Virus testing

I don't know if this should go here or under favorite vendors, but I finally got around to using the virus test kits I bought a while back. Everything should work this well and be this easy. I bought them from Agdia https://orders.agdia.com/InventoryD.asp?attribute_Size=25&collection=ISK+13300&loc=IN. It was fast, it was easy, it was a little bit depressing. I tested some Lycaste plants that I suspected and a few other things. Now I have to bring myself to accept that several of my Lycaste skinneris that I love are virused and have got to go. Some I have used in outcrosses so I can be hopeful that the progeny will be as good or better than the parents. I have more to test. The good news for me is that my Ida linguella that was looking very strange is not virused.

 

My best one (probably not the one you saw) is definitely virused. I do have several skinneri alba outcrosses is flask now. I am not letting go of the best one yet, perhaps I will do a selfing on this one next year and then let it go.

 

I'm pretty comfortable with the results. One of the Lycaste skinneris looked clean on one side and virused on the other side. Tested both sides and one was clean the other was positive. I had used it as a pod parent for an outcross about a year ago. Fortunately there was a dead backbulb between the two leads so it didn't cross over. Now I just have to figure out how to separate them without spreading virus. I think I will take it apart carefully and then cut off all roots on the clean side with a red hot tool.