Edible Mushroom Disease Prevention and Control and Three Control Methods for Orchid Pests and Diseases

Orchids are herbaceous plants, and under artificial cultivation their disease incidence is much higher than when growing naturally in forests. According to my own plant protection records for orchids, under artificial cultivation, due to differences in temperature, humidity, light, and air, plus unclean ambient air, orchids are most prone to the following several diseases.

Anthracnose, black spot, ring spot, rust spot, and other leaf surface diseases to which orchids are prone. For the prevention and control of orchid leaf surface diseases, I adopt three control methods:

First: leaf surface spraying method: you can use thiophanate-methyl 1000-fold solution, or carbendazim 800-fold solution, using either one alone as a diluted solution for fine mist spraying to sterilize and prevent disease. For pest control, you can mix in dimethoate 1000-fold solution or methamidophos 1000-fold solution to kill insects, but thiophanate-methyl and carbendazim cannot be mixed together for use, because mixing these two agents will produce resistance and cause loss of control effect. In seasons of high temperature and high humidity, applying control once every 10 days or 15 days according to the solution ratio gives even better results.

Second: root irrigation sterilization method: for orchid plants severely affected by black spot, anthracnose, and so on, root irrigation sterilization and disinfection can be adopted. The specific method is to use carbendazim 1:1000 solution to water the potting soil or soak the pot, while also spraying the leaf surfaces with the medicinal solution for sterilization, once every one week apart, with very good results.

Third: injection disease removal method: generally for diseased leaves of orchid plants that have already developed severe black spot or anthracnose, the usual method is to cut them off. If it is a variegated-leaf plant, cutting them off is truly a pity, so I adopt the principle of imitating medicine and give orchid diseased leaves injections to remove disease, with especially good results. The specific method:

Using a previously prepared thiophanate-methyl 1:800 solution, with a disposable 20 ml syringe, draw in 18 ml of the medicinal solution, insert the needle at the diseased spots on the orchid leaf surface while injecting the solution, giving one injection at each diseased spot. After three days the diseased spots disappear completely. When injecting, use a piece of sterilized foam plastic as a backing to prevent the needle from pricking your hand.

Although orchids can get sick, as long as you correctly use medication and provide timely treatment and prevention, you will certainly be able to grow elegant orchid leaves and produce brilliant flowers.