Doubts raised about the use of medicines on Chinese orchids: these questions need to be clarified

Leafing through orchid journals and other flower magazines, one sometimes comes across some puzzling articles. A summary and the doubts are as follows: First, it is claimed that penicillin is the antibiotic with the strongest bactericidal effect, and that it has an excellent effect onorchidsblack spot disease, anthracnose and southern blight. Second, it is claimed that penicillin, gentamicin and streptomycin are effective in preventing and treating anthracnose, southern blight and root rot. The pathogens of all the above diseases are fungi, and their specific names are introduced in various books and periodicals, so I will not list them one by one here; whereas penicillin, streptomycin and gentamicin "kill" bacteria, and are effective only against some species of bacteria, not the antibiotics with the strongest bactericidal effect. Moreover, after decades to hundreds of years of use, a large number of drug-resistant strains have emerged among the bacterial species that were originally susceptible, so they are by no means effective nine times out of ten. As for their efficacy against fungi, various medical and pharmaceutical textbooks and reference books all clearly point out: fungi are resistant to penicillin (that is, it is ineffective). Fungi are resistant to gentamicin and streptomycin. The essence of this problem is: although both are microbes, this fungus is not that bacterium. Fungi and bacteria are different kinds of microorganisms, with different biological characteristics, and their sensitivity to various chemical drugs differs enormously. Yet both of the above articles assert with great certainty that they are effective. Is it an accidental coincidence? Third, it is claimed that applying Piyanping ointment to diseased spots has a special effect in treating anthracnose. Compared with the previous two, this is an even greater misunderstanding. The main active ingredient of Piyanping is dexamethasone acetate, which belongs to the corticosteroid class of drugs. This class of drugs has no inhibitory or killing effect on either fungi or bacteria; on the contrary, in clinical practice there are many cases of fungal infection caused by long-term use of corticosteroids. If this is the result when used on humans, can a miracle occur when it is used onorchids? Hard to imagine! Xu Qinzhong