Physan, Phyton or Thiomyl??

[orchidjunky]

Was thinking of investing in different fungacide treatments and wanted to know what's the difference between these three...

I see that most people on these boards are using at least one of the 3. Do they do all the same thing or are some better than others?

Are they used as soaks, as in you dump it into the media or is it more of a spray?

Also, Listerine, Rubbing Alcohol and Cinammon.. hmm so many options?!

So is the best plan of attack using Listerine, rubbing alcohol and sealing wounds with cinammon first? and then if it gets worse use the other commercial fungacides?!

[Ross]

I use Physan 20 and Thiomyl for two very different things. I do not use any of the other mentioned things except Alcohol.

Physan 20 is a great product for algae, mild molds and stuff like that. I spray, pour through medium, dunk, etc. depending on the thing I am after. In my orchidarium I use it on the background coco mat to kill the mold that crops up every so often.

Thiomyl is a systemic and registered for root rot, leaf rot, etc. If I get rot cropping up, then I douse the plant with this. The roots must be partially viable for it to work through the roots. Obviously if all the roots are gone, then pouring through the medium won't work. Orchids don't take up much through the leaves, but a little might get in so I spray.

Alcohol is great for advanced cases of mold/rot on mounts. I wouldn't use directly on any plant I own, or roots either. But when you get stubborn cases of mold on mounts, nothing is better! At least that I have tried.

[orchidjunky]

So if you have persistent leaf rot.. use thiomyl??

is this also effective against bacteiral type rots in addition to the fungal?

[Ross]

Originally Posted by orchidjunky

So if you have persistent leaf rot.. use thiomyl??

is this also effective against bacteiral type rots in addition to the fungal?

Labels says yes. My experience (and I keep both handy in case) is I go to Thiomyl when I suspect any kind of rot that I think can be cured from within. I tend to go to Physan for most molds.

[BikerDoc5968]

A MSU professor who I know told me that one of the best, maybe because it's cheap, treatments for crown rot in phals is the cinnamon/alcohol mix. He told me to mix both together and allow to stand for several days, then decant off the liquid which should have aquired the "cinnamon" color and apply this aldehyde to the plant. I have been using Physan-20's brother RD-20 which is exactly the same formulation. I do just as Ross does...I spray the entire GH including plants, sidewalls, benches, floor and anything else that gets in the way once a month and it seems to have made a big difference for me. What your experience will be is something for your conditions. I know the frustration and pain to see your plants not perform their best with all your hard work.....

[orchidjunky]

Originally Posted by Ross

Labels says yes. My experience (and I keep both handy in case) is I go to Thiomyl when I suspect any kind of rot that I think can be cured from within. I tend to go to Physan for most molds.

Just out of curioisty is spraying the affected leaf areas with thiomyl more effective then pouring it into the media (if there are more than enough viable roots that is)?

[Ross]

Originally Posted by orchidjunky

Just out of curioisty is spraying the affected leaf areas with thiomyl more effective then pouring it into the media (if there are more than enough viable roots that is)?

Assuming viable roots, then I would suggest root application is best for most orchids. Most orchids don't absorb through leaves like lots od other plants.

[William]

What about frequency? How often can you use Thiomyl? I heard that initially you start at once a week for a month, then once a month thereafter.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by William

What about frequency? How often can you use Thiomyl? I heard that initially you start at once a week for a month, then once a month thereafter.

For me, a couple treatments is all that is required. I don't think the long-term regimen is necessary. Either it works or it doesn't. Just my opinion.

[Miyuki]

Thiomyl sounds interesting, but I haven't seen any available here. Would any of you who use it be able to post the chemical description?