Quote:
Originally Posted by PitcherASAMD
Hey Susanne --
I have a question about using the listerine...Do you literally take some listerine mouth wash, put it into the spray bottle and spray the whole plant down? Any water added to dilute it? What are the benefits of using this? Will it hurt the plant at all? I've never heard of this and am interested in using it when I get my new orchid next month. Thanks for the feedback!
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Yup...plain old "brown" or original Listerine (I use the store brands, much cheaper
)
I keep a sprayer of it readily available and use it when I'm repotting, or when I see a little snow mold or even when I see "something" that I don't like the looks of
For some reason, anything I've read on it says to only use the original "flavor', not the minty stuff...but...somebody else on OB once tried it with the mint flavor and had no adverse affects. I tried it too and had no problems.
When I'm spraying a potted plant I just spray and leave it without rinsing. When I'm repotting, there's more of a procedure followed: remove the plant from the pot, trim away any bad roots and remove the papery covering that is on the canes of the plants, spray every area of the plant with the Listerine (even down in the crevices of the leaves), let it sit for a minute or two and then rinse it all away. I turn the plant upside down to get any liquid out of the crown or the folds of the leaves). Then, I spray the roots again without rinsing and pot the plant in it's new clean pot
I started doing this because of my dogs, I didn't want to use anything that would make me worry if they licked it. Turns out it's something that I wouldn't think of not having!
Lots of other OB folks also use it now
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