i'm from lecce south east (salento)
grazie!
giorgio

Benvenuto al gruppo! Where are you in Italy? I am way up north in
Sudtirolo.
--
Reka

You lucky so-and-so!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
Ah that's why I didn't understand.

We have soft water here (around 60 to 80ppm) so we don't get mineral
residues on our leaves.

Thanks for clearing up that one.

"Ray" wrote in message
...
More often than not, it's the mineral deposits from hard water that have
to
be removed, not just dust -- that's easy.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

. . . . . . . . . . .
"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
Doesn't just a damp cloth and water clean dust and stuff off them?

That's all I use and my leaves are clean..........or are you trying to
clean
off something specific.


"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
I just read in the rec.gardens.orchids archives that many people use
'milk'
to clean their orchid leaves? However, while at least one post
claimed
that
there is no smell, another post claimed that as a result the smell
can
be
very strong. Hmm. Since I live in a small apartment I don't want the
place
smelling of milk gone bad. Has anyone out here now used milk, and if
so,
does it smell or not?

What is the best way to clean/dust leaves in your experience?

Thanks,
Joanna

The rest of the world just doesn't realise how lucky we are in this part of
the world.

It's a burden we share though.............he he he

"Ray" wrote in message
...
You lucky so-and-so!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

. . . . . . . . . . .
"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
Ah that's why I didn't understand.

We have soft water here (around 60 to 80ppm) so we don't get mineral
residues on our leaves.

Thanks for clearing up that one.

"Ray" wrote in message
...
More often than not, it's the mineral deposits from hard water that
have
to
be removed, not just dust -- that's easy.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

. . . . . . . . . . .
"Bolero" wrote in message
u...
Doesn't just a damp cloth and water clean dust and stuff off them?

That's all I use and my leaves are clean..........or are you trying
to
clean
off something specific.


"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
I just read in the rec.gardens.orchids archives that many people
use
'milk'
to clean their orchid leaves? However, while at least one post
claimed
that
there is no smell, another post claimed that as a result the smell
can
be
very strong. Hmm. Since I live in a small apartment I don't want
the
place
smelling of milk gone bad. Has anyone out here now used milk, and
if
so,
does it smell or not?

What is the best way to clean/dust leaves in your experience?

Thanks,
Joanna

Ray wrote:

More often than not, it's the mineral deposits from hard water that have to
be removed, not just dust -- that's easy.



A friend (and very good grower) uses that CLR cleaner stuff. I suspect
the "Lime-Away" brand would work just as well. I used to use acetic
acid at about 10% concentration. I don't know how this would work on
thin leaved orchids...

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

I searched this thread for somebody who said "lemon Juice." Yippy.
Currently I am using 'Real' Lemon Juice, straight out of the bottle.
"Real", in this case is the brand name, but it is 100% lemon juice. I keep
a bottle of it out in the greenhouse right next to a roll of papertowels.
It works well on all the orchids in my greenhouse, thin and thick leaved
types. Never seen or smelled a problem from it. I used to use lowfat milk
and it does make a neat shine on Phal leaves. Can't leave a bottle of it in
the greenhouse for when it is needed. Must retrieve a small saucer of it
from the frig when needed. "Oh, you have cats?" "No, this is for the
orchids." One time I used a fresh saucer of milk to clean up plants I was
taking to show off at the society meeting and in the car on the way there I
could smell old milk proteins quite distinctly. It didn't take long, as I
had just cleaned the leaves with it, and I was kind of surprised at the
strength of the odor and the short time from actual use but there was a
smell of rotting milk that could not be denied. Maybe it was just the
confined space...

"Claude" wrote in message
...
I use Fresh lemon juice. It work well and no smell!

Claude

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
| Thank you Diana and giorgio.
|
| Giorgio, welcome to the group!
|
| I may try the milk or milk mixture someday -- if my husband David will
let
| me, since we share the same apartment after all, and he is very
concerned
| about the possible smell. He suggested that maybe orchids like milk only
in
| that, after applying milk, they stink and then one needs to apply a fan,
and
| they like the fan. :-)
|
| So on second thought, I might try the mild dish soap first and see the
| result. If it is good enough, I might avoid disconcerting David and not
use
| the milk after all.
|
| Thanks,
| Joanna
|
| "giorgio & errica" wrote in message
| ...
|
| an experienced gardener suggested me a mixture milk-beer and water
(same
| parts), but still have to try!
| ciao
| giorgio
| -italy-
| (sorry for my english)
|
| I just read in the rec.gardens.orchids archives that many people use
| 'milk'
| to clean their orchid leaves? However, while at least one post
claimed
| that
| there is no smell, another post claimed that as a result the smell
can
| be
| very strong. Hmm. Since I live in a small apartment I don't want the
| place
| smelling of milk gone bad. Has anyone out here now used milk, and if
so,
| does it smell or not?
|
| What is the best way to clean/dust leaves in your experience?
|
| Thanks,
| Joanna
|
|
|
|
|
|

A friend (and very good grower) uses that CLR cleaner stuff. I suspect
the "Lime-Away" brand would work just as well. I used to use acetic acid
at about 10% concentration. I don't know how this would work on thin
leaved orchids...

Hmm. I don't have any CLR around, but I just checked the bottle of
"Lime-Away". It contains sulfamic acid. Other rust products contain oxalic
acid, which is pretty strong. Does he dilute the CLR? Just curious.

Diana

Diana Kulaga wrote:

A friend (and very good grower) uses that CLR cleaner stuff. I suspect


the "Lime-Away" brand would work just as well. I used to use acetic acid
at about 10% concentration. I don't know how this would work on thin
leaved orchids...

Hmm. I don't have any CLR around, but I just checked the bottle of
"Lime-Away". It contains sulfamic acid. Other rust products contain oxalic
acid, which is pretty strong. Does he dilute the CLR? Just curious



Not as far as I know... I've seen her spray it right out of the spray
bottle on the plants. You would get denaturation of surface proteins,
if the acid were strong enough, and maybe some other interesting
chemistry. But that is at the surface of the leaf. Thick leaved
orchids usually have a pretty thick waxy cuticle, so perhaps an
occasional acid wash wouldn't do much harm? I certainly wouldn't bathe
my plants in it every day...

Actually I think that while Lime-Away and CLR recommend gloves, they
aren't particularly dangerous to bare skin. As long as the contact is
brief and you rinse it off. Vinegar is something like 5% acetic acid,
and I spill that on myself all the time with no obvious effect.

Take it with a grain of salt. Don't blame me if you kill your cymbidium
with it. I'd bet good money that you couldn't hurt a standard cattleya
with battery acid, as long as you wiped it off right away. I can't
remember enough organic chemistry to know why I think oxalic or acetic
acids are less dangerous than sulphuric acid, but it seems to be
entrained somewhere in that grey sticky substance in my skull. Probably
as wrong as everything else in there.

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

That's interesting, Rob. I don't know that I'll use any of those products
for orchid cleaning, but I did leave the Lime-Away out to remind me to give
the shower a good scub tomorrow.......S

Diana

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
Diana Kulaga wrote:

A friend (and very good grower) uses that CLR cleaner stuff. I suspect


the "Lime-Away" brand would work just as well. I used to use acetic
acid
at about 10% concentration. I don't know how this would work on thin
leaved orchids...

Hmm. I don't have any CLR around, but I just checked the bottle of
"Lime-Away". It contains sulfamic acid. Other rust products contain
oxalic
acid, which is pretty strong. Does he dilute the CLR? Just curious



Not as far as I know... I've seen her spray it right out of the spray
bottle on the plants. You would get denaturation of surface proteins,
if the acid were strong enough, and maybe some other interesting
chemistry. But that is at the surface of the leaf. Thick leaved
orchids usually have a pretty thick waxy cuticle, so perhaps an
occasional acid wash wouldn't do much harm? I certainly wouldn't bathe
my plants in it every day...

Actually I think that while Lime-Away and CLR recommend gloves, they
aren't particularly dangerous to bare skin. As long as the contact is
brief and you rinse it off. Vinegar is something like 5% acetic acid,
and I spill that on myself all the time with no obvious effect.

Take it with a grain of salt. Don't blame me if you kill your cymbidium
with it. I'd bet good money that you couldn't hurt a standard cattleya
with battery acid, as long as you wiped it off right away. I can't
remember enough organic chemistry to know why I think oxalic or acetic
acids are less dangerous than sulphuric acid, but it seems to be
entrained somewhere in that grey sticky substance in my skull. Probably
as wrong as everything else in there.

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

Joanna, there was another posting in here once that talked about
this. Somebody said they used mayonnaise, I tried that with a Phal.
that had hard water stains and it looked more like it covered up the
spots instead of taking them off. But somebody else said tea. I tried
that and was amazed, want to know if it'll do the same for my arteries.
All this talk of lemon juice and hey I'm boiling some water and getting
out the tea bags haha. Burr

"Rob Halgren" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

I'd bet good money that you couldn't hurt a standard cattleya
with battery acid, as long as you wiped it off right away.

Dare you to try, Rob! Post pics on ABPO! ;-)
--
Reka

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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As the most likely mineral deposited on the leaves is calcium carbonate, any
acidic solvent should work to one degree or another.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
wrote in message
...
Joanna, there was another posting in here once that talked about
this. Somebody said they used mayonnaise, I tried that with a Phal.
that had hard water stains and it looked more like it covered up the
spots instead of taking them off. But somebody else said tea. I tried
that and was amazed, want to know if it'll do the same for my arteries.
All this talk of lemon juice and hey I'm boiling some water and getting
out the tea bags haha. Burr

As the most likely mineral deposited on the leaves is calcium carbonate, any
acidic solvent should work to one degree or another.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
wrote in message
...
Joanna, there was another posting in here once that talked about
this. Somebody said they used mayonnaise, I tried that with a Phal.
that had hard water stains and it looked more like it covered up the
spots instead of taking them off. But somebody else said tea. I tried
that and was amazed, want to know if it'll do the same for my arteries.
All this talk of lemon juice and hey I'm boiling some water and getting
out the tea bags haha. Burr

As the most likely mineral deposited on the leaves is calcium carbonate, any
acidic solvent should work to one degree or another.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
wrote in message
...
Joanna, there was another posting in here once that talked about
this. Somebody said they used mayonnaise, I tried that with a Phal.
that had hard water stains and it looked more like it covered up the
spots instead of taking them off. But somebody else said tea. I tried
that and was amazed, want to know if it'll do the same for my arteries.
All this talk of lemon juice and hey I'm boiling some water and getting
out the tea bags haha. Burr

As the most likely mineral deposited on the leaves is calcium carbonate, any
acidic solvent should work to one degree or another.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

.. . . . . . . . . . .
wrote in message
...
Joanna, there was another posting in here once that talked about
this. Somebody said they used mayonnaise, I tried that with a Phal.
that had hard water stains and it looked more like it covered up the
spots instead of taking them off. But somebody else said tea. I tried
that and was amazed, want to know if it'll do the same for my arteries.
All this talk of lemon juice and hey I'm boiling some water and getting
out the tea bags haha. Burr

Reka wrote:

"Rob Halgren" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...


I'd bet good money that you couldn't hurt a standard cattleya
with battery acid, as long as you wiped it off right away.



Dare you to try, Rob! Post pics on ABPO! ;-)



I guess somebody else will have to try it, I can't get ABPO. *grin*

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