2 plants tested virus positive. What to do in my grow area now?
Hello!
I had 2 cattleya orchids (rustic spots and akas art) from the same grower test positive for Cymbidium Mosaic virus and then one of them also tested positive for odentoglosum ring spot virus. I am newer to orchids and this is the first time I have had virused plants that I am aware of. There was one other I was a little worried about but it came back negative. It was one I have had for a year now and its from a different place. Of course, I threw away the 2 virused plants but me being novice to this stuff, some of my other orchids were close by.
The akas art I had thought had some type of rot originally, in particular black rot. One of the psuedobulbs went squishy so I cut it off and treated the rest of the plant with a fungicide. Well, then it developed black splotches on the leaves right in the middle. When the psuedobulb went squishy, I treated the rest of my collection with the fungicide also and isolated the offender. The rustic spots I honestly thought was adjusting. It was in general population until yesterday. The big vein down the leaves were a brownish color. I don't know why I didn't think this super odd before, but oh well. That was literally the only thing wrong.
So now, the question is, do I need to do anything in my grow space since these were positive? None of my other plants appear symptomatic but I know you truly don't know. I did let the grower know and she said she has heard no other complaints. Do I need to change my isolation habits on new purchases (isolate for a month maybe longer)? What do you all recommend? I don't want to lose my entire collection to something I could have prevented.
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