Having problems with your orchids really sucks… here are a few good links to websites that helps you diagnose and deal with it. More to come as I find new cool resources. Let me know if any of these links have gone bad over time. If you have any other good resources on the subject, please let me know and I will be happy to add them to the list.
Diagnosis
Resources
- Orchid Pests and Diseases – Orchid Pests (St. Augustine Orchid Society)
- Orchid-diagnosis (orchidexperts.com)
- Orchid Pests and Diseases, by Sue Bottom (5mb large PDF with great photos)
- Orchid Pests and Diseases (ionopsis.com)
- On-Line Orchid Doctor (cloudsorchids.com)
- Information on crop protection (hark-orchideen.de)
- House plant pest control & General Diagnostic Guide (wvu.edu)
- Orchid-Pests-and-Diseases (hubpages.com)
- CH_1-Pests (http://www.lancebirk.com)
My own experiences
- Best prevention is to keep a close look on your plants and catch any problem early for treatment.
- I recommend you keep a loupe or magnifying glass handy as many things are hard to spot with the naked eye – seriously.
Pests
Resources
- Insect and Related Pests of Foliage Plants (mrec.ifas.ufl.edu)
- Mites on cultivated orchids (nathist.sdstate.edu)
- Pests (rv-orchidworks.com)
- Scale Insects on Orchids (nathist.sdstate.edu)
My own experiences
- Fighting “fungus gnats” or “sorgmyggor”.
- Dealing with red spider mites
- War on flase spider mites
Pathogens (viral, bacterial, fungal)
Resources
- Black rot (University of Florida, IFAS)
- Orchid viruses (rv-orchidworks.com)
- Photos of viruses (www.hark-orchideen.de)
My own experiences
- Cut off leaf (or the damaged part) affected by rot and dust the cut liberally with cinnamon (an antifungal remedy).
- You can also mix cinnamon into a casein protein based glue (Elmer’s glue or “Universallim”) I’ve heard you can mix with cooking oil as well, but have not tested this myself. Mix a thick, brown paste and smear on the wound and let it dry.
Physiological Disorders
Resources
- Mesophyll Cell Collapse (University of Florida, IFAS)
- Oedema (University of Florida, IFAS)
My own experiences
Remedies
Resources
- Nematode warfare!! Predatory mites that take out the evil guys… no poison necessary (I buy mine from Lindesro)
- First Ray’s Home-Made Remedies and Treatments
- Jose Luiz’s personal organic recipe against plagues (insects etc)
- House plant pest control (wvu.edu)
- Physan. Many problems we encounter calls for the use of a flungicide called “Physan”. We cannot get a hold of this in Sweden, but according to Ray at firstrays.com you can use a weak chlorine solution as a substitute for Physan (1,5 tsp/liter). I have found it to be quite effective and harmless to the plants.
- Light white mold on surface of the substrate, spray a solution of Atamon (preservative used when making jams/pickling), 1-2 teaspoons to 1 liter water.
- Hydrogen peroxide for fungal prevention: Use diluted hydrogen peroxide to the rate of 3,33 ml per 1 liter water (using 3% hydrogen peroxide concentration). I put it in the misting system water.
- Hydrogen peroxide as topical fungicide: Spray 3% hydrogen peroxide (non-diluted) as topical treatment. Do not to spray this on nigro-hirsute dendrobiums, and to make sure the temperature does not rise above 24C until the plants have dried.
My own experiences
- War on flase spider mites
- Fighting “fungus gnats” or “sorgmyggor”.