V_coerulea wrote:
I deflask seedlings onto a plastic plate loaded with as much Physan as it
will hold. The seedlings are basically floating or semi-submerged in Physan
until I pot into compots or pot individually. After being potted or
compotted, I spray with Dithane. I alternate sprays of the 2 chemicals every
3 days or so for a couple of weeks and get little or no dieoff.
Gary
I've never gotten a satisfactory explanation on why it is necessary
to soak sterile (deflasked) seedlings in physan... People do it all the
time, but what do they think they are killing? I don't ever treat my
deflasked seedlings with anything and they do just fine. Heck, I don't
even remove the agar, most times, and have never seen anything nasty
grow in a pot. Besides, most people can't buy dithane, AFAK. If I do
lose a few seedlings, I chalk those up to the 'crappy hard to grow'
category. In the past, I used to spend more time trying to keep
everything alive, but when I did that, there were always two or three
that just kind of sat there and refused to grow. Those are the two or
three I lose by not spraying, as far as I can tell.
I don't think there is a residual effect with physan (somebody can
correct me if I'm wrong). Dithane does have a residual effect, so I
guess I can see why that works. I suspect that every few days is
overkill, and the reason you may not be getting any dieoff is because
you are paying a lot of attention to your compots. Try the experiment
with spraying every three days with distilled water, see if there is a
difference. Be diligent though, the experiment only works if you use
the water just like the fungicides. Try it with something cheap though,
just in case I'm an idiot. In my conditions, it would work though...
Just something to keep me busy whilst I fight with the township about my
greenhouse. Anybody hear of a 50' rear setback requirement before?
Rob
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit