A Possible Solution to Basal Rot

[paphjoint]

I use cinnamon powder for those kind of rot -it dries up the rot - but it all depend on how early you get in there, furthermore cinnamon has antifungal and antibacterial properties

 

[Gcroz]

Well, looks interesting. Boy would it be nice to have a cheap cure for this, I've lost 2 plants this week due to the lovely weather recently. I think I even have fungi growing in our carpets up here with all the rain.

I'd love to know how this is working further on down the road.

 

[SlipperKing]

I use cinnamon powder for those kind of rot -it dries up the rot - but it all depend on how early you get in there, furthermore cinnamon has antifungal and antibacterial properties

I have used cinnamon in the past with various levels of success. One thing I've notice with cinnamon is if I get it in a healthy crown of paph that has basal rot the plant stops growing. I have no scientific proof that cinnamon can stop a plant from growing but it happened several times early on when I started using cinnamon. Plus its hard to get the stuff to stick to the infected areas and stay there long enough to do any good.
I will keep you all updated on the progress of these plants. The Phrag Sorcerer's Apprentice and the Paph Imperial Jade are single fans so I should be able to tell fairly soon if there is going to be any ill effects from the "overload" of bonemeal added. On the positive side, the phrag has been treated for 30 days or so with no sign of rot returning. The paph at the time of the photo was about 2 1/2 weeks with no new rot. Also, most of the bonemeal has washed away from watering (into the mix, I'm sure).

 

[Elena]

That's interesting. My roeb is the only plant that has a problem with rot (appears to be a common issue) and Dragons Blood seems to be the best thing to control it.

I've also been experimenting with adding bone meal to slippers after reading Rick's posts. It's been a few weeks and everything is growing happily so it's at least not causing any problems.

 

[NYEric]

Must get bonemeal, must get bonemeal..

 

[Elena]

Just order some online, Eric I don't drive so that's exactly what I did. What did we do before the internet?

 

[Rick]

Must get bonemeal, must get bonemeal..

The bonemeal "discovery" is kind of ironic since its such a commonplace item for almost all other horticulture uses. Many "oldtime" orchid growers used it extensively before the advent of more targeted fertilizers. Some like Marilyn LeDeux add it normally to their potting mixes.

Maybe this is the "rediscovery" of bonemeal use for orchids.

 

[Rick]

Why not try powdered lime the next time and see if you get the same results? Eric

My thoughts too Eric. You know they toss lime on top of dead things to control bacterial decomposition. It would be the same effect.

However, I would be concerned that lime is just a bit too harsh compared to bonemeal.

 

[NYEric]

OK, I went to home depot in NJ and got some bone meal [$5/lb]. When I opened up the package it looked like brown sugar as opposed to the white powder. Porcine source as opposed to bovine I guess. Anyway, I put some on about 8 plants so hopefully I won't see any further problems!

 

[SlipperKing]

OK, I went to home depot in NJ and got some bone meal [$5/lb]. When I opened up the package it looked like brown sugar as opposed to the white powder. Porcine source as opposed to bovine I guess. Anyway, I put some on about 8 plants so hopefully I won't see any further problems!

Keep us posted Eric either way it goes, good or bad

 

[Rick]

OK, I went to home depot in NJ and got some bone meal [$5/lb]. When I opened up the package it looked like brown sugar as opposed to the white powder. Porcine source as opposed to bovine I guess. Anyway, I put some on about 8 plants so hopefully I won't see any further problems!

That's the stuff I got recently too Eric.

 

[NYEric]

OK; hopefully we didn't get ripped off! Since I don't top water a lot it'll be interesting to see if it works its' way into the leaves.

 

[Hien]

OK, I went to home depot in NJ and got some bone meal [$5/lb]. When I opened up the package it looked like brown sugar as opposed to the white powder. Porcine source as opposed to bovine I guess. Anyway, I put some on about 8 plants so hopefully I won't see any further problems!

Did you get Bone meal or Blood meal?

 

[NYEric]

It's bone meal.

 

[Candace]

Hmm. Maybe it was packaged incorrectly. I say you need to sample some to make sure. Since you enjoy licking your plants, this shouldn't be a stretch for you.:evil:

 

[NYEric]

If it wasn't pork I would!

 

[NYEric]

OK, update. Bone meal, at least from porcine source, is out. I had terrible problem w/ drosophela and had to chuck or change media on most of the plants I was treating w/ bone meal. [scratch one Paph Cam's Cloud and one makhulii alba! ] I changed the media picked off any dead/ infected growths, treated w/ Dragon's Blood and repotted.

 

[SlipperKing]

Sorry E, hate to hear that.

 

[NYEric]

No problem, if the plants didn't have issues I wouldn't have had to try bone meal.