Stem Props, Mericlones, etc.

[Mahon]

Weiss,

Yes, understand that this is merely my opinionated guess... there are many levels of orchid nurseries, like wholesalers (including suppliers), specialized growers, and small scale growers... going by your easy to understand figures, I would say 80% of wholesalers would have propagation labs, 80% of specialized growers would have propagation labs, and 20% of small scale growers would have a propagation lab.

Now Phalaenopsis, I have no idea except that I knew some of the growers in Asia... I would say (out of your figures) about 20% of the total Phalaenopsis are taken into the US to sell... I would think that the wholesalers would micropropagate the plants and make a profit through their shipment...

As for orchid hobbyists... stem propagation would be dependant on what the hobbyist has to propagate... Ludisia, Goodyera, Macodes, and Anoectochilus are easily stem propagated by breaking off pieces at the nodes. Dendrobium is a harder to propagate by its nodes... Vanilla and Pseudovanilla easily propagate by cutting at least 3 or 4 nodes, where new growth will come out of the nodes. So basically, I have no idea, because stem propagation would be so common, I almost assume 98% of orchid hobbyists stem propagate...

-PM