I do remember the thread...I believe it also involved an argument with Pat Mahon.....I remember Steve Topletz telling me that he had worked out a method of easily mericloning paphs....haven't heard anything since. Now...is this real mericloning of an established clone? Or is it the cloning of seed grown plantletss, like those delanatii from OL? I for one would like to see mericloning...and I doubt that it would send paphs the way of phals.....for starters, paphs are just not that commercial. Everyone who knows nothing about orchids seems to love phals, and they are easily suited to home growing, at least for awhile. Slippers just don't have that appeal to non-orchid growers, and even among most orchids growers, they are frequently the least favorite plant. My local Home Depot always has a load of the usual phals and dends, sometimes cyms, oncidiums, and catt's. I have seen a grand total of 2 paphs sold there, ever.....Even my favorite plant shop in Chinatown has no more than half a dozen paphs and maybe 2 or 3 phrags at a time, as compared to dozens of every type of other orchid. For the newbie crowd at orchid shows who want to try slippers, there are tons of seed grown generic, homogeneous Maudiae type paphs and bessea hybrid phrags for cheap...I can't imagine mericloning to be cheaper than growing these guys from seed...but I would love to get a chance to get some of the great hybrid clones that are out of my financial reach now, and probably always will be...I have (rarely) splurged up to $50 for a great paph, but face it...with a family that is made up of teenagers and college kids, I can't afford to indulge a luxury orchid habit...The market for mericloned paphs, if it ever does develop, will never be for the mass market plants but for the select clones...The Winston Churchills, etc..that are old enough to be widespread in collections, but too expensive for most people. and they will not be cheap....just less expensive than divisions. I can't imagine anyone who owns a clone that sells for 1000's of dollars allowing their investment to be mass produced.....So count me in as someone who favors it..although, should it come to pass, I probably still won't be able to afford them.......Take care, Eric