Viruses and unconfirmed facts

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by escualida

There is one vendor that once sent me a live moth wrapped in the newspaper along with some bare root phals, and on a separate occasion sent a FROG wrapped up with one of their plants!

That would be hilarious, except that I'd guess it didn't end well for the frog. Or did he survive the trip and live happily ever after for however long frogs generally live?

[escualida]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

That would be hilarious, except that I'd guess it didn't end well for the frog. Or did he survive the trip and live happily ever after for however long frogs generally live?

Well he survived the trip, he actually jumped out at me when I took the tape off of the plant. I live in a NYC apartment and I'm also super squeamish so I wasn't very amused. It was a bit of an ordeal to trap him, he was very small and jumped under the dishwasher, took me a while but I finally caught him and put him outside.

[nikkik]

I did get an e-mail from the speaker and he did refer me to some studies regarding orchid viruses, although none specific to Hawaii. I think most of us can agree that many mass produced orchids may carry viruses, but the statement that 90% of orchids coming out of Hawaii are virused doesn't have the scientific research to back it up (that I know of). My personal conclusion is that this statement is untrue.

Thank you all for making this thread so informative.

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by escualida

Well he survived the trip, he actually jumped out at me when I took the tape off of the plant. I live in a NYC apartment and I'm also super squeamish so I wasn't very amused. It was a bit of an ordeal to trap him, he was very small and jumped under the dishwasher, took me a while but I finally caught him and put him outside.

Wow! I can't imagine opening a box of orchids and having a frog hop out! My cats and kids would've been happy though!! Lol!!

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

{OW made a snip}
I would not compare virused animals and virused plants mainly because they are just so different.

Let me first start with your 20+ year old helahty looking & performing plant. What is it by the way? I'm quite curious.

You could say it is virus free, but without testing, you cannot be sure as you say. but then again, for all practical reasons, why would you worry when the plant is apparently doing so well for so long? would be my opinion especially you also mentioned that you treat your plants as if they were all virused.
That is actually what everyone should do, and that way, the transmission of viruses within one's collection may stay low if not zero.

I applaud your "clean" practice! {OW made another snip}

Well, it's taken a while to get to it, but here are two of my oldies:

Cattlianthe Golden Wax (these are the blooms right now):


C. Orglade's Blaze (pictures are from summer 2012):


Sorry, I don't have pics of the other oldies at the moment. The Wayndora gets bigger & bigger, but is stubborn to bloom for me right now.

[NYCorchidman]

Beautiful! especially the second one. my kind of cattleya flower shape.

Thanks!

[Orchid Whisperer]

Thanks! I prefer the older, classic flower shapes too.

Many of the old classics are getting harder to find. Too many new hybrid Catts look too much like daylilies for my taste, especially the peloric ones.

[lepetitmartien]

In Europe we don't get plants from Hawaii, but we are very suspicious on phals from Taïwan, and of Catts raised in SE Asia.

The only assured diagnose is thru testing, but a repeated color break is a win-a-bin-ticket. Others signs can be very misleading. But sure, slower than normal growth, a plant prone to diseases can raise suspicion.

You can see ORSV proteic agglomerates with a microscope with specific lab colorations, I'm investigating to see if it's easily done at home or not. I saw this in an INRA book (french national agronomy research institute)

[Paul]

Originally Posted by JanS

Here is my question: can orchid viruses be transferred through re-using the same water for multiple orchids?

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I have been advised not to re-use water as you have been doing, because of the POTENTIAL to spread viruses or other diseases.

Theory goes, root tissues could be broken (mechanical injury, bug/slug damage, etc.) before you water. If you water & two plants exchange sap from a virused to non-virused plant, you could exchange disease.

^^^^this^^^^

In addition, there is the risk of transferring mites, thrips, or other undesirables -- either as eggs or as nymphs or adults -- from one pot/basket to another. Not only can this then spread any pest problem you might have, but (from what I have heard/read) if the pests are sap suckers and have been feeding on an infected plant, there is the possibility of their transmitting a virus to a healthy plant when they start feeding on it. (Similar to mosquitos, ticks, and fleas with disease transmission.)

Originally Posted by escualida

There is one vendor that once sent me a live moth wrapped in the newspaper along with some bare root phals, and on a separate occasion sent a FROG wrapped up with one of their plants!

Ooo! I would have liked the "bonus" frog. Depending upon whether or not it was a species native to your region, releasing it may have been unwise. If the frog was not native then releasing it into an environment it was not adapted to would possibly have been a death sentence. Furthermore, if the frog had any pathogens to which amphibians in your area have no immunological defense, it could adversely affect the amphs in your area. Then there is the possibility that if the frog was a non-native gravid female that could successfully adapt to your region, there could be the issue of establishing a population that might out compete a native species. {Please don't take all this as a rebuke. I know you were trying to do it a kindness. Should an event like this reoccur, perhaps a local school teacher, herp society, or pet store would be willing to take it?}

[WhiteRabbit]

I can't say about viruses, but bacterial and fungal infections could likely be spread through water sharing.

[lepetitmartien]

Mind that if you have spidermites (can move with air), thrips (fly…) and the like (some have even human helping), it won't change much. They spread very well without watering in common. The main issue are imho bacterias and fungi, and secondary viruses. It's their main way to move on for bacterias, and secondary to fungus as spores can go airborne first.