. Remove medium from roots with clean water, pot in a well-drained medium and keep warm under diffused light and initially high humidity. Lower humidity gradually while maintaining airflow; log survival and new growth. The paper's greenhouse and biostimulant comparison does not establish a universal substrate recipe for a UK nursery.

Quality control and limits

At days 7, 28 and 60, record contamination, surviving explants, usable shoots and root formation separately. Keep uncontaminated backup cultures. Reject plants with persistent abnormal growth. Observe several ex-vitro leaves before assigning a variegated grade. Axillary propagation can preserve an existing line, but sectorial variegation is not guaranteed to remain identical on every shoot. A low-BAP comparison would be a JungleBotanics experiment, not the published protocol.

Source: Micropropagation and Acclimatization of Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’, Horticulturae 10(1), 1 (2024), DOI 10.3390/horticulturae10010001. Protocol interpretation and quality-control additions: JungleBotanics Ltd.