The feature compact growth is a desirable trait in breeding programmes for ornamental plant production as it is favoured both by consumers, producers and distributors. Currently, the growth of many potted plants is regulated by the application of chemical growth retardants. However, many of these compounds are potentially harmful to both the environment and human health. A new non-GMO molecular breeding strategy, as opposed to both the application of chemical growth retardants and conventional molecular breeding is Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. In this method, the soil borne bacterium A. rhizogenes inserts T-DNA, containing four root loci (rol)-genes rolA, rolB, rolC and rolD among 18 ORFs, into the plant genome. Generally, rol-genes causes reduced plant height, short internodes and reduced apical dominance. Infection of plants by A. rhizogenes induces hairy root growth at the infection sites. An important aspect of the hairy roots is that their distinct morphology can be used directly in the selection process as a primary indicator of a successful transformation as an alternative to antibiotic resistance marker genes. Furthermore, if unmodified strains of A. rhizogenes are used for transformations, plants produced via this approach are not considered as GMOs in the European Union and Japan. We have developed an optimised Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation platform useful for a wide range of ornamentals. Kalanchoë was the starting point and the effect of the rol-genes has now been followed in three progeny generations. Other ornamental plant species containing rol-genes are currently being generated from the same transformation platform.