Tiny Rust Colored Spots on Roots of Phal & White Scale on Leave

[Undergrounder]

I've never used Physan because it's not available where i live, but yes, i believe it works on any kind of fungus.

As i mentioned though, unless you're getting the fungus on your leaves, around the crown, or on healthy green/white roots, i wouldn't worry about the fungus treatment. If your media is nice and fresh, you shouldn't be getting fungus in your media either. For surface and immediate treatments against fungus, i use either a very dilute amount of household bleach in a spray bottle of water, or 3% hydrogen peroxide. But i believe physan works well too.

[karey96]

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

For surface and immediate treatments against fungus, i use either a very dilute amount of household bleach in a spray bottle of water, or 3% hydrogen peroxide. But i believe physan works well too.

Do you also dilute the 3% hydrogen peroxide (if so, what ratios) and should I spray the entire plant or just use a cotton swab and go over the area with the black fungus.

Also, the orange mostly came off when I peeled off the dead petioles, but there is still a few little areas down around the roots. Should I dip the bottom part of the orchid in the peroxide or spray all of it including the leaves to get rid of these molds? Thanks for your help

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by karey96

Do you also dilute the 3% hydrogen peroxide (if so, what ratios) and should I spray the entire plant or just use a cotton swab and go over the area with the black fungus.

Also, the orange mostly came off when I peeled off the dead petioles, but there is still a few little areas down around the roots. Should I dip the bottom part of the orchid in the peroxide or spray all of it including the leaves to get rid of these molds? Thanks for your help

I just use 3% straight, and i spray, although using a cotton swab would be a good idea, because the 3% itself doesn't 'stick' to the surface of the leaves, it tends to form drops and roll off. So swab would be good.

You just need to spray/swab the affected bits, not the whole plant.

P.S. H202 is just a surface mold/fungus killer, its not a systemic fungacide. So it will kill things on site without giving the plant itself any added protection - which is fine for most molds. I use it to stop black spots from growing and spread on leaves mostly.

But now that you've cleaned up the plant, you shouldn't really be seeing more mold spreading (it generally only grows on bits that are already dead, and on decomposing medium). So if it's still a problem, and affecting healthy thick roots, or healthy green leaves, it's a more serious problem and you might want to do some of the things suggested by other people in this thread.