mericlone?
 

Hello. How are mericlone phalaenopsis different from standard orchids when it comes to care? Are mericlones a lot harder to grow? I've been viewing a vendor's website, and I have my heart set on a couple of phals which are listed as mericlones. I don't really have a lot of experience with orchids (I currently have 2 NOID phals which I've had for about 3 months) so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself? I would appreciate any advice but, please, talk me in to buying! :biggrin:

Mericloning is a method of vegetative propagation by culturing and dividing meristematic tissue in vitro. The mericlone should be identical to the parent plant compared to the crapshoot of buying unflowered seedlings. The fact that a plant has been mericloned makes it no easier or harder to grow than seedlings.
However, mericloning is more cost and labour intensive than growing from seed and results in the production of hundreds of the same plant that the vendor then has to get rid of. As such nobody takes the time to mericlone a bad plant. Plants are mericloned because they are either good performers, have good quality flowers or both. This at least gives you some reassurance when buying mericloned plants.

i might add though; that there is absolutely no difference in culture.
bet you,ll have more than 10 by the end of the year!

Thanks for the helpful information, Andrew. You make a good point about the mericlone plants being of good quality. And to Snow, that sounds like something I would do, but I'd try my hardest not to get carried away! Thanks!

:rofl: that's something we all here have said at leats once in our life!!! :rofl: my count goes up to 90, and today I place a new order of 3 Paphs, 1 Phal, a chinese Cymbidium and 5 minis I had in my wish list since long ago... ;)

you'll see they will be more than 10 by the end of the year, as snow said ;)

They're not kidding!!! I came here just to ask a question about a vanilla orchid that I was getting shortly, but wasn't really super interested in getting started with orchids... Within a week I got one no id phal, and am possibly inheriting another no id phal from a coworker that was given one she doesn't really want.... And planning around coming pay days... :D

Signing in on this one...
I started whit one in october, got a few more in november, and by today im counting ten orchids. ;) 9 different phals, counting in the noids, and one oncidum. And still hunting for "the perfect one", thoug l love them all!

And today a bought my self a mini greenhouse, about 125 cm high! :D

...and now I'm gonna be mean :evil: check for these lovely bauties that I have found and are on their way to my place:

Dryadella liliputiana
IOSPE PHOTOS http://www.megagaleria.com/pictures/Pic_5950_15.jpg http://www.orchidspecies.com/orphotd...liiiputana.jpg

Mediocalcar decoratum
IOSPE PHOTOS Mediocalcar decoratum - Großräschener Orchideen http://www.geocities.jp/gonnbeltusa/image1215.jpg

Nanodes porpax aka. Epidendrum peperomia
IOSPE PHOTOS Nanodes porpax http://www.iosoc.com/PicsAwards/Koss01.jpg

Psygmorchis pusilla
IOSPE PHOTOS Psygmorchis pusilla
http://www.jeany-in-a-bottle.de/reso...te+im+glas.jpg

Trichopilia marginata
IOSPE PHOTOS http://www.mendelu.cz/arboretum/orch..._marginata.JPG Pagina nueva 1 http://www.orchideen.ch/Bewertung/2413v.jpg

who resist resist them? :evil:

Ramon, how do you find room for 90 orchids? You must live in a greenhouse! (lucky) Have fun with your new babies. They all look great, though P. pusilla looks especially lovely!

I only have 2 potted NOID Phals, but one of them contains 3 young phals. It came that way from the store, but I will be separating them soon. So I guess that puts my count to 4, just like that! I guess we'll all do a tally by the end of the year and compare!

oh wow ramon. what beauties you picked!
one of thes days i am going to try minnies