Tissue Culture Plants

[Jkeating8]

After talking to Brian about how Petsmart and Petco are now selling tissue culture plants at a super reasonable price, I was wondering if anyone knew if the tissue culture market is expanding in the US like it is in Europe?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I would say yes... only because I NEVER seen or heard of them until they made a splash in Petsmart and Petco... doesn't get anymore mainstream than the big box stores! It would be nice to see MORE species eventually... I just don't know how much more it will expand or even exist here? I read up on the topic a bit and it seems quite a 'scientific' process to do it... It appears that you need to have laboratory conditions (sterile), access to petri dishes, plant hormones, etc. Seems more easy and accessible to propagate plants the old fashion way for the 'common' hobbyist AND 'buy' tissue culture instead of trying to do it yourself (unless you're a bio major or something and have a lab at your disposal).

 

[jtez]

What are these tissue culture plants, exactly?

 

[Jkeating8]

What are these tissue culture plants, exactly?

They are plants that are grown emersed in a nutrient rich agar gel.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

What are these tissue culture plants, exactly?

They are plants that are grown by taking a cell from a plant and adding it to a Petri dish with nutrients and are then grown to sizes big enough to sell and are sold at petco and petsmart in bags with water retaining gel. It is a very similar concept to cloning without having to implant the cell into a host mother. Hope this explains well.

 

[Coyne]

They've had them at DF&S for a little while now.

Freshwater Plants: Freshwater Aquarium Plant Species for the Home Aquarium

 

[candymancan]

I have seen these stores mainly get there plants wrapped in tissue from a supplier called Florida aquatic Nurseries.. It would probably be cheaper to buy directly from that supplier

http://www.floridaaquatic.com/

 

[Mebbid]

It's a good thing that that are around. It's definitely expanding the hobby market for plants. They are definitely increasing in popularity and are even getting some more sophisticated plants surprisingly.

 

[Elpez]

I have seen these stores mainly get there plants wrapped in tissue from a supplier called Florida aquatic Nurseries.. It would probably be cheaper to buy directly from that supplier

http://www.floridaaquatic.com/

It doesn't look like you can buy online from this website. Have you purchased anything from them?

 

[Fishfur]

I suspect you will find most companies producing tissue cultured plants do so only for the wholesale markets. It is a highly skilled process that requires extremely controlled, sterile conditions to succeed.

It was first used to produce plants that are otherwise slow or difficult to reproduce that were in high demand, terrestrial ones. It's slowly becoming the way to go for many commercial propagation set ups because it's so controlled. Up to very recently, tissue cultured plants were, while much cheaper than the conventionally produced versions of the same plants, still, pretty expensive.

I've not yet seen these less costly ones in Canada, we always seem to lag behind, but it's the way of the future for commercial production, as it dramatically reduces losses from pests and disease. But it will be a long time before the majority of plants are produced this way.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

In a way, it sounds kinda scary if in the future they produce all plants this way because it's nearly impossible to account for everything, namely diseases. With less variation in the genetic pool, and by having all cloned plants, your entire population would be susceptible to the same disease and could be potentially wiped out. But I'm just throwing out extremes! Overall , I think they're great as an "option."

 

[Fishfur]

I agree with you. It is kind of scary. A lot of what is happening with plants today is very scary. I hope it always remains a bit too costly for the majority of consumers, so it won't take over entirely.

And I should have added that to the first post I made. I don't really think cloning like this is a great idea in large scale, though cloning is the main way many plants are produced, as cuttings. All those garden plants, in large part, are cuttings or divisions of larger plants. Faster, cheaper, consistent product. Seed grown is slower, but there are still many plants grown from seed. Only they treat the seed with chemicals and genetically engineer it so it can't survive without the pest/herbicides and fertilizers that go with the genetic mods. Soy, wheat, corn, the list grows yearly.

Look at what's happening to bananas, and other monocultured crops. Bananas may soon become a fruit no one can afford, because all of them are the same species, and are being wiped out by diseases.

Very scary indeed.