Orchid with color break tested positive for ORSV
 

What is the etiquette for an orchid that tested positive for a virus when it is newly acquired? Do you gently tell the grower?

Yes, that is a question that I keep pondering.

For an expensive plant that I recently purchased, I told the grower, I sent him 5 Agdia test strips so that he could try to find one that was not infected but all that he tested were infected. So now I have a store credit that I will use this spring when he has some more plants that I want. I have previously purchased a number of plants from him that were virus free. Other growers may not react as calmly to being told that the plant they sold is infected.

For the other virused plants that I have weeded out from my collection, I had had them long enough that I couldn't say for certain that they had not become contaminated while in my care (though I am certain that didn't hapen) so I have said nothing and just destroyed the plants. What I will do in my next round of purchasing I am still pondering. Very many growers have virus infected plants.

I think two vendors are the culprits for me. I am so upset. The pots, new potting soil. I just tested a second plant that is supposed to be easy to grow and flower that has never performed well. Positive for both, new gloves, new blades, medical background...no cross contam. I am so upset. When I am done I will have spent a lot on test kits and will be throwing away a lot of money in plants and supplies :(:((

I have spent $600 (plus shipping) on Agdia test strips and I am a little more than halfway through testing my collection.

it really is rotten that this happens

Any decent seller should be sorry sending you sick looking flowers whether it is virused or not.
I would email him or her the picture of your flowers with heavy streaks along with test results pictures.

They had to be either careless in selecting plants, didn't know what to look for, or have bad eyes. lol.
Whatever the case, they do this for a living and charge money for plants (and why do people buy flowers? look is very important). They can do better.

Let us know what they say and how they react and if not so nice, please post the business so I don't deal with them.

Thankfully, I flame all clippers between plants. I do this whether I am cutting bloom stems after flowering, trimming or re-potting. I even use clean q-tips and never double dip in my white glue cinnamon mix for cuts. I also wash my hands between each plant. I just wish growers would be as careful...I know time is $$$, but so is a bad rep. from customers who get sick, diseased plants. Obviously sometimes it isn't evident. My one plant has been a thorn in my side to get to bloom. I babied it, repotted it, fertilized it and the stinker was diseased from day one. Spots never changed and I thought maybe it was fungal and kept treating it. It was one of the easiest to grow and flower...not when virused...live and learn

You sound kind of like me. I'm pretty anal about things that way, except I use disposable gloves instead of washing my hands between plants as my skin is dry.

Yes, I don't want to chance error either. Almost done with pack of testing strips...yikes

The ones from TJ all seem clean. I think it is possible that Matsui tests before they clone and may have really clean benches. I have seen sickly looking plants in TJ, but usually due to neglect on the store level. When the plants first come in they seem to all look great. I can't always say that about the mixed ones in Whole Foods

You might want to send TJs a compliment for using an orchid wholesaler that cares about the quality of their plants.

That is a great idea! Thank you!

YES.

thanks

When you tell the grower, be as nice as possible. The news isn't pleasant so break it to them gently. You don't need to throw away the pots...just boil them or soak them in bleach for a few hours. Depending on what the medium is, you might be able to boil or bake it, too. Some that grow from flask sterilize all their medium that they will use after deflasking to prevent unwanted problems. I try to recycle as much as possible to save landfills, energy, pollution, and global warming....

I don't like wasting and that is why I wanted to save the pots, plus I just bought some of them. I was tempted to save the one that the Catt. came in because I love the square pot with the removable saucer. I ended up dumping that one since I would have been more upset dumping those gorgeous colored flowers out of the pot. I soaked my pots, saucers and pot clips in bleach and water today. I am going to soak them in Physan tomorrow (they are all clear plastic. I dumped the media.

I will gently tell them and send the pictures with color break. Thank you for your advice. :waving

My friend had all her orchids tested... almost all from Trader Joe's... of her 100+ plants only two were virused...
I thought that was pretty impressive for such a large wholesaler.

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I agree. Most of their plants are from Matsui. They must run a really clean operation. I wonder if the two virused ones were from TJ or elsewhere. The only issue with their orchids is most of them are Onc. Int. I never see Cattleya there. The sickly looking ones I think are the ones not purchased first. They don't get cared for properly in all of the stores. I see some get the draft of the open doors cause some cold exposure issues too

Our are always right next to the door... makes me wonder sometimes lol...
Only oncidium int.?
Huh... it must vary from store to store alot...
We get extreme amounts of phals and a decent selection of oncidiums, brassia hybrids, dendrobiums, and cymbidiums... We also get paphs in seasonal waves... as well as miltoniopsis
Cattleya are few and far between.
Maybe hold out hope..
Ours just got in some cattleya and mini catts... so maybe you'll get them too?


I've been considering a trip to their nurseries... so many of us get orchid from then I thought it might be worthwhile.

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I forgot to mention that they do have a lot of phals. I will have to stop in next week to see if they have any catts. I would love some minis. My luck lately will be they don't get them or will be sold out

Ask when they get them in... mine gets a shipment every Wednesday of orchids...
They come in excellent health of the truck as well.
Honestly I caught the very tail end of the minis... I suspect it might be virused. But it's going in the bathroom by itself way away from the others... And I thought it might be virused when I bought it.
But it was so small and cute with its yellow flowers..
And I didn't see the state of the other mini catts. They were all gone by the time I got there.
Their standard catts look great though.

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Thanks for the tips...fingers crossed

It comes as a great news to me that only two out of your friend's over 100 orchids mostly from TJ. I do pick up orchids from TJ every now and then mostly because the price is so low and they usually have good selections to choose from.

As someone pointed out, many of their oncidium intergenerics look sick. gotta be fungal or virus.
I wish they were clean looking as I love many of the internegerics flowers. well, well...

The one in NYC does not carry paphs or catts (maybe only the ones in Cali do?). but still fun mix!

Is Matsui based in Salinas, California? Many of the tags (usually intergenerics and Miltoniopsis have tags on them, those generic tags) say Salinas, California but not the grower's name.

I thought about testing a few intergenerics from TJ just out of curiosity but with the price I pay for them, I am a bit reluctant to do it. Maybe I should just for the heck of it and find out.

I would test them to find out. It is worth knowing. They opened a plant in NJ too. I will look it up and be back.

She sent hers to a lab... no test strips...
Yup.. Salinas...
So I thought maybe a weekend trip there... hopefully they would let me take pictures for you all... I think it's open to the public.
I'm not a big fan of most of their intergenerics... but at our stores they come in good shape... the occasional one might have that oncidium black sport on the tips of a few of their leaves but most don't...
I wonder how much the shipping distance affects all of this.
The paphs are always the mottled leaf types... in varying shades of green white and wine...

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Their website lists Glouster County. Someone told me...I think Seawell. It is open and built next to a large flower adn cut flower operation. They show paphs and others on their website. It doesn't appear that they grow Cattleya. TJ must have another supplier for them.

Here is Matsui's website. You can see varities there:
Products Orchids main page - Matsui Nursery, Inc.

Huh... it came in the same pot as my Matsui orchids..
They occasionally get orchids from Gulber though so maybe they put it in the pot of an orchid that didn't make it.


I've been wishing they get some cheap epi's in but I've yet to see one.

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I would love to find those paphs, esp. at TJ prices

I wish they would get in some of the more complex ones.... a white one would be cool... my friend has a yellow one from TJ...
Best yet they fit into the "mini orchid" pots so they are $6...
I've only got one from them regrettably.

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Mainly these..but they come in great health..
Mine came with multiple fans and new growths.. And the flower lasted me from the end of August till about a week ago...
It went from happy flower to dead flower in the course of a day.

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Yeah, maybe I should, right?
I bought so many and threw away so many once flowers were gone.
If I find out for sure they are virus free, I would love to keep some as intergenerics are usually quite easy to grow and bloom.

I have kept two actually. They look clean, but have no idea if they are virused or not.
One of them are in spike and I have a thread on it. It's onc. Heaven Redolence. cute flowers and nicely scented. :)

By the way, I would love to get some nice paphs in TJ price too but they don't carry them here.
I am really into collecting vini, but good ones are hard to find.

:blushing:That price is great. More orchid wants :blushing:

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 PM ----------

Info on Matsui NJ:
A Little History Behind Matsui Greenhouses - Eye On DVFlora

---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------

Interesting reading:
http://www.icogo.org/images/ICOGO_Bu...Vol_2_2_1_.pdf

That was a very interesting read... nice yori know they feel proactive about all of this.
I see Matsui is very active in that regard. That's nice to know.

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I agree