Tissue culture plants questions

[tiger15]

I have several questions on tissue culture plants.

1) Why every instruction says that you must remove the agar before planting. I know it’s good for plants you want the quantity, so you can split up and spread the platelets out. What if I don’t want the quantity, just want one big clump. Can I just plant it with the agar intact? The agar offers no resistance to the roots to spread out plus the benefit of reserved nutrients. So by not removing the agar, isn’t there less shock to the plant thereby enhancing its acclimation.

2) Is it easier or more difficult to transition tissue culture plants than potted plants.

3) Why are some plants, such as AR mini and Crypto flamingo that I’m interested in, only come in tissue culture.

 

[Mick.Dk]

1/ my testing show, that leaving agar on the plantlets when inplanting submerse, tends to promote several different problems.
Most important are a much higher chance of algae "bloom", including green water and a Very high chance of plantlets "melting".
Fertilisation of the plantlets is best done by fertilising water-column.
2/ my testing show, that in general the in-vitro plantlets start growing faster than potted version of same plant, when in-planted submerged.
3/ usually plants that only come in in-vitro, are either very difficult to grow in pots (ex. Rotala macrandra) or looking much less attractive in pots (ex. Alternanthera reineckii 'mini').
The Crypt. 'flamingo' , though, can be grown potted...... but being a variation, it has a quite strong tendency to "variegate back" into a more green version, or "variegate further" into a purely pink variation, that does not grow well.