Tissue Culture Plants in Cultivation
This season we listed our first plants for sale from tissue culture (TC) propagation.
Why TC?
In working with tissue culture (invitro) tiny plants, we’re able to access some plant material that otherwise cannot be brought into the US. Some plants are not easy to propagate from seed, or cuttings, and/or our agricultural controls do not allow for them to be shipped as mature plants in soil that could be contaminated with pests or disease that are foreign to the US and potentially dangerous for our ecosystem. TC propagation also provides us with a means to multiply desirable plants at a much higher rate than we’d otherwise be able to.
These plants begin their life in a lab through a tissue cloning process and start off in small containers, as tiny plants developing on the surface of a potato-starch based gel medium.
After they have gone through several cycles of micropropagation and made it to at least stage 3, our greenhouse team meticulously “de-flasks” the tiny plants, individually cleans each one, sanitizes them, and provides a controlled and sterile growing environment. We help them into their next stage in life where they must learn to grow roots that can take up nourishment from soil.
Once the plants have passed through a couple more stages and proven to us that they are able to survive in soil and without high humidity controls, they are potted up and we begin the process of helping them grow into robust plants that are ready for shipping. We thought you might like to see how they are coming along.
Tissue culture plants will ship once they are filling their pots and ready to be planted out. Right now, we predict it will be mid-to late May. Read on to learn more about the process.
A tangle of specialty dicentra in agar medium. Each plant must be carefully pulled from the gel medium, cleaned, sanitized, and put into a temperature and humidity-controlled environment. This process is called de-flasking.
Once the plants have survived the de-flasking process and period of acclimation to growing in soil, in a humid environment— and then in soil in a less humid environment — they are ready to potting and growing on. These plants are growing on in a greenhouse at our farm for shipping to customers later this spring.
