Hort Americas Partners with Rooted-in-Tech for Its 2027 Early Order Program

Commercial horticultural supplier Hort Americas has added grafted and non-grafted young plants to its 2027 Early Order Program (EOP) through its partnership with Rooted-in-Tech, a precision indoor propagation company.

Typically, conversations in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) focus on what happens once a crop is already in production, such as fertilizer programs, lighting, climate control, and irrigation. Hort Americas and Rooted-in-Tech see propagation as an equally critical variable.

“A plant’s future is often decided long before it arrives at a grower’s facility,” says Chris Higgins, Hort Americas President and co-founder. “Partnering with Rooted-in-Tech lets us offer growers a stronger starting point, whether they’re running a large commercial greenhouse or a smaller operation that’s never had practical access to grafted plants before.”

Unlike traditional greenhouse propagation, Rooted-in-Tech grows every plant fully indoors, controlling light, temperature, and humidity from day one. The primary focus is grafted tomatoes, available in any rootstock/scion combination, along with custom grafting and propagation programs for watermelons, cucumbers, peppers, and other common greenhouse and field crops.

“Success with grafting depends on the rootstock and scion growing at the same rate and healing under stable conditions,” says Ricardo Hernández, founder of Rooted-in-Tech. “By controlling every environmental factor indoors, we can produce a strong, consistent graft union and deliver a plant that’s ready to perform the moment it reaches the grower.”

The indoor system also keeps plants compact, reducing the stretching and stem fragility common in greenhouse-grown starts, and lowers exposure to soil-borne pathogens and pests before plants ship. Growers receive updates and photos at key checkpoints throughout production.

The partnership also allows smaller and mid-size operations to source high-quality grafted plants without committing to large minimum orders, a barrier that has historically limited access for growers outside large-scale commercial operations.

Growers can submit Early Order Program requests through Oct. 31 at www.hortamericas.com/hort-americas-early-order-program.