ScottMcC said:
This has been a very interesting discussion so far, and I've certainly learned a lot. One thing I will say though is that plants in the wild rot and die all the time. In the home, we expect close to 100% disease-free survival of our plants, and want them to all be growing briskly and flowering regularly. In nature, this isn't the case at all. A great percentage of plants never make it to maturity because of diseases, predators, and the like. The percentage varies greatly between species, but I seem to remember that with many cactuses it takes billions of seeds to yield one mature cactus. Perhaps this is a concept we should think about more, and we need to realize that growing in the home is simply NOT the same as growing in the wild on a number of levels.
The subject here goes way beyond water in the crown but it certainly pertains to it.
In nature it is all about survival of the fittest. The genetically resistant individual plants survive to reproduce and perpetuate the specie. Plants that are genetically prone to rot, when rained on, die. They most likely die soon after germination.
In horticulture it is necessary to respect this genetic necessity. Orchid seeds are grown in a sterile environment that does not allow the genetically weak to die. The seedlings are taken from a sterile environment and cared for with love and not allowed to get sick add die. Watch this scenario...
The little first bloomer has a fantastic blossom and gets an award. On to a special space on the greenhouse bench to get special care. Next season the plant blooms and is used to create the next generation of hybrids. IF a little rot happens because some water got on the leaves it is promptly treated with chemicals and it's life is saved. It is a prize plant. When the rot reappears it is treated again and the plant will grow and breed for many generations.
Now here is the point of the above scenerio. That plant in nature would have died. It would not have reproduced. The seedlings it produced will carry on it's genetic weaknesses. A higher percentage of the next generation will likely be even more sensitive to microbial and environmental problems. Once a plant is infected with "bad" bacteria it most likely always has the bacteria within it's system. If a division of the infected plant is created the division will also be infected and move to whatever new location the division goes to.
We expect 100% disease free survival of our plants.
Boy are we arrogant or what?
but should we be responsible and let the weak plants die?
If I have a few seedlings out of my collection that just die because I got them wet, then so be it! I don't want orchids to evolve into plants so frail they can't take a walk in the rain. Remember it is not the water that causes the death, unless it is uses incorrectly. Too much or not enough is what this thread started as. (I think)
But on a different note, I accidentally got my Masdevallia in the line of fire of a misting bottle (was misting another plant next to it and oversprayed), and the next day, there were black spots on the leaves exactly in the pattern that was hit. They since progressed to little depressions in the leaves, or in the case of one, a small perfectly round hole. I can't help but think this is a result of the water, perhaps through a small bacterial infection. The plant is doing fine now, and hasn't had any further outbreaks since then (although I've been much more careful not to get the leaves wet at all).
Are you sure you misted with water and not window cleaner?
Is there a chance the leaf temperature was at a much higher degree from the water you misted with? Some plants will not tolerate a sudden drastic change in leaf temperature without tissue death.
Anyway, are our expectations of our plants realistic? In commercial agricultural operations a certain percentage of losses is expected...perhaps this is just a manifestation of that?
Yes, our expectations are realistic. We should expect our plants to survive. We should work hard to make sure they do. But to make this happen we must use tough love and good breeder selection.
I like to use stories......
I have a good friend who was one of the first to work with breeding Gerbera daisies (1960s). He started with species form wild collections. Wild Gerberas rot in cultivation if you even look at them sideways. After many years of breeding he managed to get a strain of beautiful flowered hybrids established. It was at this point in his breeding program I gave him one of our greenhouses to use. After working everyday pollinating flowers and carefully collecting and counting seeds one by one for a year, he finally sowed 100,000seeds. The resulting seedlings were beautiful and flowered in 4 inch pots. It is at this point where this story becomes relevant to our orchid discussion. He set out all of these seedlings outdoors, in less than ideal, unsterilized conditions and watered with way to much water. When I questioned his intelligence (he is old enough to be my father) and told him his most beautiful plants would die from rot he gave me some sound knowledge. Yes, many, if not most of the plants would die. But those that survive will be the foundation of breeders to make it possible to grow a Gerbera daisy almost anywhere and under normal garden conditions. To him beauty was in the fact the plant was strong and could survive, after all he or future breeders could always breed the pretty flowers in the next generations. Any breeding program should have selection for vigor. What good is a beautifully flowered hybrid if dies when planted or causes worry to it's keeper? Let's call it the stress test.
Anyway, are our expectations of our plants realistic?
No, not if we expect everyone of them to live forever.
