If you have a lot of orchids, then the most annoying aspect caring for these plants is preventing orchid diseases. If you do not take steps to prevent these diseases or treat them on time, not only can they kill your affected orchids but these diseases can even spread to your healthy orchids as well. So, the best thing you can do is to prevent them from affecting your happy and healthy orchids.
Typical Signs of Orchid Diseases
If your orchids are suffering from some disease, then you will notice:
• Bruised or discolored leaves
• Deformed flowers
• Punctures in the flowers
• Spotting on flowers and/or leaves
• Wilting flowers
If you notice any of these signs on your orchids, then your plants are already affected with some disease. However, if you are lucky enough that your orchids are still healthy and fine, then there are both natural and reputable commercial solution that can help you prevent orchid diseases.
Some Basic Precautions to Prevent Orchid Diseases
If your orchids are perfectly healthy, then you can actually avert diseases from attacking them by some very basic tried and tested tips in growing these plants. As long as you provide your orchids with ideal growth medium, humidity, light intensity, temperature and ventilation conditions, they will grow ideally without getting attacked by diseases.
- Water your orchids carefully: If you do not properly water your orchids, you will make it easier for diseases to breed in the roots. Never water your orchids excessively as this can lead to diseases like basal rot and brown wet spot. However, you must adequately water your orchids or else the plants might suffer from a disease like Fusarium wilt.
- Pest-free environment: The common orchid disease carriers are pests. So, by keeping pest away from your orchids and storing them in a pest-free environment, you can prevent many orchid diseases.
- Choosing the right fungicides and insecticides: Avoid spraying your orchids with the same fungicide and/or insecticide twice in a row, instead alternate between several fungicides and/or insecticides. This way, fungal diseases and insects will not become resistant to them.
- Proper ventilation: For your orchids to blood and grow, it is crucial that you provide them with proper ventilation. You will also succeed at preventing fungal diseases like Botrytis if you ventilate your orchids properly.
- Sterilize cutting tools before using: Many orchid diseases are caused by viruses, and often you might have to discard an orchid if it is affected with a viral disease. So, whenever using cutting tools on your orchids that you have used on other plants, make sure you sterilize them first.
Some Commercial Solutions to Prevent Orchid Diseases
Insecticides
Since insects often carry orchid diseases, so you can prevent them by using the following insecticides:
- Enstar & Precor: You can prevent disease carrying insects from reaching maturity and affecting your orchids by using this insecticide.
- Attain: It is a good alternative to aerosol bombs and can be used for controlling disease carrying insects and mites.
Fungicides
Fungal diseases in orchids are quite common and can prevent them by using the following fungicides:
- Cleary's: You can buy this fungicide in the liquid spectrum or WP and will cost you around $40 to $50 per quarter of a bag. You can prevent a broad spectrum of fungal diseases using this fungicide.
- Truban: You can use this fungicide as a drench, and it is ideal to prevent root rot.
- Strike/Bayleton: As a last resort, you can even use this fungicide, which is very powerful and can help prevent orchid diseases that no other fungicide is able to control.
Anti-bacterial products
Bacterial diseases are some of the most dangerous orchid diseases and you can prevent them by using the following anti-bacterial products:
- Kocide: Kocide is both an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so it is capable of prevent a myriad of orchid diseases.
- Agri-Strep (Streptomycin): Agri-Strep is an anti-bacterial drug in a WP form that you can use to prevent bacterial orchid diseases, but make sure you do not use more than twice a year.
No doubt, preventing orchid diseases is not an easy task, and often all this might like a lot of stuff to handle. However, it is in the best interest of your orchids that you take these measures. If you follow the mentioned basic precautions and reputable commercial solutions, then you will not have to worry about your orchids getting affects the typical diseases that can kill them.
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