In Vitro Fungus, Blc. Raye Holmes "Newberry" Hybrid
 

Hi everyone, I am a complete beginner and at a loss about what should be done. I had a look at the forums and found a great link for fungicides but have no idea what fungus this might be and if I should try moving the plants to their own pots at this point (even though the seller instructed to wait until next April).

The fungus is a light green around the edges and white in the center, with little golden dew like spots.

I'm grateful for any tips you might be able to offer.

Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately there isn't a fungicide that'll eradicate it once it's in there, did you open it? I'd contact the seller and ask their opinion

I didn't open it and it seems to have some type of plastic seal, but I suppose it must have been contaminated before being sealed and it must have slowly made it's way down the jar. I'll try contacting the seller and seeing what they say. Thank you!

If it's still sealed then it was contaminated by whoever put it in tc, I'm not sure about what others think but that sounds like a reason for the nursery to send you a replacement/ refund in my opinion

If the plants aren't dead yet, they are big enough to have a chance if you remove them.

Take them out of that flask as soon as possible. Rinse them very well in warm, but not hot, tap water to get all the agar and fungus off their roots.

Sanitize some fine bark by pouring boiling water through it. Put that in a shallow pot or tray.

Set the pot or tray inside a plastic food container, or something similar, with a lid that permits light to pass. Set them in bright shade. Don't let them dry completely, but don't keep them very wet.

Please let us know how they are doing.

Thank you for the instructions Estación Seca, I'm happy to report that the repotting went well. I did everything you posted, plus washed them with a little coconut oil since I read somewhere that it has antifungal properties. The three plants are doing well. I've been having some computer problems (also the cause of the late reply to your post, sorry!), but I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

Let me know if I should move this to another thread.

However, I wanted to post a question on fungus in potting media. Whatever you have pictured here is like what I get somewhat regularly in my potting media, both coconut husk and fir bark - as well as plants I've never repotted, so it came along for the ride.

Here's the thing - the fungus in my pots isn't an orchid pathogen, and the same is true for what's in your flask. If it were toxic to orchids, your plants would be dead, as the fungus is obviously having a field day.

I won't dispute the likely benefits of getting your plants out of the flask before they get overwhelmed. However, in my experience, I am finding in-pot fungus in completely healthy plants. Not only that - my most vigorous plants! I just opened up the pot of a Catt that came from Kawamoto in HI, I never repotted it and the media was shot through with fungus and smelled like a brewery. It had two amazing blooming spikes this late summer / fall and is growing fabulously.

I have another Catt with fungus in the media, it's in sheath and looks fine. I have a huge AU dendrobium that looks indestructible, it came to me full of fungus in the media. (I repotted it right away into a 10" azalea pot as it was busting out of its 8" home.)

So - assuming everyone wants to rescue plants from being overwhelmed (physically) by non-pathogenic fungi - why is some a bad thing?

My observation of media fungus - plant health is anecdotal and correlation only of course.

But, fungi are anti-bacterial; they break down larger molecules into smaller molecules our plants might want, and that might be growth factors or blooming factors; etc etc.

I suspect I'd have to ask a real expert for a conclusive answer, if there is one. And, I doubt there's a huge amount of fungus growing in the rocks and trees these plants live in, in situ.

As is, I'm trying to kill the fungus with immunox, because I've been assuming it's bad. But I'm starting to wonder.....

All great questions. Most people who observe fungus in flasks watch the orchids die. Fungi attacking wet medium do not, usually, harm the orchid in the medium, but their presence is a marker of too-wet medium, which does lead to attack by other pathogenic fungi.