# After removing rotten parts!!!



## biothanasis (Sep 17, 2008)

Hello all,

I was wondering... There is a plant that has rotten pseudobulb/s or leaf/ves! After cutting the damaged part off the rest of the plant... is burning the cut (the healthy part that has remained) with a lighter (or something), suitable and effective so that it is secured and shieled? Or does this stress the plant even more??? Many of the wounds that I have treated with cinnamon or H2O2 have been reinfected and eventually killed the plant! Of course there is something that I am not doing correctly, but I was wondering if the above method is ok...!!! Well I have tried it with a psb of a Calanthe rubens that I have. I will wait and see what happens...

Thinking over it again, I guess that if a plant is rotten in vital spots, e.g. crown rot or base of growth etc, this practice can't be applied...!


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## SlipperFan (Sep 17, 2008)

Just a guess, but I would think burning living tissue would cause a place for disease to enter. 

Have you tried pouring on some hydrogen peroxide to the cuts, after making susre you've cut off all the diseased parts with a sterile tool?


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## PaphMadMan (Sep 17, 2008)

I wouldn't recommend burning. It will just create a lot of tissue damage to variable depth. If you have had reinfection problems in the past it is probably because you didn't cut deep enough. Remember plants have tissues specifically to conduct moisture, and bacterial or fungal infections can spread deep and fast along those vascular tissues, WAY ahead of any obvious signs on infection. Cut DEEP, then keep the cut surface dry for several days watching for any sign of continued infection. Something like cinnamon or an anti-fungal powder probably doesn't hurt, but peroxide or most other antiseptic or antibacterial products will be toxic to the plant tissues too, and many will only be effective for a few minutes - no help at all to prevent reinfection later. Good luck.


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## SlipperFan (Sep 17, 2008)

PaphMadMan said:


> ... but peroxide or most other antiseptic or antibacterial products will be toxic to the plant tissues too, and many will only be effective for a few minutes - no help at all to prevent reinfection later. Good luck.


Interesting. I've stopped a lot of bacterial rot on Paphs and especially Phrags with hydrogen peroxide.


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## PaphMadMan (Sep 17, 2008)

SlipperFan said:


> Interesting. I've stopped a lot of bacterial rot on Paphs and especially Phrags with hydrogen peroxide.



Peroxide will kill bacteria, of course, but if it is in contact with organic matter it will not be effective for very long. And it can penetrate deeply into plant tissue if there is a freshly cut surface, so maybe it will reach bacteria below the surface, but there won't be any residual effect for any it doesn't reach and kill quickly, and it can kill a lot of healthy tissue along the way.


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## Hien (Sep 17, 2008)

Have you ever tried dusting with sulfur powder from the garden store?


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## biothanasis (Sep 18, 2008)

Hello again

I have already tried hydrogen peroxyde, with minimum results, but never sulfure. Has it been effective for you, Hien? A couple of times I had tried even copper (the one like blue rocks/crystals) in very small doses, cause it burns the plants a lot! But I could not handle it well enough. Well, thank you all for the info!


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## Hien (Sep 18, 2008)

It is actually using as insecticide & fungicide, but it seems to work for me.
After I cut any plant w/ a heated blade, I dust the cut with sulfur powder.
Since sulfur is also a fertilizer, I guess it can not do much harm to the plant


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## NYEric (Sep 18, 2008)

Burning is good only if you're trying to get high or stoned! First of all if you can remove the infected part instead of cutting, that would be preferable. Second, there are all kinds of powders and liquids [Some are very poisonous to humans] that you can cover the area with to avoid further contamination.


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## SlipperKing (Sep 18, 2008)

People! try your trustie bone meal!! No need to cut anything


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## Ernie (Sep 18, 2008)

I'm with the MadMan in guessing you didn't cut back far enough. Or you did, but your conditions didn't allow for the wound to remain dry after applying the cinnamon or H2Os. Increase the air movement and decrease the humidity if the leaves tend to stay damp- at least until the wounds seal up. If you find yourself battling rots etc on an ongoing basis, you might have some unfavorable mix of low temps, excess moisture/humidity, and poor air movement. 

-Ernie


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## Hien (Sep 19, 2008)

Ernie said:


> I'm with the MadMan in guessing you didn't cut back far enough. Or you did, but your conditions didn't allow for the wound to remain dry after applying the cinnamon or H2Os. Increase the air movement and decrease the humidity if the leaves tend to stay damp- at least until the wounds seal up. If you find yourself battling rots etc on an ongoing basis, you might have some unfavorable mix of low temps, excess moisture/humidity, and poor air movement.
> 
> -Ernie



I agree with Ernie, you can not water until the wounds dry.
Sometimes, I wait a 12 to 24 hours for the cutting & the sulfur dusting to dry, then I seal the cut with tree sealer (the thing that looks like asphalt, that peoples use to seal the cuts after they cut tree branches)


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## NYEric (Sep 19, 2008)

I use Captan powder; don't know what the active ingredient is!?


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## Ernie (Sep 19, 2008)

Hey, how about Lance's Dragon's Blood stuff??? El Sanguinea del Draco or whatever. 

-Ernie


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## goldenrose (Sep 19, 2008)

Sangre de grado, I believe!


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## NYEric (Sep 19, 2008)

He says he cut the infected part. EIther he cut into an un-infected part or didn't remove enough. I learned the hard way not to cut if you can remove a whole section, leaf, bulb or whatever, then you have a better chance of stopping the spread. BTW one of the plants I put bone meal on actually now has mold growing on the bone meal [nasty!]


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## Hien (Sep 19, 2008)

NYEric said:


> He says he cut the infected part. EIther he cut into an un-infected part or didn't remove enough. I learned the hard way not to cut if you can remove a whole section, leaf, bulb or whatever, then you have a better chance of stopping the spread. BTW one of the plants I put bone meal on actually now has mold growing on the bone meal [nasty!]



can you just use hydrated horticultural lime. It came from limestone. Maybe it won't grow mold.
I think it is the similar to bone meal but inorganic.


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## biothanasis (Sep 20, 2008)

Thank you all for the info! Maybe I should be careful for the conditions after the treatment! Thank you again..


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## NYEric (Sep 21, 2008)

Hien said:


> can you just use hydrated horticultural lime. It came from limestone. Maybe it won't grow mold.
> I think it is the similar to bone meal but inorganic.


Yes, thanx Hien, I'll just traipse around SOHO until I find the local hydrated horticultural lime store! Yes that was me you saw on the NJTransit train to NYC and then on the subway shouldering the small 2 cubic foot bag of pine mulch the other day!


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## biothanasis (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello,

Sorry for not replying to your posts on this tread, but I lost it somewhere (lots of posts to see during one day, so imagine what happens after many days...)!!!!

Back to the subject, now... I saw yesterday in a forum (trying to see some pictures) that someone that had a Calanthe with rot at the bace of a huge psb, was told to treat the wound with Listerine, after cutting the infected part!!! Do you thing it would work???? Would it hurt plant tissue??? Thank you!!!


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## cnycharles (Jan 22, 2009)

SlipperFan said:


> Interesting. I've stopped a lot of bacterial rot on Paphs and especially Phrags with hydrogen peroxide.



same here, has stopped crown rot cold on a number of phals along with nailing hiding bugs! (don't use on pleuro mystax!  ) .... although an internally-invasive bacterial infection may not be controlled or only suppressed; nothing cures everything


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## Jon in SW Ohio (Jan 24, 2009)

I swab plant cuts with Neosporin.


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## biothanasis (Jan 25, 2009)

Hmmm...... TY


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## biothanasis (Feb 12, 2009)

I have tried H2O2 with not much success! I think I have found my way for treating plants after removing rotten parts!!! I have applied this treatment to a couple of paph leaves and they do great!!!! What I did was cut off the part that started to rot (with some healthy tissue) and then soaked some toilet paper with Listerine and soacked all the cut area and a little more healthy tissue, like ;eting the plant absorb some of the substance! And let it dry! No watering, spraying etc for a day or so!!! And the wound is greatly closed...

Another thing that I did with the catasetum was this! After seeing that there was a damaged/rotten patch on the pdb I took a sharp and clean knife and cut the infected part (which I do not know how it happened, cause I haven't watered it since dry period started, meaning for 2 months), only to realise that a great part along the pdb was rotten and I had to carve it (the rot had spread inside the pdb) What I did, was remove as rotten part as possible, soack the wound with Listerine, leaving it dry a bit and then applied some Handsaplast spray for treating wounds!!! It seems so far that everything is good!!!

That's all for now! I will try to keep u updated!!!


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## lindafrog (Feb 12, 2009)

I've had success with cinnamon for crown rot and sealing cut tissue. The important thing is to mix the cinnamon powder with enough water to make a thick paste. Shake it up untill its a blob and use a cheap artist paintbursh to cover all the tissue down into the healthy part. Let it dry and don't get water on the area. The mixture can be stored in a small airtight container for several weeks. Hope this helps.


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## biothanasis (Feb 12, 2009)

Thank you lindafrog!!!! I only applied the powder on the cut!!!! The cinnamon paste thing is a very good idea!!!! Thanks!!!


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