Can we use Elevated Carbon Dioxide to Increase Productivity in the Orchid Industry?

In the last eleven years, it had been proven scientifically that CO2 enrichment could speed up the growth rates of both thin-leaved (C3) and thick-leaved (CAM) orchids in tissue culture and later, in their vegetative stages leading to flowering. There were also some indications that flowers harvested from plants grown in CO2-enriched environment have a longer vase-life. However, more work is needed here to confirm this assertion. It is recommended that both hobbyists and commercial growers evaluate this technique in shortening the growing time taken between a young plantlet and an adult plant. The potential wide-spread implementation of CO2 enrichment techniques within the orchid industry to boost productivity is dependent on growers’ scientific awareness and the financial cost associated with the technology.