why can't Paphs be mericloned?

[soobie]

OK, revealing my ignorance here, but why can't Paphs be mericloned? Everything I've seen just says that it's difficult and not done (except for a few rare occasions).

But why? Why are Paphs so hard? They do have meristem tissue. Is it just that they grow so slowly?

This has bugged me for years...

[WhiteRabbit]

It's possible the reason is unknown, but perhaps another member knows ...
I wouldn't mind knowing, either

[801229001]

Im pretty sure it is not because they grow slowly , but i dont know why?

[sbrofio]

Words of Robert from OrchidWeb found in another site: "The biggest problem when you try to Mericlone Paph's is getting no contamination, and even if you do get a meristem to grow without contamination, it is hard to get it to a protocorm stage, and it is hard to get it to multiply." (cit).

[soobie]

Hmm. I guess it's just a mystery. It seems like the contamination issue could be solved with good lab technique, but there's something else at work to prevent the meristem from growing.

Ah well.

[AvantGardner]

Robert has also said he's had success in cloning paphs and phrags... it may be hard, therefore not commercially cost-effective, but possible.

Originally Posted by sbrofio

Words of Robert from OrchidWeb found in another site: "The biggest problem when you try to Mericlone Paph's is getting no contamination, and even if you do get a meristem to grow without contamination, it is hard to get it to a protocorm stage, and it is hard to get it to multiply." (cit).

[MrHappyRotter]

I couldn't find a source online, but I have heard several times that the problem lies in the fact that slippers simply do not respond to the chemical stimulants and hormones used for orchid mericloning, at least not to the same extent as most other orchids.

In order to get the meristem to reliably devolve back to a protocorm stage, you have to apply the correct types of hormones and nutrients, in appropriate amounts, amongst other complexities that I'm not privy enough to expound on. There simply hasn't been much, if any success in figuring out what factors need to be tweaked in order to make mericloning of slippers economically viable. As others have mentioned, there are some folks who maintain that they've had very limited success cloning paphs. Not sure if it's true or not, but even assuming it is, the results are always reported as being very limited.

It's just more evidence that the slippers really are a different breed of orchid. It's been suggested that slippers are taxonomically different enough from other orchids, that they could almost be moved into a separate family.

[Fairorchids]

As I understand the issue, it is partly that slippers (Paphs & Phrags) do not respond well, but also that when they do, the results are not stable (majority of plants produced do NOT resemble the parent plant).