can orchids share the same bath water??

[ddivey36]

So my question is:
In some of the threads- people say they soak their orchids, weekly or monthly to flush out the salt build up.....

SO- hypothetically speaking, if I fill up a bath tub full of the rainwater that I collected last week, add the correct amount of fertilizer - does it have to be ONE orchid per soak (only the pots-bases-not the leaves) OR can Several orchids "bathe" for 15 minutes?

If there was a virus, pest etc, would that transfer in the water?????

[Jenn4a]

This is something I've been looking up,
I know that viruses can pass by touching leaf to leaf, or mainly by tools (knives, scissors) that spread the infected viral fluids.
If these infected fluids get into the water, I'm sure it could be spread.

But if I'm wrong, I'm sorry... Just a newbie... I've also read a couple times that it's generally safer practice to not reuse the water to prevent spreads of illness and/or possible pest.

[Ray]

You are correct. A common bath is the ideal way to share plant pathogens!

I find that an overall better way of handling that is to use a very dilute fertilizer (I divide 2 by the %N on the label to determine the teaspoons per gallon to use), and flood the crap out of the pot when watering (literally and figuratively). That way the excess watering flushes, feeds, waters, and oxygenates the pot all at once.

[Plodde]

Bugs can be spread this way. But I don't know about viruses. I use the same "bath water" but only after I have repotted all my new orchids

[ddivey36]

Thanks Ray! That is what I thought, but I had read several posts that indicated that "soaking the roots" was good as it allowed the plant to hydrate better, but I would think that would depend on the roots of the plant, logically your way simulates natural rain the best and this is the practice I have adopted.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Viruses too, especially if plants sharing the communal bath have injured roots, etc. Ditto fungi, bacteria, insects, etc.

There are better ways of conserving water.

[Leafmite]

It depends on how well you trust your plants to be healthy and free of disease.
I try to buy my orchids from vendors who have been in business a long time and who have a good reputation. This minimizes the chance of disease. Still, I do keep new orchids isolated for a while, until I see them putting out new growth and roots. When I put them with the other orchids, I keep the leaves from touching and I treat them carefully so as not to spread anything to the older orchids. These, I would not soak with my other orchids.
After a few years, I treat them as if they are free of disease. I figure that if they had a virus, they would have shown it by now by declining/lack of vigor or other problems.
I actually have two orchids that, even after two years, I keep separate from the other plants and orchids. I still have not figured out if they are completely healthy.
I am just a hobby grower, though, and do not hybridize or sell orchids so I can be a little lax.

[Ray]

I may be wrong about this, but I am of the opinion (and have read stuff that backs me up), that, just like us, plants harbor pretty much every disease to which they have ever been exposed. Grow them well and stress-free, and the symptoms may never express themselves; mistreat them, and ...uh-oh.

As to water conservation, while I am all for it, we really need to appreciate that most of these plants have evolved in areas where there is no such thing as a "slight drizzle". More often than not, the water they receive is handed out in deluges that feed, flush, and aerate. Trying to do something different is just not what they're expecting.

Visiting large commercial nurseries, I used to think that the flooding they did when watering was just a ramifications of having to do so on a large scale, but if you talk to the knowledgeable growers, they'll tell you it's quite intentional.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[Leafmite]

[QUOTE=Ray;721976]I may be wrong about this, but I am of the opinion (and have read stuff that backs me up), that, just like us, plants harbor pretty much every disease to which they have ever been exposed. Grow them well and stress-free, and the symptoms may never express themselves; mistreat them, and ...uh-oh.at the flooding they did when watering was just a ramifications of having to do so on a large scale, but if you talk to the knowledgeable growers, they'll tell you it's quite intentional.

You are not wrong about this. When I first joined our Orchid Society, we had a very elderly, knowledgeable professor who had worked with plants all his life, traveled the world to study plants and who ran the local University greenhouse. I and another member asked him about plant virus. He had a pretty good reply. It seems that some plants and orchids have less ability to defend themselves against virus and will die very quickly, despite what one does, while others, with excellent care, can survive a very long time without showing any effect. He said that he has always noticed a decline in vigor with the virused orchids, that even if the orchid/plant blooms and grows, they never do quite as well as they would have if they were virus free. It seems that most orchids with less than ideal care will usually show the symptoms of the most common orchid virus within three to six months. With ideal care, they may never show the symptoms.
This is why people often buy orchids that look absolutely perfect and, then, a couple of months later, they begin to show signs of virus. The nursery may have given that orchid the optimal care and unknowingly prevented the virus from expressing itself. If you grow a large number of orchids, you may not notice the loss of vigor and the slow decline and may attribute it to other reasons. And, the stress on a plant's immune system opens it up to secondary infections.
It makes sense when you think of how human viruses may also be prevented from wrecking havoc by good nutrition and care, too.

[Kevinator]

Wait, so are there any other methods of saving water? All of my orchids in hanging baskets are soaked in the same water to conserve it (since i'm using RO) and also to keep them moist over a longer period of time compared to general watering.