Pat (and anybody else who cares),

According to the _AOS Handbook on Judging and Exhibition_ (11th
ed.), there are no proscriptions on any chemical treatment, natural or
synthetic. And if it isn't in the _Handbook_, then it doesn't matter to
AOS judging. I think the most relevant section is chapter V (Judging
process). Section 5.3 states blah blah... "Plants should be entered in
the most presentable condition possible. Pots should be clean or
covered, and dead pseudobulbs and leaves removed. Leaves should be
clean, but not treated to produce an artificial shine."

Next paragraph "Cotton, styrofoam wedges or other material _may_
(emphasis mine) be used on a developing inflorescence to encourage the
buds to develop naturally. [...] An inflorescence may be disqualified if
is is evident that an attempt has been made to mechanically force a
flower to a more desirable conformation." I think I read that to say
that staking and maybe a little manipulation to make sure the buds face
the right way on the inflorescence is good, as long as you are assisting
the plant in making a 'natural' presentation, but you shouldn't
manipulate open flowers in any way (including 'popping' those annoying
phal dorsal sepals). An obvious example is disbudding a cattleya.
There you have made an un-natural manipulation (removing a flower to
enhance the presentation of the other flowers).

There are other assorted rules in this section about not exhibiting
infested plants, etc. Anyway, that is all I can find in the handbook.
Now, there may be region and/or society specific rules on any or all
practices. For a society show, the society can add qualifiers as they
see fit, as long as they don't conflict with the AOS standards. So, if
a society states in the show schedule that "plants shall not be
exhibited which have been treated with plant growth hormones", then that
is the rules for the show. Or maybe they would like to bar transgenic
plants, should they exist. Such a plant (barred from show judging)
could independently be submitted for AOS judging regardless of the local
society rules.

That is the way I read it. There are all sorts of 'unwritten' rules
as well, but I suspect those vary from judging center to judging
center. And some things are just obvious (no blue food coloring,
etc...). It is entirely possible that the suspected prohibitions on
chemical treatment of plants are actually USDA or other country
regulations. That is a byzantine enough system to keep anybody
guessing. But they aren't from the AOS.


Rob

Pat Brennan wrote:

No judging handbook here. But the last time GA came up someone
posted that
they though it's use was against the regulations. Seemed weird to me
so I
asked Alan and I expect is answer is pretty good, buttons or not. As I
wrote last time this topic came up, if there is an AOS judging list of
prohibited chemicals, hormones, and/or growth regulators I would love to
know what they are. Anyone have the handbook and a little spare time?




I have the handbook but very little spare time. I'll look anyway.
I'm pretty sure I would have come across a list of prohibited
substances should there have been one, although even the most
experienced judges don't have the thing memorized. Our whole team was
looking through it this weekend, for something that we don't deal with
very often. I'll make a full report tomorrow.

Rob




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