The only plants I ever lose are seedlings, and those will practically always be the smallest of the small. Growing seedlings can be challenging. I don't even bother growing from flask or compot any longer. I just can't spend the time and effort to grow them. Seedlings/plugs are my starting point now, though I still purchase an awful lot of NBS and BS orchids.

I know that some virus are stealthy and it's not obvious that they are sick.... Last Fall, I bought a VERY robust NOID from Soroa Orchids in Homestead,FL. I was assured by the staff that the grower (who is an AOS judge) would ID the plant for me when it bloomed..it had 5 or 6 spikes with 4 or 5 buds per spike...I paid $35. for it.
When it bloomed a month later...this is what I got..





but I would hate to have this happen to ANY of my other plants...especially where I grow outside and can't control the
comings and goings of every thrip and aphid .
Sadly, I know longer give Soroa my business...or even a good recommendation ..he never responded to the 3 emails I sent ..
even after a phone call with him.
At a seminar in Miami at the Tamiami Show I went to a presentation on 'Orchid diseases that are a problem for homeowner growers and commercial orchid production'...given by Robert T. McMillan, Jr. PHD. At the end of the presentation I showed these photos to Dr. McMillian ...to get a confirmation that this was a virus ..which he was able to quickly do...he asked where I got the plant and when I said from Soroa...he shrugged his shoulders and reminded me of one of the slides in his show that was illustrating bad greenhouse practices..He couldn't name them publicly but that's where my plant came from.

Yikes! Yes, this one is definitely one for the garbage heap!

But you can name them publicly, and hey, why not protect your friends, right? It's good to know not to buy from them.

In his presentation, did Dr. McMillan specifically mention viruses? Just wondering, because Martin Motes barely mentions it in passing in his book. It seems to me that either this isn't a big, widespread problem (yet anyway) or there's really not much we can do about it as home growers, except practice good sanitation, bug control etc. Especially growing outdoors, in uncontrolled conditions.

We had Janet Lamborn come to an Orchid Society meeting last year and talk about viruses. I found this video of her presentation - audio is not great but its the whole speal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

He did.. His handout was 25 pages , printed on both sides.. This was just the PowerPoint slides. On the diseases section the best chemical treatment is listed for that problem. He was kind enough to to send the color DVD to anyone that asked ..free of charge. He was a fascinating and entertaining speaker.. Despite a pretty depressing topic

Ok now this is getting really REALLY depressing. Was just out fetching some cattleyas in under cover from the monsoon, and Gee! After looking at all those pictures, and Daisy's YouTube video, I'm seeing spots and mottles and all sorts of stuff that "could be" virus symptoms. Argh.

Growers don't want to tell us how bad a plague like this is, so we will keep on buying and trying to grow orchids. However, we must "soldier on" I think. I'm also still thinking I'd rather not know for sure who is sick and who isn't.

I kind of feel the same way, Elaine. I want to identify any plant that has "issues", but gosh, it is sort of depressing, knowing that all my plants may be virused (as well as every other orchid in existence). Perhaps we can simply call this the "norm" and go on about our business of growing and enjoying our plants, only throwing out those that we deem unworthy of our care.

I think that virus test kit that I had mentioned earlier only tests for 2 of the most common virus ..Dr. McMillan's hand out has 6 ( I think) pictures of different virus ..
We haven't had a drop of rain here in a few days..I got another layer of Dayconil on my plants this morning..the next 7 days are all 100% chance of rain...I'll be putting my tarp back up as long as it's not too breezy.

This was a pretty windy storm that came through just now, but it's gone by and doesn't look like a whole lot more coming tonight - hey, maybe I'll get some fert sprayed around out there tomorrow morning!

Yes, the virus test strips that Jim mentioned are just for the two common viruses, as well. At $140 for 25 tests, that's $560 to buy enough to test everybody here. Ain't happening.

Ken, I suppose you could get some, then offer to test any orchid you are selling, for an extra $5 on top of the purchase price. If I were someone selling orchids for a living, I'd really be having a hard time with this issue! Do you sell orchids you know may be infected? Do you raise your price by $5 or more each plant so you can test each orchid before you sell it? Do you test your whole greenhouse every ?? month or two and get rid of possibly hundreds of orchids that test positive?

Well, maybe this explains why the prices for premium orchids have been going up so fast in recent years.

It is a dilemma, but one primarily faced by the really "commercial" growers. They are the ones propagating and hybridizing by the thousands of plants and have workers. Someone like me, with no employees whatsoever (and little profit), couldn't possibly do this once for every plant, much less several times a year. You know, in the five years of my having this tiny business, I don't remember a single person asking whether my plants had been virus-tested. I will say that all the NBS and BS orchids I purchase, are said to be virus-free. I doubt that term can even be possible to be true. Too many virus possibilities. I do know that of the hundreds of (this size) plants I have purchased, I have had a handful that either had some rot (not acceptable) or I wondered about virus because of the leaf-pattern. I have always informed my commercial grower (and attached photos) and they have replaced those plants, no questions asked. I have never told them that I found rot/virus, only that the such and such plant(s) could not be sold. The photos told the story though.

Also, even for the commercial growers that do some virus testing, how many of the multitude of viruses can they check for? If there are dozens of viruses that can infect orchids, and the grower checks for 2, 4 or even 6, what good are those results? I'm afraid that there are more questions than answers here. .

I simply can't drive myself crazy for something they may be present or not. I try to keep things clean and try to take good care of my plants, but what happens happens. I will deal with it when I see it.

Can I join your group, Ursula? That's about all I know to do as well.

Yes, Ken, you can join my group!

Ken, if you watch the video that Daisy posted the link for, Janet Lamborn, the lecturer specifically says that nobody can possibly "guarantee" that any orchid is virus-free. There simply isn't a test for them all. Plus a plant that tests negative today may test positive in a month, or next year.

She is from Agdia, the company that makes the test strips. It's probably true that she is on a mission to encourage orchid growers to buy their product and test for viruses but it sure seems like she's being honest about the big picture, anyway.

Btw back to the original talk about disinfecting tools, I read through Martin Motes' chapters on diseases again, and he says he uses a 50% Physan solution because bleach is just too caustic and hard on the tools and anything else it touches, like your clothes and your skin. I hate using chemicals and have been just using hot water - a cup boiled in the microwave cleans up all the tools each day. But I think I'll start keeping a jar of Physan solution out there. That's my sole concession to the virus threat.

When Janet Lamborn spoke to our orchid society, I did feel like I was listening to an infomercial but she had a lot of good information too. I decided not to worry about it but to be aware and do what I can to keep viruses out of the GH and control any I might already have.

There is always Physan for sale at our orchid society meetings (along with other 'necessities'). I think I'll get a bottle next meeting.

I have Physan in every greenhouse and also in the solarium. I simply don't use much of it. It just seems so "bland". Maybe I need to force myself to use more of it.............before it expires.

I've read on another site to beware of over using Physan on plants, as it's an ammonia based product. I have never done the research myself, but tho expensive, it does work for steralizing tools and killing algae.

We've discussed the use of Physan before and I never spray it on plants. Some do, however, with success. There are generic versions for less money.

Jim

Yes, seems like the jury's still out on using Physan on plants - Motes uses it according to his book, but not as a fungicide - specifically against bacterial diseases like Erwinia and Pseudomonas. I have definitely seen more leaf spots since I stopped spraying my plants with it and he says it helps with control of things like Botrytis, too.

Motes also mentions that the cheap algaecide called "Pool Time" available at the big box stores is the same formula and a LOT cheaper. I'm now using it on the screening of the pool cage, and the pavers. Some overspray probably gets on the orchids when I spray the cage, but not that much.

It's very tempting to give them a good spray at this time of year when they're staying so VERY wet though. Hmm, maybe I'll spray the cage this morning . . . ?? All my cattleyas are under cover drying out today. Too much rain expected in the next few days for them. At least this weather front also brings some wind, which will help dry things out between deluges.