Using bleach to kill bacterial or fungal Infection

[dianecty]

Hi everyone!

Would dunking in bleach kill bacterial and fungal infection? I had brown patches on my cattleya leaves and I had to cut off the leaves to prevent contamination. Now I am thinking maybe if I dunked it in bleach, I wouldn't have had to cut them off.

If bleach or antibacterial soap works, how much should I put per gallon of water and how long do I soak it? Do I just soak the leaves or the entire plant including the pot and media?

Thanks!

[Roberta]

I would be concerned about bleach... not only is it a strong oxidizer, but also is quite alkaline. I would not want to use it on plants. Save it for inanimate things like tools and pots...

Question about those brown patches... were they soft or hard? If hard/dry, they didn't need cutting. (For instance, sunburn is common... it offends the eye but doesn't particularly harm the plant) If soft, surgical removal of the soft area with a margin of clean tissue likely would have been sufficient (leaving the rest of the leaf). Then cuts can be treated with cinnamon (a natural fungicide)

[SouthPark]

Bleach would likely kill the infection (the bacteria etc) but could also either kill the plant or set the plant back a lot.

If you can get treatments like copper spray for plants, or monterey garden phos, then you could try those out instead. Although, some orchids are reported to have issues with copper spray - so if ever in doubt, just ask around first.

And some pics or description of the rot can often be useful towards assessing the condition.

Also ------ if nice growing conditions can be provided for the orchid (good temperature, lighting level, some air-movement, airy-enough media, and suitable watering method) ..... then the chances of rot issues can be small ..... very small. This is assuming no insects bring something along from somewhere. But even then ---- nice growing conditions really do help cut down on situations leading to rotting.

[monivik]

Yes like SouthPark says pictures helps. There are others here that are good at figuring out what it could be. Sometimes one might think it's one thing and then it's something else.

Anyway in regards to fungus or rot, as far as I know one can spray hydrogen peroxide 3% or dab a bit of cinnamon on the area (except for roots it would dry out roots).

[Orchidwizard]

you can google this question and you will get better results although there are safer products to use and I doubt anyone on here would do it. I should add though that 3% of bleach added to a bucket of water will be less destructive than using a straight store bought 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and yet lots do use that so go figure.
Diluted Bleach is not that strong in comparison because it gets diluted with water, people never do the same with 3% hydrogen peroxide which they should be diluting first too. I think the 3% confuses people and they think it is already diluted and safe to use straight out the bottle, but bleach can be considered to be 5% bleach in a bottle, you still need to dilute it heavily too. 3% hydrogen peroxide is toxic to plants, so is 5% bleach straight out the bottle, both should be diluted 5-10 times first.

I have seen a youtube video of someone pouring a whole 1 liter bottle of bleach (1:10) into a bucket of water and then dunk their orchids into it for 10 minutes.

They posted an update 10 days later with no visible damage so I believe bleach is quite safe to use but I personally would not use it. Cutting a leaf away is fine and is what I do instead if needed.

You can always spot treat the affected area with a cotton bud, watch the plant for 10 days and if the plant is fine and you still want to dunk the whole thing then go for it.

I am just answering the question to the best of my knowledge but have already added the disclaimer that I have never and would not risk doing it to any of mine. One day I might try it on something not important but till then I personally wouldn't risk it which is the sentiment of everyone on this board. Some orchids might handle it fine whereas others might react more sensitively.

[Ray]

I used to use standard chlorine bleach @ 1 ounce per gallon as a general greenhouse disinfectant, and I never saw any issues.

However, if your plant has infections, a topical treatment is of very little value; you need a systemic treatment and a copper-based one is probably good, as it’ll handle fungal and bacterial infections.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Orchidwizard

I have seen a youtube video of someone pouring a whole 1 liter bottle of bleach (1:10) into a bucket of water and then dunk their orchids into it for 10 minutes.

Now that's a very nice way to create an alba!

[realoldbeachbum]

". . . you need a systemic treatment and a copper-based one is probably good, as it’ll handle fungal and bacterial infections.[/QUOTE]

Ray - Can you suggest a systemic copper-based product? Thanks!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by realoldbeachbum

Ray - Can you suggest a systemic copper-based product? Thanks!

The "standard" is Phyton 27, but there are less-expensive equivalents, such as the Southern Ag Liquid Copper. (Southern Ag bills it only as a fungicide, but all copper compounds are bactericides, too.)

If you go "copper", the standard orchid-grower recommendation is to avoid using it on dendrobiums and "thin-leaved" plants, but I've know folks to successfully use it on both types.

[realoldbeachbum]

Originally Posted by Ray

The "standard" is Phyton 27, but there are less-expensive equivalents, such as the Southern Ag Liquid Copper. (Southern Ag bills it only as a fungicide, but all copper compounds are bactericides, too.)

If you go "copper", the standard orchid-grower recommendation is to avoid using it on dendrobiums and "thin-leaved" plants, but I've know folks to successfully use it on both types.

Ray - Just ordered Physan 27 from Amazon. Yes, expensive - $42.00 for 2 oz! Oh well.

Question: About using it on thin-leaved plants: Do you think it would be OK to use it on Paphs and Oncids? If not, what do you suggest for them? Thanks so much, ROBB.