Inside the secretive and lucrative world of orchid breeding

"Which is why, in the race to develop new orchid types, the laboratory is at least as important as the greenhouse. Centuries of human intervention - selective breeding and propagation - have made the genetic background of many commercial orchids a "disaster", according to leading Dutch orchid breeding firm Floricultura. That means it is extremely difficult to predict what characteristics a new plant breed might have."

"But by developing genetic markers for particular traits - colour, shape, disease resistance, flowering longevity and so on - Floricultura and its competitors can try to speed up the process of selective breeding. Instead of waiting for a newly bred plant to flower in three years' time, the breeders can apply genetic screening techniques on very young plants and discard the ones that don't match their requirements, right at the start of the process."

""If a few thousand cross breeds [come] from the lab, we can screen them based on the marker and just select the ones that have the marker that you search for," says Wart van Zonneveld, Floricultura's research and development manager. "It's an indication of a certain trait that you want or you do not want, depending on what's easier to find.""

"So-called "novel breeding techniques" are a closely-guarded secret. Each company develops its own genetic markers and processes because that's what allows them to develop unique varieties. "We keep it to ourselves because it's lots of investment," van Zonneveld says. "It's still breeding, you have to make a cross, and we cannot just pick out a piece of DNA and put it back that easily," says Paul Arens, ornamental plant breeding researcher at the Netherlands' Wageninge"

Bringing a new orchid to market can take a decade of hard work, with intense competition in developing new flower types. Centuries of selective breeding and propagation have left many commercial orchids with genetic backgrounds that are difficult to predict. Breeders can develop genetic markers for traits such as color, shape, disease resistance, and flowering longevity to speed selective breeding. Instead of waiting years for plants to flower, genetic screening can be applied to very young plants to discard those that do not match requirements early. Breeding still requires making crosses, and companies keep their marker development and processes private because they require major investment and support unique varieties.

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