Banana bunchytop virus control idea
 

I have been researching colloidal silver and it appears to have been used commonly as full spectrum antibiotic prior to modern antibiotics. Silver nitrate is still used today as a antibiotic for wound care. In animals it appears to be an effective antimicrobial agent against fungus, viruses and bacteria. Even the old saying growing up with a silver spoon in their mouths came from the era of the plague where the rich had their children suck on silver spoons where silver was ingested in very small quantities to kill off the plague bacteria. How does this relate to plants? Well another naturally occuring substance called DMSO increases the permeability of cell walls. I’m considering using a little mix of dmso and colloidal silver as a foliar spray on citrus plants. A spray of colloidal silver alone may not be well absorbed and because DMSO has a very powerful carrier effect of whatever its mixed with thus makes for a more effective delivery system. It appears not much research has been done on this yet with plants and apparently not backed by much of any empirical evidence. However I am planning to use DMSO to aid transport of colloidal silver with citrus that has greening disease. I’ll probably set up some tests to see what effect the inclusion of DMSO with colloidal silver in different concentrations has on the apparent uptake of silver and its antibiotic effect. Unfortunately, it will probably be at least 6 months or more before solid results are achieved, and the effectiveness will probably vary between colloidal silver concentrations. If effective it has a huge potential for other plant diseases such as pierces disease in grapes or laurel wilt. Colloidal siver is pretty easy to make - you acquire some 30 gauge pure silver wire, attach a 9 volt dc power source to the positive and negative leads and attach to the silver wires, put the wire in hot distilled water for maybe an hour or so. There's a bunch of videos on youtube how to make the stuff and DMSO is also fairly inexpensive. I propose this same treatment be used as a control for bbv however it seems to be isolated in the USA only to Hawaii. There may be other areas that should be researched such as using commercial BT mixed with dmso as a more powerful delivery system of the pesticide. I have proposed this idea for a control for the red palm weevil that's decimating palm trees in the middle east, europe and now curacao in the carribean.

Re: Banana bunchytop virus control idea
 

That technique won't work for making a silver solution which is effectively what you need to make. Distilled water doesn't conduct electricity. For silver ions to exist, which is effectively what you are trying to make they need a partner ion eg silver and nitrate or chloride that kind of thing. Distilled water has nothing dissolved in it at all and so doesn't conduct.

I'm also confused about a 'colloidal silver'. A colloid is a solid suspended in a liquid, suggesting that you have solid silver suspended in some kind of carrier. Again your electrolysis technique wont work for this purpose.

Unfortuately silver metal only really dissolves in either an acid such as nitric or hydrochloric or cyanide all of which will be deterimental to your plants.

It woud be easier to start with ready prepared silver nitrate (expensive)

Don't believe all you see on youtube.

Sorry to pee on your parade, but there are some fundemental errors in chemistry that needed to be addressed.

Re: Banana bunchytop virus control idea
 

did you watch the video? The gentleman in the video is using distilled water and you will notice the water goes from clear to a straw color. If it's not suspended silver particles then what is it? I'm familiar with electrolysis so wouldn't adding a little baking soda do the trick?

Re: Banana bunchytop virus control idea
 

I did watch the video indeed. He said purified water, which doesn't necessarily mean distilled water. He isn't making a colloid he is making a solution of silver ions plus what other partner ions are present in the water.

Anyway silver ions will work just aswell, if not better, than silver particles so give it a try. I'm not denying that silver has an antibiotic effect, that is well documented. I'm not sure if it has any effect on viruses, which is what causes most of these plant diseases.

If you add baking soda you're more likely to make hydrogen and oxygen than silver ions.