Treat in advance?

[gangof4]

Ok, so I have two orchids and will be getting two more next week from two different places. It's just a matter of time before something turns up.

Is there some sort of general purpose spray to give orchids as a sort of tonic to keep them from getting one sort of pest or another or must you wait until they wind up with some sort of fungus or bugs before you can do something?

[JScott]

Physan 20 is a good multi-purpose -cide. If it makes you feel better, I don't guess there's any harm in treated newly acquired plants to prevent them from bringing any diseases into your collection, but I wouldn't routinely treat healthy plants for conditions they do not yet have. Physan is all I've ever used, so other people may have other suggestions, but Physan has always been sufficient for me.

---------- Post added at 09:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:21 PM ----------

Also, good culture will prevent most diseases, so I would worry more about growing your plants as properly as you can. That is certainly the best preventative measure, not any product you can apply.

[Ray]

Do not do preventive treatment with pesticides.

While I doubt it does any harm - although quite a few dendrobiums and thin-leaves species can be harmed by it - I really doubt the Physan treatment does much, unless there are some surface fungi present.

I'll apologize right now for this sounding like a sales pitch, but regular (monthly) treatment with Inocucor Garden Solution does wonders for preventing rots of all sorts. It is a live biological "plant probiotic", available in the US from me or through Amazon.