BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL....ANYONE?

[manoj]

Can anyone guide me regarding the use of psuedomonas, trichoderma, beauveria, verticellum, etc. on orchids? Four years back I had a serious fungus problem in my garden and I sprayed pseudomonas on my orchids among other known tricks. It stinked like hell for an entire day but none of my plants died after that.

[Bud]

with my fungus problems...I just have a mix of:

10 drops dish soap
1/2 teaspoon cinammon extract
2 cups tepid water

spray it on the whole plant and whatever is left soak the plant pot to kill fungus in the media.
cinammon has a fungicide (but dont use the powder=it can dessicate the roots)
also use the tumeric extract but it is not rare but hard to find in grocery stores

[Orchid126]

Wow. I have a very nasty lung infection that has been identified as Pseudomonas. It requires a full month of inhaling antibiotics four times a day, and even then it comes back after a couple of months. Almost impossible to get rid of. Can't imagine anyone spraying it all over the place.

[Erythrone]

I use Beauvaria (Botanigard) for control of Mealies and Thrips on orchids. I begun to treat with it last year. I apply it every 2 to 4 weeks to keep the pest population low.

I use it mainly on Paphs, Phrags and Dendrobiums.

I also use beneficials against thrips, Mealybugs and mite.

[Erythrone]

Originally Posted by Orchid126

Wow. I have a very nasty lung infection that has been identified as Pseudomonas. It requires a full month of inhaling antibiotics four times a day, and even then it comes back after a couple of months. Almost impossible to get rid of. Can't imagine anyone spraying it all over the place.

There are many species of Pseudomonas

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Orchid126

Wow. I have a very nasty lung infection that has been identified as Pseudomonas. It requires a full month of inhaling antibiotics four times a day, and even then it comes back after a couple of months. Almost impossible to get rid of. Can't imagine anyone spraying it all over the place.

Like Erythrone says, there are many species of Pseudomonas, it's a very broad and complicated genus. There are species that infect animals, and others that infect plants, and yet others that are beneficial soil bacteria, which are the ones cultured and used as abiocontrol agent. So there is no harm in spraying, other than the smell!

At the university where I work there are some limitations on the Pseudomonas strains that we use in research on plants. Any strain that has optimal growth between 36 an 39°C (human body temperature range) is forbidden as there do exist risks of human infection.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by Erythrone

I use Beauvaria (Botanigard) for control of Mealies and Thrips on orchids. I begun to treat with it last year. I apply it every 2 to 4 weeks to keep the pest population low.

I use it mainly on Paphs, Phrags and Dendrobiums.

I also use beneficials against thrips, Mealybugs and mite.

Anyone else using Botanigard?