The regenerated plantlets, about 1–2 cm in height, were transferred to vermiculite in cell trays (cell size 5.0 cm × 5.0 cm × 7.0 cm; 50 cells/1 tray) and kept in a mist house for hardening for 1 month. When reaching 2–3 cm in height, all the regenerated plantlets were transferred to vermiculite in 12 cm plastic pots and the liquid fertilizer N–P–K(5–10–5) were applied at the concentration of 2ml l−1 once a week. The regenerated plants were grown in a glasshouse for about 3 months to evaluate leaf colour characteristics. The leaf-colour variants were determined by visual assessments in comparison with mother plants. The plants with distinct leaf-colour variants such as vein colour, the percentage of red, green and grey colour area was considered during data collection.