Physan and Misting System

[Becca]

Thanks for that refresher Ross. I will stop using it in my water reservoir and just get off my lazy but and clean my orchidarium like I should. But I do have to say, I have had less bacterial peoblems on leaves since I started adding it into the water reservoir.

[Ross]

Yep! And orchard growers had far less borers, etc. when they sprayed DDT over the years

Sorry, couldn't resist. Lots of the apple orchards out your way were involved and lead arsenate was another oldie but "goodie".

Nothing wrong with manually spraying down whole inside of orchidarium with whatever you like, but it's the regular set-and-forget process I have been objecting to. If anything, the manual process lets you think about what you are doing as you do it. Thanks Becca.

[kavanaru]

wow... thanks all for the info...

[wetfeet101b]

I would just like to touch on the California-EPA restrictions on Physan 20.
I have contacted the manufacturer since this is a concern for me as well (I live in California and I sometimes have the need to use Physan 20 on my orchids).
And in fact, I have never seen the California restrictions on my 8oz bottle - since there was none printed.
But after reading this thread, I looked at the different Physan 20 bottles at Home Depot and indeed the 1gal jug had the restriction printed.

Here is a response directly from Maril Products regarding the "Not approved for use on plants in California":
"Thank you for your message. The gallon label that you refer to is an outdated label. Physan 20 is approved for use on orchids in California."

They also sent an attachment for the updated application concentrations, and those resemble the new 8oz labels.

I guess at one time they had the California restrictions printed on their labels and once Cal-EPA approved Physan 20 for that application they updated their labels. But since the 1-gallon jugs take a while to be used up, the inventory of old labeled jugs are still on the market.

Of course, that does not mean that the product is any "safer" than before, and obvious common-sense safety practices should always be observed.

Happy Growing.
John

[Ross]

Originally Posted by wetfeet101b

I would just like to touch on the California-EPA restrictions on Physan 20.
I have contacted the manufacturer since this is a concern for me as well (I live in California and I sometimes have the need to use Physan 20 on my orchids).
And in fact, I have never seen the California restrictions on my 8oz bottle - since there was none printed.
But after reading this thread, I looked at the different Physan 20 bottles at Home Depot and indeed the 1gal jug had the restriction printed.

Here is a response directly from Maril Products regarding the "Not approved for use on plants in California":
"Thank you for your message. The gallon label that you refer to is an outdated label. Physan 20 is approved for use on orchids in California."

They also sent an attachment for the updated application concentrations, and those resemble the new 8oz labels.

I guess at one time they had the California restrictions printed on their labels and once Cal-EPA approved Physan 20 for that application they updated their labels. But since the 1-gallon jugs take a while to be used up, the inventory of old labeled jugs are still on the market.

Of course, that does not mean that the product is any "safer" than before, and obvious common-sense safety practices should always be observed.

Happy Growing.
John

Thanks, John. My case exactly. While a spray may be registered for use doesn't make it "safe" indoors. The applicator must make that descision. "Safe use" is determined by how safely the product is applied. While there are certain homeopathic products that can be dosed liberally on everything and anything, that is not the case for Physan or lots of others. Especially in the house, where pets and/or kids may come in contact. The point here, I think, is we want to assure folks are not spraying chemicals liberally unless they know what they are doing. Especially not with our recommendation!

[Ray]

Going back to Ross' "response nobody has responded to", I think one has to be very careful when using or reading the term "organic", and interpreting that as "safe".

Both acephate (Orthene) and imidicloprid (Merit) are organic chemicals..... Need I say more?

[Don Perusse]

Even us old timers need a refresher every now and then.
This was a good thread and I want to thank all for the reminders of using ANY chemical. Sometimes we get involved in our own daily lives and forget some of the practices we started with and the consequences in the future. Thanks, everyone!