Phyton 27 IS a systemic and since erwinia is a systemic bacteria, thats why i would use the Phyton. And Lauren, I don't think thats exactly what I was alluding to and its not a heavy metal.
grumpy morning. sorry.
I use the Phyton when I want to "sledge hammer" an infection that may be fungal... may be bacterial... or may be a combination of both. So, when I went poking around late last night to try to figure out what you were talking about and stuck copper sulfate + H2O2 + what ever else I came up with into the search engine that produced what I stuck in quotes, I didn't even come close? Well, that's the pits. For what it's worth, I'd still like to know what you were referring to. Dawn has worked fine for me when I have added it to wettable Orthene and I've used H2O2 around here as a soil drench when we've had a lot of rain and plants were sitting in water for extended periods of time. Premise being that ozygen availability to the roots is vital to nutrient uptake. It's my roots that need to be able to receive oxygen or my plant would be toast. I try my best to wait to water outdoor plants until they absolutely positively need water as it allows water from the last watering to drain completely which then pulls oxygen down through the top of the soil but we're talking about orchids here not trees and shrubs planted outside. I realize this process sort of defies logic but I believe it has helped me save many an outside plant that was drowning from too much rain from the heavens. I've never used H2O2 as an anti bacterial on a plant though.
I'd like to try to understand why Rick stated, "There's less magic to it than dragons blood, but not much more than hydrogen peroxide".
Yes, I do know that Erwinia is a bacteria.
I was pretty sure Phyton was a systemic fungicide though and with all the farmers around here using Phyton as a preventative for everything from sooty mold on down the line, I figured it had to be common practice to use it as a prophylactic for other plants. I've not known of anyone using it to thwart off potential bacterial infections but people do use it to treat bacterial infections. I guess I don't understand all that this Dragon's Blood allegedly does for a plant?
Rick, what were the cure rates for carbenocillin? Fact remains that I'm an entry level orchid hobbyist and inside the home I'll be working with only one or two plants at a time as you mentioned and I'd like to know what would be the best route to go when I don't know whether an infection is fungal... bacterial... or a combination of both. I'm not so much concerned about cost as I would be about increasing the cure rate from 10 - 20% up to maybe at least 30%- 40%.
Please help me understand bwester and Rick. I've truly only had to deal with scale and one slug so far with orchids but the day will come when I'm going to have to address more than just that and I can't be running over to the the extension office with samples that won't come back for Lord knows how long telling me what my plant has.
Regarding inert ingredients, I don't like it that they are never listed. I long ago learned they could be anything but benign and the surfactant used in RoundUp really concerns me.