Mayonnaise for shiny leaves - Orchid Board

Silje · #1 03-26-2014, 11:11 AM

I got a lot lime in my water and although I rinse with RO water, my plant still got lime deposits on the leaves that I need to clean off now and then. Mayonnaise works well, I've discovered, but...

Some of the plant that has been exposed to a lot of lime get very persistent spots that can be difficult to remove.

Normally, I just rub the leaves gently with a cloth dipped in mayo and rinse them immediately afterwards, but my question is"

Can I leave the mayo standing on the leaves for some time to let it etch away more of the lime, or will the plant take damage from it?

shushu45 · #2 03-26-2014, 12:08 PM

Bud · #3 03-26-2014, 02:48 PM

Mayo is a spanish sauce, thick, ivory white creamy sauce often used as a condiment. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolks and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier.
Since it is organic, I don't see any harm it can do to plant leaves except it might attract bacteria or fungi if left too long on the leaves. Soaking the lime deposit with mayo for a bit of time is not really a solution to your problem. But it is an expensive remover of lime deposit.
It would be cheaper to just clean it with the used pulp/peel of lemon half after you squeezed it of its juice.
Calcium and magnesium in hard water can cause stains called lime deposits. Lime deposits, which can be white or brown in color is really hard to remove
from tile, stainless steel, fiberglass, chrome, and glass surfaces....I don't have hard water problems but my biggest problem is fertilizer deposits which is easy to remove than lime deposits.

* CLR or most bathroom sprays are acid based and it is industrial and might decimate your leaves....your instincts are right by using household remedy....
= the best thing you do is wipe dry the leaves with a paper towel after watering or spraying so you do not have to deal with lime deposits on the leaves.

Subrosa · #4 03-26-2014, 03:40 PM

Finally a good use for that slime!

---------- Post added at 02:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 PM ----------

oops!

Silje · #5 03-26-2014, 04:41 PM

It would be cheaper to just clean it with the used pulp/peel of lemon half after you squeezed it of its juice.
Calcium and magnesium in hard water can cause stains called lime deposits. Lime deposits, which can be white or brown in color is really hard to remove
from tile, stainless steel, fiberglass, chrome, and glass surfaces....I don't have hard water problems but my biggest problem is fertilizer deposits which is easy to remove than lime deposits.

...the best thing you do is wipe dry the leaves with a paper towel after watering or spraying so you do not have to deal with lime deposits on the leaves.[/QUOTE]

I've tried with the lemon and didn't think it worked very well for me.

The solution is of course to finally get an RO system and get rid of all the minerals. My hothouse is watered with unfiltered borehole water that is good for human consumption, but not for orchids. Or for any of our household appliances that get blocked from the mineral deposits regularly.

Drying the leaves after every watering feels like a more impossible task than cleaning them up with mayo once every few months. We're talking about 150-200 plants...and in my desert environment, they're watered once or twice per day (the vandas closer to 4).

What does actually work OKish for the time being is to first water with borehole water and then spray over with rainwater afterwards to rinse off the minerals. I've done that the whole rainy season, but I've still got some old, stubborn lime deposits that I'd like to get rid of.

cbuchman · #6 03-26-2014, 04:43 PM

I've heard that full fat milk works well. There is something in the milk that dissolves the deposits. However, I've never tried it....

galgoa · #7 03-26-2014, 06:25 PM

Another tip: try beer.
Do not drink, just wipe the leaf with beer

gardengirl13 · #8 03-26-2014, 07:06 PM

white vinegar works on calcium and lime, not sure if it's good to use on plants though? any ideas on that? If the lemon juice is ok, I assume vinegar could be maybe too? Different acids though.

WhiteRabbit · #9 03-26-2014, 07:27 PM

I use vinegar to kill weeds, so I wouldn't try using it on plants you like.

gardengirl13 · #10 03-26-2014, 07:41 PM

Ahhh Ok nevermind!! Wasn't sure, just know it works really well on hard water build-up. Of course anything that works on it will probably be bad for other things!

---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 PM ----------

But does it really work that well on weeds?!! I might have to try that!