Cinnamon as an orchid fungicide - Science or Nonsense

[Ray]

Originally Posted by K-Sci

I dust all orchid tissue cuts with Thiomyl systemic fungicide on a sterile Q-tip, for example.

Why would you do that when many infections are bacterial? That probably wouldn’t pass “peer review.”

I think cinnamon bark powder is primarily a desiccant (and far better than sawdust), but the bactericidal and fungicidal properties certainly cannot hurt anything.

When extracted in water or alcohol, cinnamaldehyde is present, which is well-established as a mild bactericide and fungicide.

If you want something more powerful, look into cinnamon leaf oil. (It is available from cinnamonvogue.com) It contains the much more powerful eugenol, which has proven to have antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, and antineoplasticity properties, according to the NIH.

I once contracted a toenail fungal infection, and my doctor, dermatologist, and brother-in-law (also a Dr.) all talked about the difficulty in curing such infections, how the medications for it tend to be toxic to the liver, and the only known “safe” remedies are stuff like soaking your feet in vinegar, and/or painting the nail with Vick’s VapoRub, neither of which is quickly effective.

I used a q-tip to “paint” the nail and cuticle with cinnamon leaf oil, covering with a bandaid, and within 6 weeks the infection was gone. It takes about a year for the damaged nail to be replaced, but there was a sharp delineation between the new-, and damaged tissue. That dermatologist now recommends it routinely.