GardenGenetics (G2) provides confidential contract research services to the horticultural industries. What does that mean? It means we conduct research with (and for) our clients. Think of us as scientists-for-hire.
Much of our contract research activity consists of confidential research trials. In these, we grow a client's experimental varieties in an isolated field plot, or in a secure greenhouse, along with industry standard comparison varieties. This allows the client to compare its experimentals to comparison varieties, in a secure confidential location. We typically provide extensive data collection services along with the trials, so that a client need only make site inspections once or twice during the trial.
Confidential trials occur both in the field and in the greenhouse. For example, in our greenhouses last fall, we grew 23 poinsettia varieties last fall for a client. All plants of all varieties began under "industry standard" average daily temperatures (i.e., for poinsettia production, this was 70F). In the first week of October, and every two weeks thereafter, we moved a subset of each variety into one of two cooler growing zones. The average daily temperatures for these two zones were 5 degrees F and 8 degrees F colder than "standard". Perhaps as significantly, the minimum night temperatures in the three zones were 68F (standard); 63F and ... 58F. Yes, we successfully produced a holiday poinsettia crop, at least with certain varieties, at 58F nights. We need to note that not all poinsettia cultivars could be bloomed as a holiday crop at this night temperature.
We could maintain these differences in adjacent zones without problem. Every few minutes, we collected data on ambient light levels, temperature, and humidity. Charts of the temperature data were essentially flat for each zone. Every week, we evaluated and photgraphed typical plants of each variety from each treatment.
As the holiday season approached, we took yet another subset from each treatment; put it in a florist's sleeve; and then put the sleeved poinsettia on a bench in a cool room lit only by overhead lights. After 72 hours, the sleeve was removed, and the plants went back on the bench. At weekly intervals, we evaluated each plant in these subsets for post-harvest performance.
What did we deliver to the client? Thousands of digital images. Mb quantities of environmental and observational data. We calculated how many BTUs were saved per week for those varieties which performed well in cooler environments. And we provided our evaluations as experienced breeders and growers of which poinsettia varieties and which experimentals performed best under cool conditions, as well as which should NOT be grown cool.
Here is one picture of part of the trial, in one of the cool night zones of our research greenhouse.
Contract research is conducted under the tightest conditions of confidentiality which we can maintain. On one level, this is a contractual obligation between G2 and the client. On another, it is a simply G2's standard business practice, regardless of contract terms. The work we perform for a client belongs to the client. It belongs to no one else, including G2 or its staff.
For example, you might be wondering what we did with all of those thousands of poinsettias. We gave most of them away --- except for the not-yet-released experimentals and breeding lines which were also part of the study. Those, we simply had to destroy after all of the evaluations were complete.
Why didn't we sell the poinsettias? This was actually our decision. Ethically, we felt that we could not flood the local market in competition with the growers who were trying to make their living by selling a crop. We were being paid to grow this research trial, rather than trying to recover our costs by selling a crop. Obviously, this raised some potential conflicts. We chose to give plants away only relatively late in the season (no earlier than 10 days before Christmas). We chose to give plants to hospitals and nursing homes, where people might not otherwise have holiday plants available. We chose to give plants to the elderly and house-bound, at least those of which we were aware. We attempted to give poinsettias to people who would not otherwise purchase a poinsettia.
I have been conducting contract research (albeit in a different industry) for more than 20 years. During this time, I have learned how to conduct extremely sensitive research under total confidentiality. Furthermore, my training and experience during those 20 years enabled me to teach and train hundreds of professionals how to work effectively under tight confidentiality. As a team, G2 will probably always err on the side of excessive caution when it comes to maintaining confidentiality.
Not only do we think that it's important, we consider confidentiality to be critical to our business survival and success.
