plant tissue culture is a plant propogation technique practiced under sterile conditions. almost a couple decades ago, i had access to a dna biotechnology lab and one of my first projects was to clone african violets. if one were to clone an african violet, these are the general procedures: 1. pick a healthy plant and remove a leaf (making sure it keeps its petiole). 2. soak the leaf for a few minutes in detergent & water to remove microorganisms, fungi, insects, etc. which might inhibit the growth, color, or structure of the cloned plant. 3. cut the leaf using forceps & scalpel into small pieces under a laminar flow hood (the hood keeps everything sterile ~ all bacteria will be kept out of the cut pieces and it will prevent anything external from spoiling your experiment) 4. plant each leaf piece in an agar tube. 5. seal the rim with paraffin. 6. new shoots should form within 6-8 weeks. 7. cut the shoots and place them into a larger container on a new medium. 8. when the plant has grown its roots, then it may be transplanted into soil. 9. throughout this process, the humidity must be kept high ~ covering the plant for a short while will help.

someone beat me to the answer, but yes it is what a lot of companies do- clone plants on a massive scale