a couple of questions - Orchid Board

mattryan · #1 11-14-2010, 02:01 PM

everyone i never thought it would happen...but i did it crown rot uggghhh. Anyway i have a few questions and i figure this could be a good time to experiment. No leaves ...few roots so i potted it up in small pot with sphagg...first time i'm trying it i usually get them out of it asap! Now i know this will be a long and probably an unrewarding process, but i would like to try and see what happens. Is crown rot contagious? Also i have it in a small greenhouse by itself in sphagg with only the roots covered should i leave the top on or off the greenhouse? Any other suggestions would be great..it was a recovery effort before it did this

So i am trying to see the positive and learn something besides not letting water sit in crown

Afterall it's not dead til it's dead! Thanks for any help

Izzie · #2 11-14-2010, 02:21 PM

It has the best chance if you can keep the humidity high, and allow air to circulate. Hopefully you treated it with brown listerine, hydrogen peroxide, or some other antifungal/bacterial.
Crown rot is not contagious- it's just the result of allowing water to sit in the crown for too long, or having soggy medium too closely packed around the crown/base of the leaves.

Next time, if you catch it early, just pour hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle into the crown, and blow it out after a few minutes.

mattryan · #3 11-14-2010, 03:05 PM

will cinnamon work too? I wish i had of caught it earlier still would of had 2 leaves

thanks hun for the help

another.one · #4 11-14-2010, 03:07 PM

I've heard Physan 20 solution helps kill crown rot.

RosieC · #5 11-17-2010, 07:03 AM

The best thing is to poor Hydrogen Peroxide in the crown. Let it fix and when it stops poor it out.

If the crown is already too damaged then you will need to hope the plant produces a basil keiki. If you are lucky

: then the center of the crown may still be alive and able to keep growing.

Ray · #6 11-17-2010, 08:30 AM

Of course crown rot is contagious - it IS a fungus, after all, so will spread, given the right conditions. Fungi don't just spring up out of nothing, the fruiting bodies are splashed and blow around. That is not to say that having it in the same environment as other plants will cause it to spread - the other plants would have to be failing due to the standing water, and you'd probably have to splash between them while watering.

The hydrogen peroxide application is a good idea for treatment, but while it will kill what it comes in contact with, it can still leave moist, decomposing tissue that will be a great home for more fungi. Your idea of following that up with a hefty dose of cinnamon powder is a good one, as that will dry up the tissues and be a preventive treatment, as well.

Ray · #7 11-17-2010, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieC

The best thing is to poor Hydrogen Peroxide in the crown. Let it fix and when it stops poor it out.

If the crown is already too damaged then you will need to hope the plant produces a basil keiki. If you are lucky

: then the center of the crown may still be alive and able to keep growing.

Please forgive me, Rosie, but have you been taking a few too many "nips"?

We're letting the peroxide "fix", and then we want to "poor" it out?

Actually, I'm waiting to see if we get a "basil" keiki, as not only would the blossoms smell great, we could use it in spaghetti sauce!

RosieC · #8 11-17-2010, 10:05 AM

Sorry, think 'Fizz' was the word I was going for there

RosieC · #9 11-17-2010, 10:07 AM

Good tip on the cinnamon Ray. Now you say that I realise I alway apply cinammon to anything 'wet' looking after any sort of damage to dry it up and try and prevent further infection.