Blooming difficult: growing finicky orchids for a finicky market

A high-maintenance crop, if ever there was one, orchids demand attention to detail. With over 35 years of experience in orchid production, LVG Plants combines its expertise with new advancements in greener technologies, ensuring its flowers are beautiful allies for people and planet.

- Lindi Botha

Orchids are an unforgiving crop; they will not tolerate an unfavourable climate, and require their exact needs to be met to grow and produce blooms.

“Orchid production is all about stability and consistency. They need even temperatures, humidity, and just enough light,” says Jaco Meershoek, production manager at LVG Plants in Krugersdorp, Gauteng.

LVG produces 1,2 million Phalaenopsis orchids per year. They also produce other flowering pot plants, bonsais, and a variety of foliage plants, all in fully computerised and automated greenhouses spanning 110 000m2. These are labour-intensive processes, and the company employs 250 people.

The farm was started in 1985 by the Van Geest family, who emigrated to South Africa from the Netherlands. Market growth for orchids has been consistently positive since the family added this species to their range 35 years ago.

“Whereas cut flowers struggled to claw back market share post-COVID-19, orchid demand has been increasing by between 10% and 15% each year since 2020,” says Ivo-Jan van Geest, LVG's commercial director. “[Orchids] last longer than cut flowers, which makes [them] a more popular option for consumers looking for value for money.”

The fastidious nature of orchids means that inputs need to be precise and consistent. The process starts with importing plant material from horticulture specialists Anthura, based in the Netherlands.

“They have the technology to produce high-quality plants, to our exact specifications, to meet the requirements from our market,” explains Bart van Geest, production director at LVG.

PLANTS IMPORTED BY SHIP