Sulphur in flask

[Yukonphal]

I just did a little experiment that may prove useful later in some way. I have a flask of NOID Phal. seeds that got contaminated (too long a story of why).It got the dreaded"white stuff" on the surface,and a little "brown stuff".I figured what the hell....I put a little yellow sulphur in a little water and syringes it onto the surface.That was yesterday.Today there is enough of the contamination gone that I can see that the seeds have indeed started to germinate....has anyone else tried this?

[WhiteRabbit]

hmm ... interesting! Let us know how it goes, please!

[PaphMadMan]

Before artificial fungicides were available sulfur was commonly used. I'm not surprised it was effective. You have probably just suppressed the fungus though, not killed it off. You might see regrowth when the sulfur has had some time to diffuse through the medium and react so the elemental sulfur is gone. There is some chance you may see adverse effects on the protocorms too, but they would be lost if you did nothing. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[lepetitmartien]

You only dissolved a bit of pure sulphur (yellow solid) into water? Just to check you're talking about the element.

Sulphur may not be a problem (to verify), Phals and Cattleyas are the only genus supporting sulphured fungicides without phytotoxicity. (so hope hope!)

Keep us informed, it sure can be interesting for people having contamination issues.

[Yukonphal]

Yup...just the yellow garden sulphur powder...about 1cubic mm in about 2mil of water......I figured if you can put it on cuts on adult plants without diluting it, then a little diluted should be OK....and I was going to lose the seeds if I didn't do anything so......

[lepetitmartien]

It's all in your honor Yukonphal, if it's a way to save a contaminated flask, you've won the medal. Even if it doesn't solve all issues as it would be fine for babies reflasked, but there's still the reflasking to make in your situation and the contamination can start again at one point.

You're experimenting something, and if you manage to grow orchids up to a size they can survive in the outer world, it'd be wonderful and a life saver for hobyists.

[allaKAZAAM]

Thanks for the post Yukonphal!
Would be interested in the results too...
As lepetitmartien has stated, this would be a nice boon to hobbyist. Since it would give us an edge to combat this issue and not see $$$ wasted (for me anyway)!
Please keep us posted!!!
Thanks again!

[Yukonphal]

So far PaphMadMan seems to be right...it reduced the lesser contaminated one, but the one with heavier contamination didnt do so much. The contamination seems to be coming back a little. I might try siphoning off the extra liquid with a piece of paper towel and try again......if it beats it back for long enough I may be able to pull the germinated seeds out and reflask....(maybe with a little sulphur right from the start????)

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by Yukonphal

So far PaphMadMan seems to be right...it reduced the lesser contaminated one, but the one with heavier contamination didnt do so much. The contamination seems to be coming back a little. I might try siphoning off the extra liquid with a piece of paper towel and try again......if it beats it back for long enough I may be able to pull the germinated seeds out and reflask....(maybe with a little sulphur right from the start????)

There should be fungicides that can be incorporated into flasking media that have little or no adverse effects on plant tissue. I'm 22 years out of date on plant tissue culture practices so I wouldn't make any recommendations, but a little research might turn up something more effective than sulfur that should at least be safe for replates.

[Yukonphal]

You're right PaphMadMan......but try and get them here in the Yukon LOL