Our business is making babies... orchid babies, that is. We offer...

• --Professional orchid seed flasking services to hobbyists and commercial nurseries.

• --As our own babies mature, we will offer flasks for sale.

We believe the originators of the orchid seed should be the ones in charge. They should have some input regarding how their seeds are processed and they should be able to contact their lab for status information at any time. Their lab should make a commitment to them regarding quality, quantity, integrity, etc. We make this commitment to our customers.

Our own hybridizing program is the reason we offer orchid seed flasking services to the public. After conducting several searches for a lab to process the seeds we were producing and even trying out a couple, we decided to set up our own lab and do the work ourselves. With our previous success at flasking, this was an easy decision. Doing it ourselves would give us total control of all facets of production including media selection, culture containers, timing, plant quality, germinating and growing conditions, etc.

There were several reasons for coming to this conclusion. First and foremost is the question of quality. I have seen flasks offered for sale of such poor quality they are not fit to sell. Instead of producing flasks of unevenly sized, poorly rooted, proliferating, small, runty plants, we strive to produce flasks filled with uniform, evenly spaced, husky, vigorous, healthy, well grown plants that are ready for deflasking.

Second is proximity. To do the quantity of flasks we needed, we searched for a lab close enough for us to be able to pick up finished flasks regularly without spending too much time or fuel in doing so. We were not comfortable with using common carriers to deliver flasks intact. There is inevitable jumbling which is unacceptable for us and our customers. We couldn't find anyone that would fill the bill.

Lastly, cost. As we calculated the fees for the number of flasks we can produce seed for, we realized those costs amount to what it would take to set up a fairly well-appointed lab. It's like paying rent versus buying a home. We decided to buy the house, so to speak. And here we are.

The bottom line is, we set up our lab to work to our own demanding specifications. We know what we are looking for and we offer the same premium quality and service to our customers. You can rest assured that your seed will get the same care and diligence it would if it was our very own.

Our lab is located in Central Wisconsin, about 5 hours from Chicago, 3.5 hours from Minneapolis. This central location means the entire Upper Midwest is within a 4-7 hour drive. Our lab is not open to the public, however arrangements can be made for shipping/delivery of your product.