Just a thought but worth discussing ....

[johnblagg]

Brown Bacterial rot it seems affect a lot more than orchids and in fact one of our common food items may carry it ...The Potato.

Having recently lost a favorite plant to this pest I was googling it and found this little bit of knowledge and then snapped to the fact that I had indeed had a bin full of potatoes in fact with a bad spud in it and had cleaned out the bin ....but I did not even consider that this was a potential orchid killer on my hands and that I needed to use bleach on the bin, or sterilize the sink...where I do in fcat often carry my chids in s/h to flush and water at times instead of the bathtub.

Am I correct in that this is the same brown bacterial rot that infects chids or not?

[Tindomul]

Wow, never realized. However wouldn't an orchid be susceptible to this is the "right conditions" existed??? Not that it simply comes into contact with the plant and then it dies. Right?????

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This article may answer the question, to some degree, of why this disease is prevalent in orchids and in potatoes.

The potato: Origins - International Year of the Potato 2008

[Eyebabe]

I also recommend to take caution when using your sink to repot or clean up plants....

I addition to fungal and bacterial contamination from produce...they can also carry viruses.
And who cares about that if we wash and cook our produce and the pathogens cannot be transmitted to humans?
The orchids that share the same surfaces might

So make sure there are no cucumber shavings or potato skins etc. in the sink before you start on your repotting this spring

[johnblagg]

SO the answer is yes it it the same disease ....and in fact my potato bin becoming infected is a likely reason I lost a chid to this just after cleaning out the bad potatoes

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It probably is the same disease.

The disease that killed potatoes in the high Andes a long time ago, may have also been what killed epiphytical orchids that have fallen to the ground.

Check it out under a microscope (if you have access to one). That's the only way to tell for certain.

[johnblagg]

Here is something interesting I found
Soft Rot
Soft rot of Cattleya orchids caused by
Erwinia carotovora is a rare disease. Its
advent is sudden and the results are devastating.
It is caused by the common soft
rot bacterium-a soil inhabitant-which
attacks such crops as celery, carrots, and
potatoes.
The disease can start in fresh wounds
on Cattleya leaves and with high temperature
and very high humidity it will
rapidly change the leaf into a sack containing
liquefied tissues. The leaf wrinkles
and droops. Later it breaks open and the
contents leak out.
Plants affected by it can not be saved.
Control consists in early recognition of
the disease and burning all the affected
plants. The room in which the trouble occurred
should be promptly and thoroughly
disinfected.

[johnblagg]

This is exactly what I experianced with mine

[Gin]

Good info. thanks for sharing it can affect all of us .

[Connie Star]

Here's a fascinating medical/botanical factoid.
Erwinia carotovora, which is basically a soil organism, is similar, but not identical, to Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionaires Disease. L. pneumophila is also a soil organism, and disease clusters are associated with disturbed wet soil or stagnant water that gets aerosolized.
But don't worry, the only disease you can get from your orchids is OCD- orchid compulsive disorder! I know- I have a bad case!