As a new grower there has been tons of stuff but all the home remedy products that can be used, to treat various orchid problems, from alcohol to vodka! have kept me dumbfounded.

Hi Jenny,

As a follow-up to my original reply, no, the orchid did not pull through. But I knew that would be the case...virused orchids can linger on for many years, but they never recover; it's often the best idea to simply get rid of the plant rather than risk infecting one's other orchids. What I found so helpful were people's very kind comments about this circumstance, as I was rather distraught at the time! It's really wonderful to have an online community of growers on hand here...I'm really glad to have been able to contribute advice (and encouragement) to new growers myself from time to time, too!

Claire

most useful thing Im learning here and please bear with me in this phase, Im learning how to get along with people. I live alone, work alone, eat alone, bath alone and spend too much time alone. I just dont know how to be when I get around people anywhere.
Somewhere lost in all that alone,I lost all my social skills and manners too.








The most useful tool for me other than all the obvious is I'm learning how to be a more friendly individual bec of all the nice people at the OB forum.


thank you :blushing:

I learned about mixing alcohol, water, neem oil, and a little dish soap to zap harmful insects. Plain ole' alcohol works great too.

Treating cuts and wounds with cinnamon or ground charcoal is another one of my favorites.

...and very important...Resist the urge to overpot. This rule makes all the difference in the world.

It's not specifically about orchids but thought this thread was great: Focus stacking achieve good DOF.html

Hi everyone, thanks for keeping this going :) Gee, Andrew, that looks way too technical, interesting, but technical!

@ Claire - I'm sorry to hear you lost one that obviously meant a lot to you but glad you got good support and, if the experience has helped prevent the same happening again, it wasn't wasted :)

@ RJSquirrel - I needed to leave school when I was 13 due to ill health and had no social life beyond my parents (except 2 friends who, 15 years later, I'm still in contact with). As a result, when I started venturing out into the world in my 20s, I found it really hard as well. I guess it just takes practice (and lots of nice people) :)

@ CTB and Junebug - For some reason, I just *love* the idea of treating plants with alcohol .. in the quirky world of Orchid collecting, it seems to fit somehow ;)

RJSquirrel you just made your confession in front of thousands of posters, and that in itself is a big step. We're all your friends.

My favorite tidbit from OB was to pay attention to the weight of plants when deciding when to water.

aww...

Wow, RJ Squirrel- that's nice of you to share that with everyone. On OB, you come across as kind and friendly, so your skills are probably better than you think!