Fusarium attack?
 

Hi all,
I think one of my plants is being attacked from Fusarium- again. :((

I was wondering if anyone has used this or know if this product has any merit
Thanks


Natural Fertilizers - Rootshield

Do you have repeated attacks of Fusarium? You should disinfect your grow area and treat with a proven product if your plant is valuable to you. One of the few products I know of that works on Fusarium is Banrot. There are others and they are all expensive. You only need a small amount so see if you can split the product with some friends or orchid buddies. One place is Fungicides which has a variety of products used by professionals and they work. I use them in my gh.

Does someone have a minute to explain what Fusarium is? I haven't heard of it

Fusarium is a genus of fungi, and a couple of them - Fusarium oxysporum and to a lesser degree Fusarium batatis - can cause rots in orchids if they infect wounds.

I agree that the growing area should be disinfected (I find Physan to be good), but decent air movement in a not-too-saturated environment is a pretty good preventive measure.

Root Shield
 

Hi cookiemonster
I have used this product, though not on my orchids. I had a problem in my yard and vegetable garden. Not Fusarium. It was very effective. I am waiting to see how long it lasts. So far, so good. I was very pleased.
Carol

I use a similar product called companion. It is bracillus bacteria whereas this one is Trichoderma bacteria. They work very similarly. Regular use over a year or more will strengthen your plants. I find much less infection this year after a constant year of use.

You will never rid fusarium from your environment. It is a constant fight.

They are natural anti fungicides, but they work as inoculates making the plant stronger to avoid infections rather than stop infections.

I do not believe anything will cure fusarium. The products mentioned will help prevent the spread of disease, but nothing short of cutting the infected portions of the part will save an infected plant. Commercially infected plants are destroyed immediately.

Fusarium spreads by your hands or even splashing water from one plant to another. For the hobbyist clean environment and air circulation are the best treatment.

All fungi will disappear in the colder weather, but they may merely go into spores only to reappear later.

Jerry-

Im looking to try a product called Banrot- will that help me?! Im not 100% sure its fusarium, but what I do know is that the rhizome is turning brown and yellow is creeping up the pseudobulbs and its spreading from oldest pseudobulb to the newest it is not soft, it is not black, its more like a mummification process--- help ?

I got rid of a third of my entire collection-mainly cattleyas that were infected with Fusarium (some in bud, some with flowers, some in sheath-it was tough) but i had to discard them. As mentioned earlier, a plant will eventually die from the infection-sometimes it can produce new growth and stay "ahead" of the infection in the rhizome and it's then when you can divide the plant and discard the infected rhizome. The tell tale sign in orchids is if you cut the rhizome and it has a reddish maroon inside or a reddish brown "ring". The fungus works by blocking the vascular uptake of water which will eventually cause the plant to "wilt". Some view it as dehydration but it is actually Fusarium.
NOTE: IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT PLANTS PURCHASED FROM NURSERIES, BIG BOX STORES, EBAY, and even some reputable sellers have fusarium. When I contacted one commerical grower here in Florida and spoke about the problem, i was told "The fungus will always be there". With this information, we need to make informed choices on the types of plants we bring into our collections.

Jerry is right, fusarium is ubiquitous. Keeping a clean, tidy, buoyant environment is the only hope of keeping it at bay.

Once a plant is infected, the only hope is to remove any parts that are obviously infected - plus a wide margin. Often, as stated above, that means saying "good-bye" the the whole plant.

Just to clarify, I got rid of wireworms in my potatoes in the veggie garden with Root Shield purchased from Territorial. Also curbed a root problem with my Rhododendrons. Cannot remember what they were "bothered" with. I do not know if the effect lasts but it certainly was effective for last season. Carol