Quote:
Originally Posted by chickazilla
Hello experienced and wise orchid growers! I am sending out an SOS for help with treating one of my orchids with fusarium - the Myrmecatavola Frances Fox, which I absolutely love. In the process of repotting, I checked it for fusarium b/c she was showing signs of weakness, poor root growth and black marks on new roots, etc... She is indeed infected. I read an article which advises that you keep cutting into the rhizome until you don't see the purple ring, before repotting, but I fear I would be down to only two pseudobulbs.
I'm so conflicted about keeping the four pseudobulbs or do as advised and keep cutting until I land on a healthy rhizome patch! My plan is to do foliar treatments with thiomyl. I would appreciate any words of wisdom. Thank you.
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The best thing you can do to avoid problems with Fusarium is to stop watching "Miss Orchid Girl" videos on YouTube.
Seriously.
Every imagined case of Fusarium I have heard of "appeared" after watching her videos. I have seen some of these, where she has determined that lushly- growing, or even spiking or blooming plants, have Fusarium. This is not possible.
Your photos are pretty low-resolution and small, but I don't see the characteristics (leaf withering, etc.) that the pictures on the St. Augusting OS exhibit.
If you have ever seen Fusarium for real, the plant looks it has been grown under hot, dry conditions for months. Your plant does not look at all like a Fusarium victim. If the plant is not withered, I would not do the cutting test.
I live in the hot and humid southern USA (Georgia). In 36 years, I have had real Fusarium exactly once. After some cutting, I saved (and still have) that plant.
Your plant has some root loss. Repot into a new pot, preferably terracotta, with a well-drained medium like coarse bark. To promote good root growth, allow the medium to dry in betweeen watering. Your next new growth should produce new roots which will thrive in that environment.