While in vitro, or tissue culture technology, has been available to the nursery industry for many years, it is only recently becoming recognized by nursery professionals as a preferred method of propagation for a fairly broad selection of woody ornamentals and especially perennial production. Initially, tissue culture was used primarily as a way of bulking up plants, especially those new varieties that breeders and growers were anxious to get to the market quickly. But more and more, growers have come to recognize that while lining out plugs produced through tissue culture may initially be more expensive, there are many advantages to be realized that more than offset these initial costs.

A new, specialized, business opportunity

The increased use of tissue culture has resulted in new business opportunities in the nursery sector — the growing-on of unrooted tissue culture-produced cuttings to rooted plugs for nursery and floriculture growers, bringing a whole new dimension to the concept of specialization.

According to Evelyn, co-owner of one of Europe’s foremost producers of tissue culture plugs, most tissue culture lab work is now outsourced to countries with lower labor costs. Their own products come from labs in Poland and South America. “In the world of plant breeding and tissue culture, confidentiality and trust are enormous issues,” explains Evelyn. “Breeders have huge investments in their new varieties and the marketplace is extremely competitive. For that reason, usually one finds that there is either a very close business relationship, or even a full or partial ownership, between the lab facility and the grower.”

One of the biggest advantages of tissue culture production, Evelyn notes, is the uniformity of the plants. “This can be very difficult to achieve with certain varieties such as Hosta or Heuchera,” she explains. “Growers need to be very concerned about the perception of the marketplace. They need to ship not just good quality, but also plants that are consistent in size, color and form.” Also not to be overlooked is the certainty of propagating plants that are disease free.

These unrooted cuttings, also known as stage 3 tissue culture plants, are shipped from the lab back to their own 4,000 sq. metre production facility, where they are then grown on to rooted plugs. The nature of the business generally requires that the company work with a fairly limited but loyal customer base, each one ordering either a few or many items, but almost always in relatively large numbers per variety. The product list covers about 200 items in total. While a large percentage of their annual production is pre-ordered by their customers, a certain percentage is also produced on spec, especially of the more currently popular varieties.

Dovetailing with greenhouse production schedules

One of their specialties, notes Evelyn, is working with their customers to meet their very strict production schedules. This is especially important in the greenhouse floriculture sector, where sales and shipping tend to be largely dictated by holiday events such as Mother’s Day and Easter, but it can be equally critical in the production of perennials as well. “If growers aren’t able to supply good looking product to their garden centers to meet their seasonal needs, most certainly their profitability will be impacted,” she explains.

As this is a very specialized business, the company has many grower clients throughout Europe. The months of September to December are particularly hectic, as this is the time when orders are collected, customers’ shipping requirements are analyzed and the very precise production schedules are determined. For the foreseeable future at least, it is highly unlikely that tissue culture propagation will be suitable for all crops, but the advantages continue to prove themselves for many types of plants. And, when success or failure depends on how quickly a new product can be brought to market, tissue culture propagation will always take a leading role.