Tag: genetics

Tissue culture is becoming a practical tool for growers who want cleaner starting material, more consistent genetics, and a pathway into higher value crops. As the industry matures, knowing where tissue culture fits into production planning is becoming increasingly relevant.

I recently met with the group leading our first dedicated tissue culture session at Indoor Ag-Con. Hearing their combined experience created a clearer picture of how this work already supports growers who want predictable and healthy plants. This panel brings together hands-on operators who deal with real production conditions every day.

The session will be moderated by Della Fetzer, founder and CEO of Rebel Cultures. Her work spans conservation, agriculture, forestry, laboratory design, and tissue culture project execution. Joining her are:

• Rinnie Rodenius, Co-Owner and Head of Operations, Polymorph Bio. Her background includes commercial work across house plants, landscape plants, and endangered orchids, with experience managing clean stock programs and solving contamination challenges across multiple crop types.
  • Micah E. Stevens, Ph.D., Research Lab Manager, Sierra Gold Nurseries. His work focuses on genetic testing, woody plant micropropagation, and protocol development to support their commercial tissue culture program.
  • Dr. Hsien Ming Easlon, micropropagation specialist with extensive commercial experience across multiple high value crops.

Together they have worked across more than 1,400 plant varieties and have built or managed tissue culture programs that support growers at scale.

With that group in mind, here is how tissue culture fits into the broader CEA conversation.

Tissue culture gives growers a more dependable start

A consistent theme across the panel was how important it is to begin with clean, uniform plants. Many higher value crops grown indoors depend on vegetative starts rather than seed, which makes the condition of the starting material a major factor in overall success. Vegetative starts can include cuttings, runners, rhizomes, bare roots, tissue culture, and other methods that require clean and consistent plant material from the beginning.

Tissue culture helps growers access clean stock programs, steady supplies of starts, and plant material that behaves more predictably in controlled environments. These advantages support crop scheduling, planning, and consistent yields.

Rinnie Rodenius explained that tissue culture has been used for decades to solve problems growers still face today. Issues like virus load, decline in mother plants, uneven vegetative material, and slow rollout of new genetics all trace back to reliability at the start. Tissue culture helps stabilize these areas and gives growers a stronger foundation.

Higher value crops require a different level of cleanliness

As growers move into crops such as strawberries, cane berries, wasabi, and specialty ornamentals, many discover that traditional propagation brings limitations. Pathogens spread easily, mother plants break down over time, and plants can behave inconsistently when the starting material is not clean.

Dr. Hsien Ming Easlon’s work across strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, coffee, agave, and other crops shows how important clean stock is when scaling production. Indoor systems depend on plants responding predictably to the environment around them. Tissue culture supports that predictability by providing uniform, disease-free plants at volume.

Tissue culture creates opportunities for new crop categories

Rebel Cultures highlighted an important point. Some crops mature too slowly from seed or do not perform well when started the traditional way. Tissue culture can shorten timelines and create a clean starting point for plants that often struggle indoors.

This opens the door for growers interested in diversifying into higher value crops. Berries, wasabi, squash, and other specialty categories become more realistic when the starting material is clean, uniform, and ready for controlled production.

A wider range of crops also strengthens the industry as a whole. More options give growers flexibility and reduce dependence on only a few crop types.

Growers need clear guidance on how and when to use tissue culture

Every panelist pointed out the amount of confusion surrounding tissue culture. There is genuine interest, but many growers are unsure how to start, what timelines look like, or how to evaluate a potential partner.

Micah Stevens emphasized the importance of correct testing, proper scaling, and avoiding common mistakes that slow early projects down. This is where experienced practitioners become valuable. They help growers plan correctly, understand realistic timelines, and determine whether tissue culture is a good fit for their crop and business model.

The group leading this session offers guidance shaped by real-world production. They each operate or have operated functioning labs that supply commercial growers, and their perspectives come from solving practical challenges rather than theory.

What this means for CEA operators

Growers do not need to run a tissue culture lab to benefit from one. What matters is knowing:

• How clean starting material affects production
  • When tissue culture supports a crop choice
  • How to choose a credible lab partner
  • What questions to ask before beginning a project
  • How tissue culture fits within existing propagation systems

As operators explore higher value crops, these questions naturally become part of the planning process. Tissue culture gives growers a path to stable genetics, cleaner supply chains, and a more dependable foundation for intensive indoor production.

Indoor Ag-Con is committed to bringing these conversations to the industry in a clear and practical way. This session is designed to give growers guidance they can use immediately as they evaluate their next steps.

 Special thanks to Della Fetzer, Rebel Cultures and  Dr. Hsien Ming Easlon for photos.