What are the disinfection methods for orchid seedlings before planting?

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Disinfecting seedlings is a key measure to eliminate sources of pest and disease infection, and there must be no vagueness or wishful thinking. Even if no fungal, insect or viral spots are visible at the moment, latent fungal and viral diseases are by no means something the naked eye can detect. Therefore, whether they are your own repotted seedlings, or introduced orchid seedlings and wild-collected orchid seedlings, pre-planting disinfection should be carried out without hesitation.

If scale insects are found among the seedlings, then in addition to scraping off the eggs with a bamboo strip or thin plastic sheet, you should also add a scale-insect pesticide, or choose an insecticide that can kill eggs, and spray to eliminate them. For wild orchid seedlings you have collected yourself in the mountains and fields, and for virus-free orchid seedlings you have grown yourself, it is not necessarily required to soak them in an antiviral agent for disinfection before planting.

For seedlings introduced from outside, whether you selected them in person at the place of origin, bought them from an orchid vendor, or ordered them by mail, you should choose a highly effective broad-spectrum fungicide and an antiviral agent, dilute them separately, mix them, and soak for 30-60 minutes to disinfect.

Common and highly effective broad-spectrum fungicides include the American-made Kocide (kills both fungi and bacteria) and 64% Kameitong. The agent with the strongest antiviral effect is Bingdubike. Both the fungicide and the antiviral agent can first be diluted into a 300-fold solution and then mixed, after which the required amount of water is added to full volume, and then a 250-fold edible rice vinegar solution is added, to take advantage of its extremely strong penetrating function, guiding the agents straight to the pathogens and viruses and enhancing the killing and inhibiting effects.

Example of calculating the dilution concentration of an agent: 1 gram of effective agent added to 500 grams of water is a 500-fold solution, that is, a 0.2% concentration or 2000 ppm. However, because various disinfecting agents have different effective contents, their specific dosages still need to be calculated. For example, in an agent with a content of 15%, there is only 0.15 grams of effective ingredient.

So if you want 1 gram of actual effective agent, you need 6.7 grams of an agent with a content of 15%. After calculating the dosage of the agent, calculate the required amount of water according to the concentration requirement, and then mix the appropriate amount of agent with the appropriate amount of water to prepare the solution.

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