Leaf Cleaning Poll

WildOrchid, ditto exactly to what Diane just said!

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Louis J. Aszod

Diane, LJA thanks!

I dont know why milk is good for cleaning leaves, but remember the legend of cleopatra or someone bathing in milk? I think its because milk has some chemicals within it that nourishes the skin, in our case the leaves.

My other educated guess is that milk is a basic substances and should be a gentle cleanser.

I read that the practice of using milk on orchid leaves is to just simply dip a soft cloth or paper towel into milk to dampen it and use this damp cloth/paper towel to wipe leaves.

Gin posted a link to an article on viruses here; apparently milk is also good at deactivating many of the ones that can attack orchids as well--they even recommend a good spraydown with milk to help prevent viral infections!

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Louis J. Aszod

Hey People!!
I'm new to the site and relatively new to successfully growing orchids, so I'll try not to be too much of a chatty Cathy (is it too late?) and listen and learn. That being said, I live in southern Florida and as a result all of my orchids are grown on my patio. If it's raining when I'm home I put them out on the pooldeck to take advantage of the rain water and to give them a bath so I don't feel the need to do any type of cleaning on their leaves. I like the natural look. Since I use the rain water to flush the salts form the roots, I try not to get water on their leaves when I water them with the hose. I have been pretty successful so far with them and I will post pics as I have them for the group to see.

I give my orchids a heavy drenching twice a week (except winter) and our water supply is not too hard when it comes to TDS.
This minimizes or eliminates mineral buildup on the leaves. There may be some spots here or there but nothing that I would get worried about.

If there are signs of pest infestation, then I would treat and clean the plant accordingly. But leaf polishing is not part of my routine. A healthy plant will discard and replace them regularly anyway.

If my plants start to get mineral deposits, then what I need to do is determine why there is mineral buildup in the first place (water hardness, watering frequency, fertilizer concentration & application, etc). Treat the problem, not the symptoms.

Welcome!

Cheers,
BD

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We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

If they have alot of dust I get out the hose, put on the special wand and let it rain all over them. Then the fans get turned on them to help them dry quickly. If they get too nasty I wash them with cheap dish soap. Around here there seems to be some kind of silt on everything. Mine get cleaned alot....I get bored easy.
Connie

My chids spend the winter rooming with my flock of budgies. They get covered in birdie dust along with EVERYTHING in the basement. They get wiped with a soft rag when I feel like it.

wow, i'm the minority... my orchids are in such precarious places and i'm so clumsy i've learned i'm better off not attempting things like this, lest i knock them over... when i repot and i've got them right in front of me yea i'll wipe the dust off them but that's about it.