A warning on use of canola oil
 

I used a product from Schultz that is completely safe for orchids called "Garden Safe Houseplant and Garden Insect Spray" that contains .01% pyrethrins and 1% Canola Oil. Normally no problem. But BE AWARE! If sprayed directly on flower buds, they will probably distort and the rest of the spike may as well. It won't hurt the longevity of the orchid and will definitely do the job you want (kill the insects) but don't get it on the spikes if you care about them. I did this to one of my Haraella mounts and the new buds come out like b-b's (like 1/16th inch or so) and don't develop correctly. I've since cut off all the spikes and will let it go through it's growth thingy. Just a warning, because I have recommended this chemical in the past (and still do with this caviate).

Thanks for the warning and information, Ross. Every little bit of knowledge helps!

Good to hear Ross - Thanks. Is it the oil or the pyrethrins causing the distortion?

Sorry Ross, but I have to play poorly on this one, and challenge your conclusion.

The stuff is 1% canola and 0.1% pyrethrins, meaning it's 98.9% something else, and you blame the problems on the canola oil???? Unless you treated the plants when they were warm and in sunlight, I would look more at the solvent.

FWIW, I have sprayed plants with a tablespoon of canola oil (and at other times corn oil, or a mish-mash of vegetable oils) per quart (about 1.6% oil), plus an equal amount of dish soap to emulsify it, and had no problems whatsoever.

No problem Ray. I am sharing the conclusion Ray at Ray's orchids gave me. I have used this same spray on all the other orchids in the terrarium and they are fine. The Haraella buds are now extremely distorted (size of BBs) and won't fully open. I agree that the stuff has seemed pretty tame in the past on the other plants, but this time on this mount - not. If I'm wrong about this I stand corrected, but can't come to any other conclusion right now. Any ideas?

Ditto ! I use Canola never had a problem , but Harellas can be a tempermental about what is used on them, just a thought . Mine had a fit over Safers awhile back . Gin

Gin, did it finally get over it? Maybe it's just tempermental after all :biggrin:

It went into a funk, got over it but took awhile , won't do that again :( Gin

Interesting....

I'd still like to know the solvent in the original spray.

Ross, my H odorata which has always done spendidly recently had 5 buds on it...all of which blasted (with absolutely no change in culture or conditions!) ...and has now moved on to the big greenhouse in the sky!

Yours might just be in a rut :(