If you have household pets and they also come inside and you cultivate orchids indoors
you might be wondering if those orchids are toxic or not to household pets
So in this video, I'm going to be specifically talking about dogs
The first thing that you need to know is that orchids are not toxic
They are not poisonous. None of the orchids are except for the blue tinted orchids
Yes, let's dive in. And I am Amanda Matthews and welcome to orchid area
Okay, now that we're inside, it's a lot easier to do this video
The truth is, there is nothing toxic or poisonous in orchids. Actually, you can eat orchids. Vanilla is an orchid. It's an orchid seed that has gone through several processes before it gets to the vanilla stage
But all orchids are, in fact, edible. One concern about dogs is that they do knock off orchid pots onto the floor all the time
So make sure you have a sturdy pot or make sure your orchids are out of reach from your pets
If they knock off that pot, the orchid bark is the real problem
Because dogs love to knock stuff over. And once it's on the floor and all over the carpet, they get into that potting mix and they chew on it
it just like it's a bone or bark because dogs do chew on everything, slippers, clothes
shoes, and potting mix. So let's take a look at exactly what's in your potting mix. It should be
spagnum moss, vermiculite, fur bark, tree fern, peat moss, purlite, styrofoam. Any kind of those
any of those things are inside the potting mix All those are fine except for a few Bark The one you need to stay away from is called redwood
Because the orchid bark, depending on where it's from, for example, redwood has already been
proven to be an irritant. And so if the cat or the dog ingest this orchid bark, who knows
why they would do it, but they do, that can cause some irritation to the lining in the stomach
and can cause vomiting. So orchid bark is especially toxic. It's not poisonous
It will not kill the dog, but it will cause irritation. For the orchid, Redwood does really well
because it lowers the pH of the root system and aids with moisture control
And it was commonly believed that Redwood also aided in the reduction of pest and insects
that would normally thrive in an orchid pot. Redwood has been linked to ratcheworthy
That fine dust arises when you start using the potting mix can cause allergies in your lungs and eyes
Now, this isn't for the dog. Mostly it's more for us when we're repotting, but it can still cause allergies to your dog
And the oils that redwood contains are highly volatile. That means they evaporate easy
So when you get into that potting media, the dog's going to breathe that
And another area of concern is inflammation. like if the dog starts chewing in it and a splinter gets in his mouth or tongue or even paw
that area can become very infected. And the thing about Redwood is that it releases properties that depress our immune system
making it very hard to cure. So orchids are not toxic, but when you come across this orchid
so it not the orchid itself it the dye that is the problem So if your dog eats the blue blossoms or the flower spike give your vet a call Another thing that is in the bark is fertilizer because some brands of
fertilizer like to add a lot of things that your orchid does not need and can cause some harm to
your animal. Pesticides, which are very common also in the potting media, and these can cause severe
irritations because depending on the fertilizer, especially the pesticide, like when we get rid of those
fungus gnats and mealy bugs and all kinds of those pest and insects that really, go, crawl all over
our orchids. Well, yeah, that gets into the dog's mouth too. And the last thing that is especially
important when you're dealing with dogs and potting mix is if you use styrofoam because styrofoam in itself isn't toxic
but it can choke your dog if it's a small dog. So be careful and be careful if you use styrofoam inside your potting media
The last question that came up was whether orchids or not produce a hallucogenic or a
psychoactive state in your household pet. Now this question came up or this myth came up because of the Oncidium celobata
which provokes a natural high. And according to some authors, does cause a psychedelic state
But this myth started because of indigenous tribes in Venezuela. And except if you read that article, there were so many other plants that were used in the
making of this mix. And no orchids were included in this recipe
So sorry, Max. There's no porch surfing today. If you see your dog just chewing on the leaves, you're fine
If you see them chewing on the blossoms as long as it not blue you fine but if it blue or if your dog eats that orchid bark you really need to give your vet a call now what most common that we don think about
are the other household plants that are in our house that can be harmful to our
pets and one is a very common one is this one right here it's a both also called
devil's ivy. Now the name already gives it away, devil's ivy has to have some kind of harm in it
And we usually think devil's ivy or pothos is harmful because it has these little attachments that stick to
paint like incredible. And when you go to take them off, they will rip the paint off the drywall
Now that's not the only reason they're called devil's ivy. It's probably not the main reason. The main reason is, yes
these will cause irritations when ingested. They have to be ingested. I mean, they will not give you rash just by touching them
This is a very common household plant. It should always be hanging if you have any kind of pets in your home
Another one is asparagus fern. And these are used in terrariums quite a lot
Asparagus ferns, although they are so cute and so delicate with all those little leaves
just keep them away from your pets because they're used. They also are irritants
If you've liked this video, please hit the like and subscribe button
But if you want more information, especially about how to care for your blue orchid, go to
this video up here and you can get all the information about how to care for it while it's
in bloom. And if you want more information about the toxic, what is toxic in orchids for cats because
their digestive system is different than dogs. you can go to this video down here
Thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating