Manufactured seeds are disclosed that comprise a unit of totipotent plant tissue and a nutritive medium. The nutritive medium can contain a number of different components selected from the following: a gel solute, charcoal, a carbon source, urea, KNO3, NH4NO3, CuCl2, CuSO4, KI, KH2PO4, CaCl2, MgSO4, Na2EDTA, FeSO4, ferric citrate, MnSO4, MnCl2, H3BO3, ZnSO4, CoCl2, Na2MoO4, (NH4)2MoO4, thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, HCl, Ca-pantothenate, nicotinic acid, biotin, folic acid, and myo-inositol. The nutritive medium can also include any of various protein amino acids, any of various polyamines, any of various oxygen-absorbing compounds, any of various non-protein amino acids, and/or a smoke suspension.