Sappy excretion from orchids

[Bluefirepegasus]

Hey...and pardon for this question if it seems a little dumb....have you guys ever seen orchids excrete a clear, sticky sap from them? Like for instance, my Jackie kennedy cattleya I just got....it is budding out right now and I am finding a clear like sap on the tips of the buds.

Or my oncidium sunday best intergenic....it has been excreting the sap from some nodes on one of the bloomspikes.

I am assuming this is okay and normal...but then again I thought about the pests etc that could cause that. Like aphids....but there seem to be no aphids.

What do you guys think?

Bluefirepegasus

 

[Candace]

Yes, it's completely normal. But watch out because it will draw the ants and with your recent problem they'll be attracted to it.

 

[SlipperFan]

If you don't have bugs, taste it -- it's just sugar.

 

[cwt]

Its the best taste there is. I always tell visitors to taste it and they'll be hooked on orchids forever.

 

[Candace]

Folks, once again, please don't advocate tasting plant secretions! Systemic pesticides linger in ALL plant parts and sap! And any other chemicals used on the plants leave residues behind. Seriously, not a good idea.

 

[cwt]

Sorry

 

[Candace]

It's one of my hot buttons:>

 

[likespaphs]

mmm... hot buttons.... i mean, sorry, um, just make sure that there's not scale either....

 

[Candace]

Yeah, ick totally gross. I've got other hot buttons but this is one of them. I see this come up time to time and I just shudder knowing what I spray on them should never go near my mouth I didn't mean to sound like I was scolding anyone. I'm a mother and it's so easy to fall into that role.

 

[Heather]

Personally, I've never needed to spray my plants with anything dangerous, but if I had, yeah, um, I wouldn't be licking them.

(That said, I have tasted honey dew from my plants in the past, but again, I don't advocate it if you use systemics!)

 

[likespaphs]

if you've tasted honeydew, that doesn't come from plants, that's from insects... (honeydew is the polite way to say bug poop.)

my thoughts on this are that unless you've had the plant from flasking, then you don't know what the previous grower used on the plants. that's why i usually don't eat nothin' from 'em...

 

[Candace]

Here's a scary but true story. My next door neighbor (she moved several years ago) came over one day during the summer and we were discussing our gardens. I was complaining about the aphids and having to spray with soap spray every day and she remarked that she didn't have a single bug and that I should buy what she uses. She proceeded to go back home and get her bottle of wonder product and I almost died when I saw what she was using. She'd been using a systemic spray for roses and ornamentals and had been proudly sharing her produce with all the neighbors(luckily not us!) I had to explain to her that all the veggies needed to go in the garbage and that she was eating poison. Who knows how many years she'd been eating and giving that stuff away? Eeeewwww.

 

[Heather]

if you've tasted honeydew, that doesn't come from plants, that's from insects... (honeydew is the polite way to say bug poop.)

my thoughts on this are that unless you've had the plant from flasking, then you don't know what the previous grower used on the plants. that's why i usually don't eat nothin' from 'em...

Okay, well, I've tasted the sticky sap on phals, but there were no bugs. I just thought it was all called that. My bad. Thanks for putting it in such conventional terminology though. oke:

 

[NYEric]

If you don't use poison on your plants and water them like nature does there's no problem tasting the sap/sugar. I don't think it's nature's best taste [rose-water from rain for me.] but it's not unpleasant.

 

[Candace]

Eric eats bug poop! That explains a lot, reallyoke:

Hey, has anyone watched the new T.V. show where the host travels to different countries and eats just about anything? The last show I saw he ate turtle soup, raw octopus, blowfish and kabobs made out of one of rooster testicles, one of skin, and one of beaks.

 

[Heather]

Is that new? Sounds like Tony Bourdain's show - My cat is currently trying to perfect the taste of sheet music and wall. Not together, but with the latter as a chaser. Someone needs more attention, clearly.

 

[NYEric]

No it's another fellow, something Zorn, I went to college [Vassar] with him.

 

[Heather]

Are you sure about that? I'm not turning anything up by googling. I need proof, please.

(I did turn up my mother's very nice and very old ca. 1970 yellow dansk stock pot...go figure.)

 

[Candace]

Here's a link to the show's website
http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bizarre-foods/bizarre-foods.html

The show is Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. So, Eric had the name close.

 

[Bluefirepegasus]

Well, I am so glad it is normal. I figured it was a by-product from photosynthesis.....glucose and that it was fine...but I had to make sure.

And yes! With the ant problem that is the first thing I thought about. So, I have been gently wiping it off and I have set out little traps just in case they come around. The good news is I haven't seen any activity since I sprayed and put the traps down. Maybe they are gone! :crosses fingers:

Bluefirepegasus