Orchids in full hydroponics

[estación seca]

You shouldn't need to use prophylactic antiseptics if conditions are correct.

[Ray]

I think pH and EC are they way to go for monitoring the bath.

Physan will kill viruses, but I think that in order for it to be effective in preventing spread, the concentration might have to be too high for plants.

As E.C., said, I doubt there's too much to worry about, except for the virus potential. Here's why that would concern me:

I feel that plants, just like us, carry every disease to which we have been exposed, including viruses. If the culture is good, virused plants can live for years without showing any symptoms. I assume they can share those pathogens even when healthy, but if they get stressed in any way, the virus can explode into growth, making that plant the veritable "Typhoid Mary" and infect everything in the the vicinity.

[Leafmite]

If anyone can provide a link to a study done with plant-virus transmission through water, please post it. It would be useful information to include in this thread.

So far, I have only found scientific studies that involve either munching or sucking insects or manual transmission of the virus by creating a wound and introducing the sap.

With hydroponics so common to grow other types of plants, it is quite natural for many to wonder why it is not done more often with orchids. How does a commercial business hydroponically growing tomatoes prevent the spread of virus that would destroy their entire yield?

[estación seca]

Tomatoes have been bred to be resistant to common viruses. Orchids have not. Most gardeners don't pay any attention to viruses at all, only orchid growers. It is highly likely many other kinds of plants that have been grown for decades have unrecognized viruses.

I'm growing tomatoes right next to a Datura infected with tobacco mosaic virus. The tomato was bred to be resistant, and shows no signs of infection.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Here's a link to some information about disease problems in hydroponic systems growing vegetables, I think a lot of it would apply to orchids. UV treatment of the nutrient solution looks interesting and least-toxic.

Greenhouse Vegetable Information - Disease in hydroponic systems.

And another link to an abstract--I couldn't get to the full article:
Plant viruses in aqueous environment - survival, water mediated transmission and detection. - PubMed - NCBI
but here's a direct quote from the abstract:
"Infectious plant pathogenic viruses from at least 7 different genera have been found in aqueous environment. The majority of the plant pathogenic viruses so far recovered from environmental waters are very stable, they can infect plants via the roots without the aid of a vector and often have a wide host range." Again, not specific to orchids but I don't know why it wouldn't apply.

[snowflake311]

Here are my Orchid Phals. growing really well in the aquarium. one bloomed in W/C but I moved it into the take now. The other bloomed in S/H but it only has one root so I think it will be better in the tank. The Stripe Phal bloomed in the Tank. The one with the big leaves was a trash orchid found in the trash as my kids school. I put it in the fish tank and it has new roots and a new leaf. I thought it was going to die but nope it is fine.

This is the only way I can grow Phals. I have a 100Gall Tank I might set up with more Phals. I need to figure out a better way to hang them in the tank water.


As you can see I grow aquatic plants pretty well so I knew the orchids would like it too. This was my last hope to keep phals alive. The tank water is always in the mid 70Fs to 80F

[pforrester1]

Snowflake,
How high is the water level on the base of the orchid?

[Leafmite]

Thanks! These articles were great! I think I remember hearing about water passing through a UV filter before being recirculated.

Originally Posted by Arizona Jeanie

Here's a link to some information about disease problems in hydroponic systems growing vegetables, I think a lot of it would apply to orchids. UV treatment of the nutrient solution looks interesting and least-toxic.

Greenhouse Vegetable Information - Disease in hydroponic systems.

And another link to an abstract--I couldn't get to the full article:
Plant viruses in aqueous environment - survival, water mediated transmission and detection. - PubMed - NCBI
but here's a direct quote from the abstract:
"Infectious plant pathogenic viruses from at least 7 different genera have been found in aqueous environment. The majority of the plant pathogenic viruses so far recovered from environmental waters are very stable, they can infect plants via the roots without the aid of a vector and often have a wide host range." Again, not specific to orchids but I don't know why it wouldn't apply.

[snowflake311]

Originally Posted by pforrester1

Snowflake,
How high is the water level on the base of the orchid?

When I do my first water Changes on the tank the water is high and all of the roots are in the tank.

Here is a video I did on it you can see how it is.

Aquaponic phalaenopsis - YouTube

[pforrester1]

Loved the video. Thanks