Our speaker at the conference addressed these concerns. Beth Lamb operates a small business that propagates orchids from seed and tissue culture. She relies heavily on her degrees in plant pathology and virology as well as her experience as an advisor to a large citrus producer and explains how cloning is performed:
“Orchid tissue cultures are started by dissecting a tiny growing point less than 1mm from the mother plant. This apical meristem is often free of pathogens due to the uneven distribution of virus within the mother plant. This culture may be combined with other methods such as heat treatment, cryotherapy, and chemotherapy to improve the odds of recovering clean plants.”
That’s easy for her to say. The cloning process is highly technical and requires advanced laboratory equipment and know how. Lamb is, no doubt, on the cutting edge.
Just last week, the very first clones of my father’s diseased plants started to bloom at our nursery. Not only do the flowers and foliage look great, but the plants all test negative for virus. My father is ecstatic.
Lamb’s work has far reaching implications for both industry and hobbyists. The rare historic cattleyas that have been relegated to a few private collections for so long may now return to the market as virus free clones – a century or more after they were first introduced. These are the plants that people have only read about and may, one day, be coming to a floral shop near you.