*2.7. Plantlets Adaptation to Ex Vitro Conditions*

After twelve weeks, in-vitro-propagated plantlets (4.0–5.0 cm in length, with 3–4 leaves) were acclimatized by transferring the culture vessels to the greenhouse for 5 days and then opening the cap of the culture vessels for 2 days. In the next step, they were taken out of the culture medium, and their basal portions were rinsed thoroughly in running tap water to remove agar and traces of medium. After that, these plantlets (n = 30 for each variant) were treated with 0.5% (*w/v*) Bavistin solution (10 min) to prevent fungal contamination and planted directly on 2 different types of soil including "Garden Star" soil universal (consisting of peat and mineral fertilizers) and "Fasco" bio-soil (consisting of high- and lowland peat, sand, bio-humus, dolomite flour, and complete mineral fertilizer). Survival rate of the plantlets and their morphometric characteristics were recorded after 1 and 3 months of soil adaptation.
