Soaking multiple orchids in a common solution.

[RosieC]

With the risk of viruses spreading to other plants, this doesn't matter so much to me. I just don't care about my other house plants or garden plants in the same way I care about the orchids. If and when other plants die I just replace them, when an orchid dies I'm very saddened by it's loss. So I use the orchid water on other plants not because I think that nothing will spread, but because I don't care so much if it does

[Becky15349]

i said much the same thing, i didnt watering to become a hassle...until i started seeing necrotic spots and stripes on my catt pbulbs and leaves, deformed new growths and blooms, and some buds that blasted for no reason on plants that had previously been dependable. it was beyond heartbreaking. im still working on paying off the credit card bills i racked up replacing my plants...near $600. if you have only a few plants, i can understand, replacing them would be not as big a deal...i just figure we invest so much in these plants, why not do it right? i just never want anyone to go through what i just went through. ps. i tested with a virus test kit, and after performing similar tests in graduate school on other plants, i was familiar with the testing procedure. all my plants tested positive for tobacco mosaic and one other, cant recall the name now.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Becky15349

i said much the same thing, i didnt watering to become a hassle...until i started seeing necrotic spots and stripes on my catt pbulbs and leaves, deformed new growths and blooms, and some buds that blasted for no reason on plants that had previously been dependable. it was beyond heartbreaking. im still working on paying off the credit card bills i racked up replacing my plants...near $600. if you have only a few plants, i can understand, replacing them would be not as big a deal...i just figure we invest so much in these plants, why not do it right? i just never want anyone to go through what i just went through. ps. i tested with a virus test kit, and after performing similar tests in graduate school on other plants, i was familiar with the testing procedure. all my plants tested positive for tobacco mosaic and one other, cant recall the name now.

So sorry to hear that. Out of interest can I ask if you are a smoker? I have heard TMV can be passed to plants from the hands of a smoker if they handle the plants without disinfecting.

[Leafmite]

Thanks, Becky. I have read so much conflicting info. Last spring, we lost a pear to a bacterial infection (fire blight) and we see our chestnut fighting the disease that wiped out nearly all the American chestnuts in the US. I don't like the thought of introducing viruses, bacteria, fungus, or insects, to a new place, to plants that may have no resistance to them. I didn't realize how common it was for orchids to be sold virused. After all the problems caused by introduced diseases, I think it is insane to sell things that are diseased, especially to ship them.