How is an Orchid grown?

Ever wondered how your orchid is grown? How long does it take to grow an orchid?

Commercially grown Phalaenopsis begin their lives in a sterilised laboratory as microscopic pieces of plant tissue.
These tissue clusters are cultured in petri dishes containing a nutrient-rich agar jelly.
Plant hormones in the agar allow the cell clusters to multiply, but prevent them from growing any leaves or roots.
Once the cell clusters have been split the desired number of times, they are put into static flasks.
The clumps of cells then begin to develop roots and leaves.
The resulting plantlets will be genetically identical to the mother plant from which the node was taken.

When the young plants reach a leaf span of about 5cm, they are ready to be taken out of the flasks and transplanted into new growing media.
The plantlets are transplanted into mini-plugs and then put into a greenhouse.
The temperature and humidity are kept high to stimulate leaf and root development.

When the young plants reach the correct size, they are transplanted into pots.
The pots are made out of clear plastic to allow light to reach the root system.
The pots are filled with bark to ensure the root system drains well and is aerated.
At first, the pots are placed very close together to maximise space efficiency.
When the leaves reach a certain diameter, a robot picks up the potted plants and re-spaces them at a lower density. This is to ensure the plants have enough light and space to continue to grow at a maximum rate.

The plants are now moved into a different part of the greenhouse – the cool zone.
The drop in temperature triggers a stress response in the plants, causing them to switch from their vegetative growth phase to a generative growth phase: flower initiation.
This sudden change in environment ‘tricks the plants into thinking’ that their life might be coming to an end, essentially forcing them to complete their natural lifecycle by reproducing.
In the cool zone, tiny flower spikes will begin to emerge from the leaf axils of the plants.

After several weeks in the cool zone, the plants are moved into a slightly warmer area to encourage growth of the new flower spikes and flower buds.
When the spike reaches a certain height, the flower buds begin to develop.
A few days before the flower buds open, the spikes are attached to a stake in order to keep them upright.
After the flowers open the plants are packaged and sold.

The Zurich