A Sad Day For Me :( - Orchid Board

Gage · #1 10-03-2011, 01:46 AM

Well, I drove 45 minutes out to Dan an Margie's today, only to realize that they were at the show in Coral Gables. Duh. Ok, so I can go back in the next few weeks, no big deal. Nevertheless dissapointing. So then I was watering my Phals tonight and I saw the new leaf of my Phal Sogo Manager looking ever so slightly pale in linear blotches, and I thought virus. I only have 1 test but I decided to use it on this one. It came out positive for both viruses! Sad! I love that orchid and I was really looking forward to those yellow blooms. And what's worse is now I'm wondering what else might be infected. This is the third orchid I have tossed because of virus. The other two were Dendrobiums that I bought at the same time, so I assumed they had both been infected when I got them. Now where do I start? I mean I have like forty-something orchids, so do I make my next investment be virus testing for the whole lot? Every keiki too? That would be like $250 by my reconning, unless somebody knows where I can get them cheaper than 5 bucks a pop. But I don't really see much choice right now. Can someone offer a glimmer of hope?

Merlyn · #2 10-03-2011, 02:07 AM

I work with my mentor who has a greenhouse with approx 2500 orchids. We have tested them all 3 years straight. The first year we threw away 20% of his collection = about 3 full 30 gallon garbage cans and not with whole plants, I was the one who cut each one up into small pieces so we could get more into each can !!! Not a pleasant job and the main reason was that almost all of them LOOKED completely healthy !!!

Ok, he's fanatic about it, I'm NOT anymore. IF I test and find one is positive it's my choice to keep it and NEVER share it with anyone else IF it's healthy. The downside of that is that it will probably decline spirally over an unknown amount of time. You have to incorporate sterile methods around your chids. Sterilize cutting tools and/or use single edge razor blades and throw away after each plant use. Sterilize pots if reusing them, etc..

You don't have to test keikis or divisions, provided you already use sterile methods. If mama plant is positive throw out her keikis and divisions. If mama is negative so are keikis and divisions.

The ONLY thing that stops the snowballing effect is using sterile methods with your chids. There's a lot more methods than I've listed, read up on them and adhere to them without question and it won't get worse.

HTH,
CHRYSS

silken · #3 10-03-2011, 02:07 AM

So sorry to hear the bad news about your plants. If you have been sterilizing tools and pots etc. you may not have to worry about others being infected. That's a lot to spend on virus testing. Was the phal bought with the dens?

camille1585 · #4 10-03-2011, 05:47 AM

The horrible fact that the majority of the mass produced Phals and such are positive for one type of virus or another even though they may look perfectly happy, and even never develop the symptoms throughout their lives.

If you really do want to test them all, sending samples to Critter Creek Labs is cheaper, they 'only' charge $4.25 a sample if you send more than 21. I doubt you will find much cheaper.

What you do really depends on how important is it to you to have a 'clean' collection. Sterilizing cutting tools, dealing with pest problems ASAP and not sharing bath water will at least keep any potential virus contained in their current hosts.

I have no intention of breeding, selling or extensively trading orchids, so I'll stick to the containment measures.

Kelo · #5 10-03-2011, 05:54 AM

That's a shame you have an infection. It must be awful to stand there and wonder if everything is infected. I hope it works out to your benefit.

Gage · #6 10-03-2011, 08:56 AM

Thanks everyone. I do sterilize my scissors between plants, EVERY time. And I am reluctant to reuse pots for a different chid. I do want to have a clean collection but the mass of tests may have to wait a bit. Does anyone know if viruses can be transferred just from handling one orchid after another?

Gage · #7 10-03-2011, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silken

So sorry to hear the bad news about your plants. If you have been sterilizing tools and pots etc. you may not have to worry about others being infected. That's a lot to spend on virus testing. Was the phal bought with the dens?

The Phal was bought at a different time.

camille1585 · #8 10-03-2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gage

Thanks everyone. I do sterilize my scissors between plants, EVERY time. And I am reluctant to reuse pots for a different chid. I do want to have a clean collection but the mass of tests may have to wait a bit. Does anyone know if viruses can be transferred just from handling one orchid after another?

ONLY if you have sap from a contaminated plant on your hands, and touch an injured part of a clean plant. Simply touching an undamaged virused plant will not spread the virus. I would be more worried about transmission when you have sucking insect pests on the plants. That's usually not too often, but still...

Gage · #9 10-03-2011, 10:56 AM

Thanks, Camille. I will continue to use sterile practices, and eventually test every plant.

tucker85 · #10 10-03-2011, 12:24 PM

I've had a problem with viruses because I didn't use sterile techniques for the first few years that I kept orchids. My theory now is that I use sterile technique so I won't spred any virus but I only test and throw out plants that look sickly, don't grow well, or get color break on the flower (white stripes and blotches on the colored part of the flower). I'm sure I have some healthy plants that have viruses but as long as they grow well and flower properly I don't even test them. I've thrown out two plants this year because of color break. Good luck with yours.