Steps to Acclimate Your Tissue Culture

If you're excited to get your new tissue culture plantlets growing, it's important to take your time to properly acclimate them to their new environment. Here are some steps you can follow to ensure a successful acclimation process for your philodendrons or any other tissue culture plant:

Step 1: Let the Culture Settle In

Once you receive your tissue culture plantlets, resist the urge to do anything for the first 1-2 days. Allow the culture to adjust to its new temperature before taking any further steps. Remove the pack of cultures from the paper it was packed in but do not remove them from the plastic flasks. Let them settle in an area that the temperature does not fluctuate. A grow cabinet is great or even your kitchen counter! Just be aware of AC/Heat vents.

Opening your tissue culture & trimming off anything that needs to be removed is an important step of deflasking! You want to give the culture the best chance at success. Remove anything that may hinder the plant from growing into the best exotic plant is can be. Here is what your culture may look like as soon as it is removed from the flask, prior to trimming off any of those pesky leaves. 

This is what your tissue culture plantlet may look like prior to removing any of the leaves or roots that must go. As you can see here, it is okay to have a few leaves that aren't perfect! Remember they are plants & imperfections are normal. Most cultures will need a good trim while you are deflasking & washing them.

Step 2: Wash Away the Gel

Open the package and carefully wash away as much of the jelly as possible. Any remaining gel can promote mold growth, so it's important to clean it off thoroughly. Our rule of thumb: If you think you have cleaned the cultures enough, clean them 3 more times! Make sure the "final wash" is with running water so it is fresh water that removes the last of any remaining residue.

As you can see, we are a bit rough with the culture! It is more important to remove all of the agar gel than to worry about breaking a root or two. Make sure you focus on the base of the plant where you removed those leaves. That is the perfect place for agar gel to hide!

This video will show you exactly how we rinse the plantlets thoroughly

Step 3: Plant the Culture In The Medium Of Your Choice

There are many great mediums to acclimate your tissue culture in! Each plant enthusiast will have their own preference. We welcome you to experiment! Try them all. Find the medium that works best for you & your jungle. In this video, we will be using our rooting plugs. These plugs have been specially designed for Orange Lake Nursery. We have found great success with them! They are full of nutrients and do not hold too much moisture. Most plants do not like wet feet!

You will notice that we plant our cultures a bit deeper than you may have realized. This will keep your plant from becoming "leggy". You want to make sure that your tissue culture is snug inside of its medium & the roots have plenty of room to grow.

Plant your tissue culture in a 2-inch plastic pot using the chunky medium of your choice, giving the plantlets a good drink of water before enclosing them. Allow the water to drain before sealing the container. The medium that we use on all tissue cultures is included in our acclimation kits. It is a blend of chunky coco husk & perlite. 

Step 4: Provide Grow Lights & 100% Humidity

Now that your new tissue cultures have been deflasked, trimmed, cleaned thoroughly, & potted in your favorite medium; it is time for 100% humidity! It is important that your tissue cultures are in an air tight container. Seeing the water droplets within 24-hours will be a sure sign that your tissue cultures are receiving enough humidity to settle in.

Don't forget the grow lights! Grow lights & tissue cultures go hand in hand. They will need quite a bit of light over the next 5 to 7 days. Depending on your environment, that can be any where from 8 to 16 hours of grow light a day.

Step 5: Gradually Expose to Ambient Air

Welcome to the final leg of your tissue culture journey! This is where you will begin to introduce ambient air to your tissue cultures. We unfortunately can not provide an exact time table for exposing your new culture to air/light as every environment is different. Leave the plants covered for the first 7 days, then gradually expose them to ambient air over the next 7-10 days. Begin by adding an hour of natural light and air every few days, increasing the exposure each time until the plantlets are fully acclimated to their new environment.

If your culture is droopy following an increase in ambient air, skip the next day of exposure & try the following day. It can take some time to learn the proper steps to acclimate & deflask. There is unfortunately a learning curve but once you learn the steps & adjust to your specific environment; it is extremely rewarding!

If you ever have questions on the process, feel free to reach out to us via email! We are always happy to help!

Here is a link to our step by step for Philodendrons. Here we will deflask our Philodendron White Princess Tissue Cultures. Although the steps are the same, it may be helpful to watch us acclimate a bit smaller plantlets. Here is the full process of deflasking from start to finish!

By following these steps and taking the time to properly acclimate your tissue culture plantlets, you'll give them the best possible chance for healthy growth and development. Remember to do your own research and adjust your acclimation process as needed based on your environment and specific plant species.

If you are looking for a quick refresher course on acclimating your tissue culture, take a look at our Quick Guide To Acclimating Tissue Culture

Happy Planting! 🌱