Tissue culture has revolutionised the plant industry. It enables as many as 5,000 copies of a unique new plant to be produced in within a year, while other propagation methods can take 3 times as long.

Propagation by tissue culture is an in vitro, asexual method used to produce large quantities of identical plant copies. It is a very specialised method carried out under sterile conditions in a laboratory, often involving microscopic procedures.

The first stage is to take the cuttings. A plant’s entire genetic information is contained in specific areas that produce new shoots. These parts are cut out of the plant and placed in a gel that contains hormones and nutrients that induce new shoot growth.

As the tiny cuttings grow into tiny, but complete plants with new shoots of their own, they can also be used to take cuttings from. This cycle can take as little as a few weeks, meaning that it is possible to produce as many as 5,000 copies from a single plant in one year.

When the required number of copy plants have been produced, the next stage is to get them to grow roots, and this is done by transferring them to a gel with different hormones that induce root growth.

Once the plants have sufficient roots, they can then be planted in soil for the first time, usually into cells just a couple of centimeters across. They are still extremely small and delicate at this time and need to be nurtured very carefully as they adapt from the sterile laboratory conditions to their new surroundings.

Look but don't touch! Gert van Eijk-Bos gives us a sneaky peak at new plants growing under a protective moisture blanket.

As the roots start to establish themselves in the soil, the plants can be transplanted into larger cells. This is the point at which they are often passed onto more traditional growers to take over.