7 Jan 2020

PPM™ vs Antibiotics - A Comparison

Jessica Rosslee

Table of Contents

Whether you are a seed to fruit kinda grower, or a plant cloning guru, you know how vital it is to keep your plants free from contaminants. From airborne microbial infections, airborne microbial contamination, or even waterborne pollution, cell technology has been chasing down a sustainable, long-term answer to these agricultural issues. It seems that in the industry of cannabis plant culture, Plant Cell Tech is making waves with PPM™.

Cultivators in the cannabis industry have been looking at the heat stable preservative PPM™ to protect their cannabis plant culture and tissue culture, and now the internet is curious about PPM™. What is it, and how does it compare to antibiotics? Is it really a viable solution to issues like airborne microbial pollution?

Scientists are finding themselves confused on how to make a preservative mixture and where they can even shop for an already developed preservative mixture. While we can't promise you a top secret homemade preservative mixture, we can help you to understand a bit more about the nature of PPM™ and why Plant Cell Tech offers you the best PPM™ product for your plants.

Let's take a brief look at the mixture:

Plant Preservative Mixture: What is it?

Simply put: it is an addition to your regular plant tissue culture media. So what is all the fuss about?

Plant Preservation Mixture (PPM™) from Plant Cell Tech is a biocide, or a preservative, that remains stable under heated conditions and could reduce existing microbial contamination in plant tissue culture or prevent contamination from ever taking root in the first place.

If dosed correctly, Plant Preservative Mixture does not negatively impact the regeneration or degeneration of callus, nor does it inhibit the seeds grown in vitro. However, what PPM™ does positively impact is even more tantalizing for growers looking to solve the seemingly perpetual cycle of plant contamination. And in the cannabis sector, contamination can mean a contaminated CBD oil - which is not only a business killer but could be dangerous for a person's health.

What Does PPM™ Do?

The simultaneously biostatic and biocidal PPM™ is able to reduce fungi spores and bacteria, as well as prevent these contaminations altogether. One of the major draw cards for PPM™ is that it can be sterilized by autoclaving because it has a heat-stable nature and is able to remain unaltered at high temperatures, often required for autoclaving.

Cannabis Plant Infected by Fungal Fusarium (source: here)

How Does PPM™ Work?

By definition, we could say that PPM™ is a broad-spectrum preservative and biocide, but what good would that do? What does that really mean?

Well, what this means is that because it is a biocide and preservative it is able to eliminate spore germination, bacteria, fungi cells, and can even kill off any endogenous contamination.

Now that we have an improved understanding over PPM™, let's take a look at it in comparison to the more widely used antibiotic:

PPM vs. Antibiotocs: The Differences

Unlike antibiotics, PPM™ is broad-based and is also effective in the treatment of fungi and the inhibition of spore growth.
Antibiotics are not cheap, and the PPM™ is a more budget-friendly option, as well as extends its reach to smaller-scale entrepreneurs and growers.
Many cultivators often find their plants develop a mutation to resist antibiotics. With PPM™, this would not be a concern. PPM™ is broad-based and targets a plethora of enzymes. Mutations against the PPM™ is not impossible, but it is highly unlikely, making PPM™ a sustainable long term solution for your plant. Unfortunately, antibiotics are not as effective when plants begin to respond by gene mutations. As we have already mentioned, PPM has this as an advantage over antibiotics.
One of the most attractive feathers in PPM's cap is the fact that it is stable in a heated environment, and can, therefore, be autoclaved with media.

Up until recently, antibiotics have pretty much been indispensable to the US agriculture industry. There are multiple antibiotics that could potentially be used for the purpose of crop protection. However, the US government only permits two; Streptomycin and Oxytetracycline.

Streptomycin is a commonly used antibiotic that is also used to treat tonsillitis, among other conditions. It first began its role in the agriculture industry in the ‘50s, and today is used primarily in apple and pear crops.

Another antibiotic, Kasugamycin, was developed to use in the case of resistance against Streptomycin. However, Kasugamycin was only registered for the first time in 2015. Oxytetracycline is still the only other antibiotic permitted for agricultural use in the US, and it was also developed in the 80s to treat plants that mutated a resistance against Streptomycin.

Because plants tend to develop resistance against antibiotics, cultivators are seeking out other methods, such as PPM™. The cannabis industry is no stranger to new techniques and alternative methods (let's be honest; the whole cannabis industry was founded on the 'alternative' ethos).

If the integrity of the plant product is the critical cornerstone for any cannabis producer, then it is worthwhile checking out if PPM™ is the right addition to your grows.