Virus testing kits?

[EarlyBird]

Hi everyone,
I am a hobby orchid grower from FL. New to this forum but was reading it for a long time. Since I sell orchids sometimes I used to test them for viruses (being a responsible seller ) but Agdia prices went through the roof lately. Where do you get testing kits? I found one on taiwantrade but I am unfamiliar with this place. Anybody used them?
Thank you.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

[Roberta]

Welcome!
I suggest Rega Biotechenical CymMV + ORSV | Plant Virus Rapid Test | Regabio - they're in Taiwan but ship to the US. The smallest quantity you can buy is 50 (maybe share with a friend if you don't need so many). Price per test is about half of Agdia, sample size is smaller, and shelf life is much better. (Agdia claims 1 year and that is optimistic even with refrigeration, the Rega tests claim 18 months, at room temperature. I have found them to still be just fine after 3 years or more. Strips are packaged individually, that's a big factor since air and moisture are the enemy) If you get these, note that they are MUCH more sensitive than Agdia, can show false positives if your sample size is larger than recommended, you can get reliable results with much less even than the maximum size (so useful for miniatures)

[Jmoney]

Roberta was kind enough to send me a couple Rega kits when I was having some positive tests with Agdia, and the results matched. She is absolutely right that the shelf life is more stable, as you keep them at RT and they are individually packed. So if you only rarely test these might be best (and they cost less).

The main advantage to Agdia, despite the price increase (yuck), is the ability to batch test. I have been able to combine 4-8 (occasionally more) samples in one bag and every time I get a positive I have been able to find the offending plant. False positives seem to apply to Rega if you use too much tissue; I have not seen this with Agdia. However, with Agdia the strips are packed in a combined tube, and I believe moisture can *potentially* affect results if they have been lying around the fridge for a long time. This is based on rumor, hearsay, and not firm evidence.

[EarlyBird]

Great, thank you! I meant these test kits from Rega, they sell them through taiwantrade. So they are legit. Good

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by EarlyBird

Great, thank you! I meant these test kits from Rega, they sell them through taiwantrade. So they are legit. Good

According to the orchid club member who sent me down that path (and organized some group purchases within the club that drove the price down significantly), they also lend themselves to group testing - he found that he could group as many as 6 plants in a test (just slivers) and still pick up a positive if it was in there. The biggest "operator error" for the tests is to use too much sample not too little. I'm just finishing a box of tests that supposedly expired in 2021(down to the last 3) , and they still work fine. (Found a few positives that got tossed, and cleared many as clean... to verify that the negatives were really negative, I did retest a few with strips from a new batch and got same results) 'Way back when, I used Agdia, and had some go bad in the 'fridge, very near the expiration date. (Like no control line... moisture is the enemy, as it is for COVID tests and any others that use the same technology)