// Definition
An in vitro tissue culture technique that isolates and cultures the apical meristem (shoot tip) from a cannabis plant to produce virus-free clones and restore genetic uniformity after many generations of cloning. Essential for large-scale operations where genetic drift from repeated cloning degrades crop consistency.
// From the Episode
Isam from Canera described using meristem tip culture to generate virus-free mother plants from contaminated material, then restarting their clone production. At their scale (14,000 clones per week, 100,000 active plants), genetic drift from repeated cloning events is a significant concern. This technique, borrowed from other plant industries, preserves the original phenotype profile and was described as a 'game changer' for maintaining crop consistency alongside their HPLC and GC-MS analytical lab.