After removing rotten parts!!!

[biothanasis]

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...!

 

[SlipperFan]

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?

 

[PaphMadMan]

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.

 

[SlipperFan]

... 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.

 

[PaphMadMan]

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.

 

[Hien]

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

 

[biothanasis]

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!

 

[Hien]

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

 

[NYEric]

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.

 

[SlipperKing]

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

 

[Ernie]

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

 

[Hien]

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)

 

[NYEric]

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

 

[Ernie]

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

-Ernie

 

[goldenrose]

Sangre de grado, I believe!

 

[NYEric]

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!]

 

[Hien]

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.

 

[biothanasis]

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

 

[NYEric]

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!

 

[biothanasis]

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!!!