The Orchid Garden

"talcum powder" covers my orchids

Question:

Just a stab in the dark – Are you using diatomaceous earth to prevent slugs.  I was, and some got splashed on the leaves and I had one tough time getting it off.  It looked like talcum powder. Also, a speaker at our club said some orchids produce a powder to provide additional protection from the sun if they are getting too much light.  I never heard of this before, but he’s a well respected grower that ran a botanical gardens (til it burnt down & there wasn’t enough $$$ to rebuild).

Response:

Recently, a powder-like substance which resembles talcum has been covering all my orchids.  The conventional wisdom is that this problem is due to the fact that the water from Stuart (my hometown in Florida) contains too much calcium (the orchids are protected from the rain by a roof I built, so their only source of water is Stuart water).  The treatment I’m following is to filter and thereby "soften" the water.  Does anyone have any other idea?  

Many things can leave a residue on the leaves.  Fungicides, especially. First of all your filter will not soften the water.  It removes particles of various sizes from the water. I would have the water tested to find the Ph and the BiCarbonates Hardness scale.   If the Ph is around 7.5 and the your water is very hard that could be the problem.   We have the problem with one of our wells.  We inject Muritac Acid  into our water to lower the PH to 5.5.  This disolves the bicarbonates and greatly minimize the built up on the leaves.  Have  your water test by county agent or ask the water company for the above information.  Hard water does not allow fertilizers, etc. to be properly dissolved.  More information and papers on this subject may be obtained from IFAS at the U. of Florida.  Ask your County agent for info. If you mist alot with hard water, you should try to increase the droplet size. Good Luck.  Come see me at the Stuart Orchid Society Meeting on Sept. 28, 1995.  I will be giving a talk on Orchid Culture and Multi-Floral Paphs. Archie Green — Archie Green, Wacahoota Orchids  See our Web Listing at <A HREF="http://atlantic.net/~wacahoot"</A

Response:

Recently, a powder-like substance which resembles talcum has been covering all my orchids.  The conventional wisdom is that this problem is due to the fact that the water from Stuart (my hometown in Florida) contains too much calcium (the orchids are protected from the rain by a roof I built, so their only source of water is Stuart water).  The treatment I’m following is to filter and thereby "soften" the water.  Does anyone have any other idea?  

Response:

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