# Sappy excretion from orchids



## Bluefirepegasus (Jan 13, 2008)

Hey...and pardon for this question if it seems a little dumb....have you guys ever seen orchids excrete a clear, sticky sap from them? Like for instance, my Jackie kennedy cattleya I just got....it is budding out right now and I am finding a clear like sap on the tips of the buds. 

Or my oncidium sunday best intergenic....it has been excreting the sap from some nodes on one of the bloomspikes. 

I am assuming this is okay and normal...but then again I thought about the pests etc that could cause that. Like aphids....but there seem to be no aphids.

What do you guys think?

Bluefirepegasus


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## Candace (Jan 13, 2008)

Yes, it's completely normal. But watch out because it will draw the ants and with your recent problem they'll be attracted to it.


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## SlipperFan (Jan 13, 2008)

If you don't have bugs, taste it -- it's just sugar.


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## cwt (Jan 13, 2008)

Its the best taste there is. I always tell visitors to taste it and they'll be hooked on orchids forever.


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## Candace (Jan 13, 2008)

Folks, once again, please don't advocate tasting plant secretions! Systemic pesticides linger in ALL plant parts and sap! And any other chemicals used on the plants leave residues behind. Seriously, not a good idea.


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## cwt (Jan 13, 2008)

Sorry


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

It's one of my hot buttons:>


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## likespaphs (Jan 14, 2008)

mmm... hot buttons.... i mean, sorry, um, just make sure that there's not scale either....


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

Yeah, ick totally gross. I've got other hot buttons but this is one of them. I see this come up time to time and I just shudder knowing what I spray on them should never go near my mouth I didn't mean to sound like I was scolding anyone. I'm a mother and it's so easy to fall into that role.


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## Heather (Jan 14, 2008)

Personally, I've never needed to spray my plants with anything dangerous, but if I had, yeah, um, I wouldn't be licking them. 

(That said, I have tasted honey dew from my plants in the past, but again, I don't advocate it if you use systemics!)


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## likespaphs (Jan 14, 2008)

if you've tasted honeydew, that doesn't come from plants, that's from insects... (honeydew is the polite way to say bug poop.)

my thoughts on this are that unless you've had the plant from flasking, then you don't know what the previous grower used on the plants. that's why i usually don't eat nothin' from 'em...


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

Here's a scary but true story. My next door neighbor (she moved several years ago) came over one day during the summer and we were discussing our gardens. I was complaining about the aphids and having to spray with soap spray every day and she remarked that she didn't have a single bug and that I should buy what she uses. She proceeded to go back home and get her bottle of wonder product and I almost died when I saw what she was using. She'd been using a systemic spray for roses and ornamentals and had been proudly sharing her produce with all the neighbors(luckily not us!) I had to explain to her that all the veggies needed to go in the garbage and that she was eating poison. Who knows how many years she'd been eating and giving that stuff away? Eeeewwww.


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## Heather (Jan 14, 2008)

likespaphs said:


> if you've tasted honeydew, that doesn't come from plants, that's from insects... (honeydew is the polite way to say bug poop.)
> 
> my thoughts on this are that unless you've had the plant from flasking, then you don't know what the previous grower used on the plants. that's why i usually don't eat nothin' from 'em...




Okay, well, I've tasted the sticky sap on phals, but there were no bugs. I just thought it was all called that. My bad. Thanks for putting it in such conventional terminology though. oke:


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## NYEric (Jan 14, 2008)

If you don't use poison on your plants and water them like nature does there's no problem tasting the sap/sugar. I don't think it's nature's best taste [rose-water from rain for me.] but it's not unpleasant.


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

Eric eats bug poop! That explains a lot, reallyoke:

Hey, has anyone watched the new T.V. show where the host travels to different countries and eats just about anything? The last show I saw he ate turtle soup, raw octopus, blowfish and kabobs made out of one of rooster testicles, one of skin, and one of beaks.


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## Heather (Jan 14, 2008)

Is that new? Sounds like Tony Bourdain's show - My cat is currently trying to perfect the taste of sheet music and wall. Not together, but with the latter as a chaser. Someone needs more attention, clearly.


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## NYEric (Jan 14, 2008)

No it's another fellow, something Zorn, I went to college [Vassar] with him.


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## Heather (Jan 14, 2008)

Are you sure about that? I'm not turning anything up by googling. I need proof, please. 

(I did turn up my mother's very nice and very old ca. 1970 yellow dansk stock pot...go figure.)


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

Here's a link to the show's website 
http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bizarre-foods/bizarre-foods.html

The show is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. So, Eric had the name close.


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## Bluefirepegasus (Jan 14, 2008)

Well, I am so glad it is normal. I figured it was a by-product from photosynthesis.....glucose and that it was fine...but I had to make sure.

And yes! With the ant problem that is the first thing I thought about. So, I have been gently wiping it off and I have set out little traps just in case they come around. The good news is I haven't seen any activity since I sprayed and put the traps down. Maybe they are gone! :crosses fingers:

Bluefirepegasus


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## dave b (Jan 14, 2008)

I used to have a big Aerides lawrenceana that threw out big inflorescences covered in sap / honeydew / whatever. They are known for doing this, had nothing to do with bugs. The ants loved this plant. And yes, i tasted the stuff. Im not advocating, just stating. 

I wish i could find a picture of the thing. Ah-ha. Here it is. Wish i had never gotten rid of it.


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## Bluefirepegasus (Jan 15, 2008)

Wow...I am glad I asked this question then because if I had seen a plant that had that much sugary stuff all over it I would have assumed there was something wrong with it. 

I am glad for the information guys.  

Bluefirepegasus


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## NYEric (Jan 15, 2008)

The ants, of course are attracted to the sugar.


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## Mrs. Paph (Jan 15, 2008)

Heh, good to know - glad someone asked - I wasn't sure what was in the goo on my Phals, but I'm sure it's the same sugary stuff. Explains why my little sugar ant hitch-hickers are crawling back and forth from the Lc (I washed off the spilled hummingbird feeder liquid when it came indoors) to my sugary Phals!:rollhappy: They're easier to squish running out in the open :evil: sorry ants, I don't want them multiplying and moving away from the plants!


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## dave b (Jan 15, 2008)

As has been mentioned already, any time you see sap on your orchids, especially the leaves, check for pests. Scale and mite colonies can produce visible sap. It is also known that some ants (dont know which ones) will carry, deposit, and 'herd' mites and aphid colonies to insure they have a nice fresh supply of dew to drink.


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## NYEric (Jan 17, 2008)

Miss Paphiopedilum said:


> They're easier to squish running out in the open :evil: sorry ants, I don't want them multiplying and moving away from the plants!


"Don't worry, we've taken out a contract on your house foundation w/ the termites." _Ant Nation _


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## paphjoint (Jan 18, 2008)

Even some paphs do sometimes generate sugar exudates on their flowers to some extent


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## heliomum (Mar 5, 2008)

*Same Problem*

I have the same problem. How can I fix it?



P.S. Its not aphids.


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## Candace (Mar 5, 2008)

> I have the same problem. How can I fix it?
> 
> 
> 
> P.S. Its not aphids.



It's not a problem and you don't "fix" it. It's a natural occurance of the plant. If you don't like it you can always gently wipe it off or wash it off. But it will just come back.


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## NYEric (Mar 5, 2008)

Actually, I think it's a sign of good fertilizing.


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## Roy (Mar 5, 2008)

I believe this sap is a sign of the health of the plant. I reckon that if my plants that produce this sap aren't doing it, there is something wrong with the plant and this usually proves correct.


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## Bluefirepegasus (Mar 10, 2008)

Yes....after a while I figured it out. hehehe....I had never had a plant do that on me and thought all was lost! 

I now have another big plant that does it....a big cattleya. 

Bluefirepegasus


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## NYEric (Mar 11, 2008)

Not all plants, phrags for example, make sap.


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## SlipperKing (Mar 12, 2008)

NYEric said:


> Not all plants, phrags for example, make sap.



I'm not sure if it's sap or not but normally, after I water my Phrags the next morning I fine "water droppets" on the edges of thier leaves. This is of course part of the plant's respiration cycle. Whether these droppets contain sugar or not, I'm not sure but there is a fine white ring left after the water dries. I personally have not licked the leaves to find out! The white residue left behind could be nothing more then a collection of dust and dirt.


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## NYEric (Mar 12, 2008)

Go ahead and lick it. I'm sure we've all licked worse things! :evil:


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## Candace (Mar 12, 2008)

Speak for yourself, Eric. I shudder to think where all your bits have been!


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## SlipperKing (Mar 14, 2008)

NYEric said:


> Go ahead and lick it. I'm sure we've all licked worse things! :evil:



Eric, you tear me up, you cornball:rollhappy:


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## mccallen (Mar 14, 2008)

Many orchid species secrete sugary sap from extrafloral nectaries like the ones described in this thread. In many cases this trait is thought to attract insect mutualists or organisms that also prey on pests of the plants.


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## NYEric (Mar 16, 2008)

Candace said:


> Speak for yourself, Eric. I shudder to think where all your bits have been!



Candace, I'm sure you kiss your dog and you know where his mouth has been!


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## Candace (Mar 16, 2008)

My daughter did a science project testing the mouth/saliva of cats, dogs and humans to see which had the most bacteria. Not that I give tongue kisses to my dog, but his mouth is cleanest.


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## NYEric (Mar 17, 2008)

See, I told you..! :evil:


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## Corbin (Mar 19, 2008)

NYEric said:


> Actually, I think it's a sign of good fertilizing.



I hope this is right as one of my paphs has this on the bud every day. Did not have it last year so maybe I'm getting better.:rollhappy:


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