Micropropagation refers to to the practice of growing plants under laboratory conditions in vessels containing nutrient medium.
A few interesting facts are that micropropagation is 10 times faster than conventional propagation and it can be used to eliminate viruses!
This process can be separated in different stages:
Stage 0: Selection and maintenance of stock plants for culture initiation
Stage 1: Initiation and establishment of aseptic culture. Commonly, the shoot tip and auxiliary buds are used as explant. Explants must be sterilised, obviously to get rid of any bacteria. You then establish the explant into the chosen cultural medium.
Stage 2: Multiplication of shoots or somatic embryo formation using a defined cultural medium.
Stage 3: Rooting of regenerated shoots or germination of somatic embryos in vitro.
Stage 4: Hardening- this is when the plantlets are transfered to sterilised soil for hardening under greenhouse environment.
PROS:
Able to grow difficult to propagate plants in commercially viable numbers
Can clean up any plants that are prone to diseases
Extremely fast
Some plants we have now wouldn't be here without micropropagation such as banana flowers, Heucheras, agapanthus...
CONS:
High skill required
Expensive
Some gardeners report that plants change under microprop conditions
Certain plants don't respond well to micropropagation and could disappear altogether