Tobacco virus question

[Pencil]

Hello,
Sorry for the newbie question.
I have a Cambria orchid I bought several days ago. My mother is a smoker. She doesn't touch the tobacco directly but the paper wrapped around it. Today, she accidentally touched the Cambria (the underside of a leaf) with the upper side of her hand (the part which doesn't touch the cigarette, unlike the underside) three or four times. She had smoked shortly before that. Should I be concerned?

[Orchid Whisperer]

Probably need to strike a balance between being tactful with mom vs. protecting your plant.

From what I have read, there is a small, but real, risk of transmission.

Perhaps you can inform & lead by example. Wash your hands thoroughly before working with your orchids (especially do this at times when she will notice). Then mention, do you you know that plant viruses can be transmitted from tomatoes? Peppers? Even tobacco? Maybe she will wash her hands too, if she sees it is important to you.

[vjo]

Don't be too hard on mom, I have smoked for 52 years, had orchids for 30 years, and as far as I know have not transmitted any viruses to my orchids.
I read a few weeks ago that the tobacco mosaic virus has mostly been irradicated from tobacco and is more often seen on other plants. That does not mean that we should not be mindful of it....Jean

[Pencil]

Thank you for the replies! She touched the leaf by accident. I have warned her not to touch the plants so she is being careful.

[Helene]

Its gonna be okay, dont worry

Its funny how it works, if you read about something and start thinking about it then you start worry about things.

I used to smoke myself, (not anymore though ) and I didnt fertilize my plants, and I have kids and a cat. And well- my plants have sometimes been neglected. Even before I started getting more caring about them they have been doing fine.

Not saying you should not care at all, but a healthy plant doesnt need to be treated like its made of glass. Like humans- we can catch many kind of viruses, but we cant be worried all the time- then we cant even move outside with other people.

Enjoy your plants, and take precautions in a normal manner, and they will be fine

[Pencil]

I understood about all the orchid viruses about a week ago and have been very worried about the plants all the time since then, as Helene said. Now I've calmed down thanks to all of you. Thank you for the advising me! I am looking forward to keeping orchids and enjoying them rather than worrying all the time about viruses and other diseases.

[My Green Pets]

It is worrying, it can drive you crazy not knowing if a plant is infected or not.

However, after the initial craze, I've calmed down and just tried to keep them all separated and follow sanitary procedures. I have even decided to keep some infected plants. It is, of course, a risky (some would say foolish) decision.

[Pencil]

Originally Posted by vjo

Don't be too hard on mom, I have smoked for 52 years, had orchids for 30 years, and as far as I know have not transmitted any viruses to my orchids.
I read a few weeks ago that the tobacco mosaic virus has mostly been irradicated from tobacco and is more often seen on other plants. That does not mean that we should not be mindful of it....Jean

I just read a comment on this post:
Question about virus
The person says that almost all tobacco products are infected. What do you think?
As I said, my Cymbidium in on the desk. My mun does some stuff around it every day and it gets touched. She doesn't touch it with her hands but with different parts of her body (ex. upper arms, face), clothing, hair. I don't know what to do. Should I give up large orchids with big leaves? I really don't want to do it because I like this Cymbidium very much and travelled to the other end of the city to buy it but if it gets infected, it will die and will infect other plants as well.

[Helene]

I'll send you an pm later if thats okay have company now, but wanted to write something to you- a bit longer and personal. Lol- nothing scary, but just cause I think you are a thinker with a strong mind. (A good thing, as long as you use it to your advantage- can be a disadvantage when using it on thinking too much about stuff)

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by Pencil

I just read a comment on this post:
Question about virus
The person says that almost all tobacco products are infected. What do you think?
As I said, my Cymbidium in on the desk. My mun does some stuff around it every day and it gets touched. She doesn't touch it with her hands but with different parts of her body (ex. upper arms, face), clothing, hair. I don't know what to do. Should I give up large orchids with big leaves? I really don't want to do it because I like this Cymbidium very much and travelled to the other end of the city to buy it but if it gets infected, it will die and will infect other plants as well.

Don't panic! That is the most important thing to remember. The second is: These are only house plants and they are meant to cheer us and make us happy, not turn us into worried, unhappy messes. Decide now to enjoy the plants and hobby of collecting them! I had to do this a few years ago as I started to get upset about the entire virus, thing, too. Then I realized that if I spent the entire time worrying about virus, I wasn't going to enjoy the plants very much and so I just stopped worrying. I try to be careful to prevent virus but, in the end, I am not going to let worry over them ruin my enjoyment of them.

As for infection of a plant virus, the leaves must have a wound, an opening, for the virus to enter the plant. Just brushing against the leaves is not going to infect the leaves unless your mother is tearing them and the virus is actually provided an entry way into the leaf. Not all tobacco is virused and the virus does not survive in the smoke. It is the tobacco that is not completely burned that may contain virus. So, really, it isn't all that easy. The big chance of a smoker infecting the plant is if they are smoking while working with the plants (or haven't washed their hands well) and are cutting off blooms or spikes, removing old leaves, re-potting or dividing. If it was so easy to infect plants with the virus and kill off plants, commercial nurseries, plantations, conservatories and botanical gardens would be pretty much wiped out.

I hope this makes you feel better.