Tissue Culture
Ball Seed® leads the way with innovative genetics produced from Tissue Culture (TC). Instead of soil, plantlets are grown in a laboratory using small, sterile containers or flasks with a gel-like media called agar. The agar contains all the nutrients and building blocks to promote and steer plant growth. Customers can order what is called stage 3 TC or rooted liners produced from TC. While a more expensive product, TC varieties are more challenging to produce via seed or unrooted cuttings but can also be cleaner (fewer pests and pathogens).
Ball Seed offers varieties that come from TC, such as: Anigozanthos, Limonium, Echinacea, Heuchera, and interesting tropicals and foliage plants.
Clean Stock
Tissue culture is the backbone to many of our varieties supporting the buildup of seed parent lines, vegetative stock plants, and commercial production of TC plantlets. Sterile lab conditions and production methods help maintain the genetic integrity of our varieties and keep plants healthy. The controlled environment in which TC plants are produced minimizes the potential for pests and diseases.
TC Raised Liners
Starting from tissue culture requires a different skill set compared to seed or unrooted cuttings. Be efficient, reduce propagation time, and eliminate sticking labor by starting with TC raised liners available through our rooting station network. Our rooting station partners understand how to grow from TC plants providing a liner with faster root development and improved branching. Plus, TC raised liners require fewer inputs meaning a shorter crop time, less heat, and labor to produce finished plants.
Technical Support: TC Video Series
Kickstart your journey with TC products by checking out the Ball Seed 7-part video series as we deep-dive into Tissue Culture. Join Dr. Nathan Jahnke, Technical Services Culture Research Manager, and Deanna Felton, longtime Production and Propagation Manager at Sunbelt Greenhouses in Georgia, as they explore topics like lab sources, feedback, light, and humidity control from both research and applied perspectives.
