Experiment with us and our tissue culture!

Are you a real PLNTSlover looking for something special and innovative? Look no further and experiment together with us and our tissue culture. We are very proud to be the first plant shop to introduce this to you. Of course, this means that there is still a lot to know about it and that is why we will explain it in this blog and hopefully make you very enthusiastic about this special way of propagating. Read on and be one of the first to experiment with this at home!

What is tissue culture?

In essence, tissue culture is a form of propagation and who doesn't want to discover a new way of propagating plants! In tissue culture, only much smaller cuttings/plant parts are used. Tissue culture is the propagation of plants under very sterile conditions and therefore not easy to try out yourself. Specific plant parts are grafted onto a special culture medium that contains plant-specific growth substances through which plant growth is controlled (to a certain extent). This nutrient base has a gel-like structure. You can't actually imagine that your cutting can grow in it, but it grows perfectly! Special, isn't it?

Tissue culture is already an integral part of today's ornamental plant sector, but it is still not very well known to our community and PLNTSlovers at home. How cool is it that we can now introduce this to you too?

The advantages of tissue culture are:

• The chance of identical offspring from a good quality mother plant is much higher.
• Guaranteed bacteria and disease-free propagation.
• There are no seasonal influences, because the entire process takes place under sterile conditions and you can therefore easily ensure the right amount of light and the right temperature.

What do you need for tissue culture?

Fortunately, you don't have to buy a lot of new tools to experiment with tissue culture. It already arrives in the cute and tightly sealed test tube at your home. All you have to do is find a perfect spot for the mini cutting. The perfect spot has a constant temperature (so not near a window or heater) and lots of light. The wooden base of our propagation tube on a wooden base is possibly ideal for the test tube to stand in. It will give the support that is needed and when you are going to pot your tissue culture cutting, you can just add the matching grow tube again and use it for other new cuttings.

Furthermore, we have put together a tissue culture set containing the most ideal tools to use for your tissue culture cutting. This set contains the Emily Terrarium (mini), small tweezers and a bag of our cutting soil. These are all products you need when the plant has grown too big and can no longer stay in the test tube. This cutting can stay in the test tube for at least half a year to a year, as long as the growth allows it of course!

When the cutting is too big, it is time to carefully remove it from its safe environment. Do this very carefully and with sterile tweezers. Then it is advisable to place the mini plant in a terrarium with cutting soil. In a terrarium to still keep the moisture level high and to let the plant slowly get used to the big outside world. With the terrarium you create almost the same conditions as in the tube.

What is so great about tissue culture?

The best thing about tissue culture is that it is completely new. Yes, it is already done in ornamental plant cultivation, but how cool it is that we can now experiment with it at home. There is something magical about seeing a real mini cutting grow into a beautiful adult plant. Of course, you will be a proud PLNTSparent if you manage to do this! Besides, it is also a way to buy a RarePLNT, which might normally be too pricey. In the end, the plant is extra Rare because you have been the one to see it grow and raise it. Can't wait either? See the different tissue culture plants we sell at the bottom of this page..

The most important tips for experimenting with tissue culture

• Keep the test tube closed as long as the cutting/plant has to stay in the tube! It really doesn't need anything, only patience ;).
• Store the test tube in a room with sufficient light (but not in the full sun) and without too many climate fluctuations. Draughts, air conditioning and a heater nearby are not conducive to tissue culture. A room with temperatures between 18 and 25 °C is actually perfect.
• The gel should not go mouldy and this will almost never happen. Does it happen anyway? Then air may have penetrated somewhere and it is no longer sterile. Keep an eye on your tissue culture and make sure that if the mould is too bad, you pot the cutting carefully earlier on (in a terrarium) in the hope that it can continue to grow healthily.
• Gently rinse the gel-like substance from the roots of the mini cutting. It is very important that you do this before you pot it.
• Yellow leaves? No worries, this can happen. Just leave them in the test tube. Often this happens with the 'oldest' leaf, so that a new shoot gets more energy. This is a normal process.
• Remember that this is an experiment that you are doing. Unfortunately, with experiments it is always possible that it will not work out in the end.

We believe in you! Good luck and above all have fun with this special way of propagating. We would love to follow your experiment, so share it with us by using #babyplnts.