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Originally Posted by PhalPal  Question??? For those of us who live in warm areas, could changing fertilizer types according to the season be more important for us to induce spikes and/or growth? |
In my opinion, changing fertilizer (for example form a high nitrogen to a bloom boost) can not replace the seasonal changes (light, cooler nights, etc) that some orchids need to initiate flowering. The cultural conditions are paramount in my view and fertilizers can be used to enhance or "magnify" if you will, the plants performance through these different cycles.
Take for example, Cymbidiums. They need a cool autumn/winter in order to initiate their flowering cycle. Several members have commented that they don't get this cooling off in Florida making it difficult to grow and nearly impossible to flower cymbids there. You could give a cymbid in Florida all the bloom boost your checkbook could manage and still not get results because the conditions required ot initiate the bloom cycle are not there. Make sense?