What is the benefit of Cinnamon?

[Caliope]

I've seen a few posts that mention Cinnamon. When should I use Cinnamon? Can it be used on any orchid?

I saw that it is a good deterent for ants but what else.

[kip]

it contains a natural fungicide. people use it to prevent fungal infections, when dividing a plant, and also to treat rot. it won't work in all cases, but it usually helps. it can be used on any orchid.

[articuno75]

Kip is correct. It is a natural fungicide. Cinnamon is also a caurtarizer. When dividing an orchid or if a plant is cut or injured, you can sprinkle cinnamon over the wound and it will seal it.

Cinnamon extract when mixed with dish soap is a great bug killer and plant wash.

[Brooke]

Keep the cinnamon powder off the good roots or it will seal the good roots and won't permit water uptake.

When sealing a cut in the root area, just apply to the end of the cut portion. It is easy to apply with a q-tip or small paint brush.

Brooke

[Caliope]

Thank you for the great information.

[lmartiny]

Where do you find cinnamon extract? I never think to look when in the grocery store.

[kid a]

I found it at a super walmart. That was the only place I could find it where I live other than a holistic store wich half the amount for four times the price! Of course it could be eaisier to find the closer we get to Xmas since alot people use it food for the season! :-)

[NicC]

I have commented before that at least 2 mail order spice companies, Pennzey and Spice Barn have cinnamon extract in bottles from 3 oz. up at a fraction of the cost at the grocery store (there look near the other extracts such as vanilla and almond) Of course, unless you live in a city with a Pennzey outlet, postage will eat up the savings unless you are buying other things, then it spreads the cost around.
Nick

[lynda]

Originally Posted by lmartiny

Where do you find cinnamon extract? I never think to look when in the grocery store.

Can you use regular powder cinnamon????

[kip]

yes, you can use powdered cinnamon, but it doesn't get into small spaces as easily.

[Rivka]

i know this is an old thread, but i am concerned by the comment that you should not put the cinnamon on the good roots when you are putting it on the cut ones. is this true? i have put it on all my roots, since the cuts on some was so spread thru it all. have i done something really bad? i have a hard time thinking i have not heard this before and that it is not mentioned when folks talk about cinnamon and the extract spray all the time.

[Brooke]

I have no experience with the cinnamon extract but powdered cinnamon repels moisture. The recommendation is to apply the powder to the cut end of a root, rhizome, leaf etc. to seal the wound and protect an open wound from pathogens.

If the powder is sprinkled on good viable roots, the roots will not be able to absorb moisture at that point.

Brooke

[rcb]

Cinnamon is said to be a natural fungicide, but also to have some anti-growth properties as well. I have no idea is this is true or not, but I do use it for cut areas except for roots. It is relatively inexpensive, and widely available and I figure it can't hurt? I have noticed the more experienced growers recommend sulfur to be applied to cut areas.

As for cut roots, when I repot, I just leave the plant out in the open for a day or so for the cut roots to dry and heal by themselves.

[mehitabel]

Cinnamon is a natural contact anti-bacterial/anti-fungal. I believe it is also a desiccant (someone here called it a cauterizing agent). I use it to dust on any problem areas I see on leaves or stem-- black spots that don't look right, or sunburned areas etc. It's much easier than getting out a spray, protecting the plant from sun while the spray dries, rubber gloves etc. Tiny pinch of powdered cinnamon, rub it gently on both sides.

It's especially useful when a problem develops with a new leaf at the crown of phals. Sometimes in very hot, humid weather, the new leaf is either so floppy it breaks, or a fragile tiny new leaf gets tiny specks of what looks like incipient rot. A dusting with cinnamon seems to correct any problems so the leaf continues to grow normally and the problems don't spread. It does not inhibit the growth of leaves.

This is true even when a new leaf gets broken right in the crown-- the broken leaf continues to grow, and a new leaf develops in time.

So I use it for isolated localized small problems. If I had a major outbreak of something, I would revert to sprays, I'm sure.

I used to use it to seal the cut ends of roots, but found out that they can be sealed as well with root hormone powder, and that has the benefit of stimulating root branches at the cut end.

I haven't used the extract, just powdered.

Sulphur powder -- I've read about this in Bob Gordon's Survey, and am considering getting some. Cinnamon powder smells a lot better, of course.

[cyngreen]

LIke Rivka I am now in a panic..I recently repotted some catts and liberally used the powdered cinnamon after readng about it's benefits. Should I go back an pull those plants and wash the roots off? Would that help?
I usually just pot them up and keep them on the dry side for a couple of weeks....jeeze.. a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

[Rivka]

"jeeze.. a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

i hear you there, i have repotted every one of my orchids at some point and just redid a ton of them into s/h. each time i used cinnamon. and i am someone that reads tons and tons. but no matter what i read before hand, it seems like i missed one thing that ends up really important.

[jdmatthew]

I wouldn't panic just yet. It sounds like some have used cinnamon liberally with no ill effects. Have you seen any adverse effects?

I wonder if you could mix powdered cinnamon with water to make kind of a dip for cut root ends?

[Rivka]

i havent had orchid long enough to know if i have had problems because of the cinnimon or not

[mehitabel]

Don't worry yourself overly much over this. It takes a while to get some confidence in what you're doing. Established roots going into s/h are probably going to be lost anyway.

The truth is, orchids are very tough plants, and want to live, something we ought to tell people more often. I think it's the American Orchid Digest issue on phals that says that hybrid orchids are in fact selected partly for *vigor*.

My brother told me he saw a nurseryman "selecting" unbloomed orchid seedlings. He said the guy did it very quickly, just a two-handed blur. As far as my brother could tell the guy was selecting the strongest plants. Makes sense-- the strongest plants bloom best and are more likely to win awards for the hybridizer! Besides who wants to nurse a sickly seedling along for years? Not a busy hybridizer hoping to win awards for his work.

Even when one is going seriously downhill, you get lots of chances to save it before you have to give up on it.

[Rivka]

i agree, more folks need to hear this as we are starting out, thanks for the reality check

[cyngreen]

I went out and looked at some of the phals and oncidiums I had used cinnamon on a few weeks ago and none seemed to be suffering. Lots of new leaves and roots. They seem to really like the coir mix I put together, so all things considered I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Orchids are pretty tough little guys and we really don't need to be leaning over them watching every little leaf, bud, or root. Although that does give great pleasure and feelling of accomplishment.

[jdmatthew]

When I go to the local nursery, the orchid guy has about 50 potted cattleyas hanging on his fence, out in the weather, and he waters them down with a hose every few days, and they seem to be doing great. Several potted dendrobiums as well. Our humidity here is about 30% and the temperature hits 100 most days. They are in the shade, but it still is darn hot, and everything I read tells me these conditions aren't good, but there those plants are, just thriving.

I talked to him about it--he said they do fine, he keeps them out there until they are ready to bloom then brings them into the greenhouse to sell.

[mehitabel]

JD, Cattleya bowringiana is said to survive being trampled and eaten by cattle. I call that tufffff.

Rivka and Cyngreen, my C bowringiana survived being put into hydroton that had been soaked in a 25% clorox solution. (Don't ask me why I did that, but I did. Probably the dumbest orchid thing I ever did). The roots all died, of course , but the thing put out new roots just like the tufff thing was supposed to.

Also, brassavola and I believe some other "catt" species originate in Mexico.

[Leisurely]

I too can vouch for the tenacity of C. bowringina. I accidentally broke a single bulb off my specimen plant that was growing over the edge of the pot when I was moving it one day. I once read somewhere that Cattleya backbulbs can be rooted in a container of water so I put it in a glass of water and placed it in the shade. It rooted promptly and developed two new growths. I potted it in sphagnum moss in a clay pot and one year later it has six growths and a potential blooming sheath.

[mehitabel]

Wow, Leisurely. Rooted in water! I've wondered about that, actually-- whether it would work with some orchids.

Thanks for the information.