Preventive care - Fungicide + Insecticide

[Maxx]

Hi Everybody!

Recently I was considering ordering some Vandas from a Thai nursery, and I stumbled upon the following preventive care-tips of theirs:

- Fungicide every week, 0.10% concentration; 20 c.c. per 20 liters of water. Rotate Captan, Mancozeb, and Cabendazim accordingly each week.

- Insecticide every month with 0.1% Chlorpairiphos or Hexythiazox.

- Miticide every month with 0.1% Dicofol

(Fertilizer, fungicide, insecticide, and miticide can be mixed and applied together.)

What you think about that, would this also function for home growing on a windowsill as preventive care for other orchids too, not just Vandas) or is this an overkill and only apply the given stuff if something is wrong.

Thanks!

[estación seca]

That would be highly toxic in a home. They have high heat and high humidity; most homes don't. Fungus is rarely an issue in a lower-humidity home. Preventive spraying for bugs selects bugs resistant to pesticides. I don't treat preventively for anything.

[Ray]

Ignoring the safety aspect, preventive application of pesticides, especially insecticides and miticides, should be avoided, as that’s a sure way to promote the development of resistant strains.

Hobby growers are notorious for lousy treatment regimens - wrong product, improper application, etc. - leading to perennial problems and never eradicating the pest.

• DON’T apply preventive treatments.
• If you see a pest, DO apply a pesticide that is proven effective on the identified pest (no insecticide when treating mites, for example).
• Apply it THOROUGHLY, by wetting every surface and drenching the potting medium, and
• REPEAT that same treatment two additional times at one-week intervals.
  
  if, after a month, you still see the same pest,
  
• Do a complete, new, 3-does treatment using a pesticide with a different Mode of Action (MOA).

[Ray]

Originally Posted by johnfethes

I house my orchids in my patio in my home and had (URL removed by moderator) to make sure there are no pest that could kill it.

The statement makes no sense.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Ray

The statement makes no sense.

It's spam Ray.

[camille1585]

This type of spam is increasingly common in the forums. In the future when you run into nonsense posts such the one in this thread (especially if they contain links and are posted by a new member) please report the post. It's also best to avoid quoting the suspicious posts as it is extra work to remove, and may not always be seen by moderators leading to the spam links remaining in the forums.

[Thriodien]

Originally Posted by Ray

Ignoring the safety aspect, preventive application of pesticides, especially insecticides and miticides, should be avoided, as that’s a sure way to promote the development of resistant strains.

Should it be avoided when acquiring new plants too? I feel that it would be a sane thing to do to take any action of prevention when something new's entering the collection. Even if it's only hydrogen peroxide for general disinfection and a mix of paraffin oil + dish soap as a supposed insecticide (an idea from a MissOrchidGirl video which actually worked very well for me on a heavily infected plant). These are not invasive chemicals but would give me at least a (false?) pretence of protection.

[SADE2020]

Regarding the 1st post and the prevention recipe; I have been in a few nursing and production farms of Catts and Vandas and they do have a Prevention Cocktail, but again as ES mentioned those are professional farms, I don't think is needed for a small collection.

I agreed also with Ray to attack after; for example with the fungicide treatment after a heavy rainfall or period spacially on cooler days. Or if a plant is infected and you are not sure how it happened and has been mixed up with others.

Same with Pets, if I see one or if I notice that the garden, in general, is exposed to anything, I made a prevention treatment to the Orchids as well. But never that often.

In regards to Pots 2 question, MssOrquid recipe. I stop using Peroxide and my life changed completed and using oils and soups is good to combat the spider mite infection. But if you place oil all the time, then some other products won't work well. Some fertilizer and amino acids don't mix well with Oils.

BTW, is anyone using Neem to clean Phals leaves?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Thriodien

Should it be avoided when acquiring new plants too? I feel that it would be a sane thing to do to take any action of prevention when something new's entering the collection.

My approach is isolate and observe for a month before moving plants into “genpop”. If you wish to treat them, I think the same, very thorough, 3-application regimen should be followed, no matter what you’re treating with.[/QUOTE]