Confusion over fertizilers

[Sharyn]

The more posts I read, the more confused I get. Can someone explain orchid fertilizers? I've been using Better-Gro orchid food 20-14-13, by SunBulb company. From all the posts I've read, it appears that I should be using a balanced food like 10-10-10. I've diluted this food to 1/4th strength and have been watering weakly weekly to those plants growing.

I also have a pkg. of Better-Gro Bloom Booster 11-35-15. I haven't used this at all because I'm not quite sure exactly when to use it. It says to apply every 4th watering, but does that that mean you can use it not only while the plant is growing, but while in bud, or while the flowers are in bloom?

[mayres]

Don't feel alone! There are about as many ideas on this as there are available fertilizers. Even the growers that raise thousands and thousands of plants have different ideas on what type of fertilizer you "should" use. I have also noted the "balanced" food being suggested many times by forum members. I have been using a product marketed by a major california orchid grower that actually has a smaller middle number than the other two. I believe the blossom booster formulas should be used just prior and during the time frame you would normally expect your plants to be spiking - we'll see what others weigh in on this - I've personally never used one. At this point my suggestion is to find a person or grower that grows excellent orchids year in and year out and start your regimen by copying them somewhat. Then you can experiment and deviate from this somewhat as time goes on if your growing conditions are somewhat different or as your plant mix varies. It is obviously not an exact science but somewhat of an art - finding all the mixes between environmental conditions and human care that makes your plants most "happy". Enjoy! mike

[arleneg]

Count me in! I have Grow More's 20-10-20, 6-30-30, etc. fertilizers and not sure which one to use. Well, one thing I know is to use the 20-10-20 on Phals and Paphs. However, I've never really figured out when to use the bloom formula (6-30-30). At one point, I gave up and decided to use MiracleGro (8-7-6) on my orchids, except Phals and paphs.

I'm still experimenting with Grow More from time to time.

[Richard Butt]

Explaining fertilizers still didn't help me with watering procedures. So I followed the advice of a grower near Madison,Wisconsin as a starting point.
Mix two stock solutions of fertilizer by adding 1 tsp of fertilizer/gal. of water. One solution is balanced
(20:20:20) and the other is a "bloom booster" (10:50:10).

When watering, substitute fertilizer solution for water on alternate applications. (one week water; next week fertilizer sol. etc.)

For Paphs, Oncis, and Catts, use the 20:20:20 fertilizer solution. For Oncis and Catts only, substitute the 10:50:10 fertilizer solution for every fourth application of fertilizer.

For Phals, use 20:20:20 solution from January through August. Use 10:50:10 solution from September through December.

In using this procedure for four months, my plants were luxurant, maybe too much, so I cut the fertilizer back to 1/4 tsp/gal. They still look great. The Paph has just stopped blooming, the Catt has a new flower bud and the Phals are all blooming for the second time.

I hope this helps. I wish I knew some of the theory behind the recommendations, but I know that understanding will come as I learn more about these plants.

Time to go snowshoeing.
Richard

[Sharyn]

Richard: You've helped to clarify some points. I now understand the Bloom Booster stuff, but still have the question on balanced fertilizer: If I'm presently using a 20-14-13, is that pretty much the same as a 10-10-10 or 20-20-20?

[arleneg]

No, it's not. The numbers are the percentages for Nitrogen-Phosphate-Potash in a fertilizer solution. Therefore, 20-14-13 has less phosphate and potash in a fertilizer solution than the 20-20-20 or 10-10-10.

[Sharyn]

Originally Posted by arleneg

No, it's not. The numbers are the percentages for Nitrogen-Phosphate-Potash in a fertilizer solution. Therefore, 20-14-13 has less phosphate and potash in a fertilizer solution than the 20-20-20 or 10-10-10.

Thanks Arlene - I'm still trying to sort through this fertilizer stuff. Do you use the same general fertilizers on all your orchids? I only have a small collection of catts., phals. & dens. Richard's post, above, has given some suggestions for using which fertilizer for different types of orchids. I found this helpful.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, not severely off like a 30-10-10 would be. However, a very recent issue of the AOS mag talks about insufficient potassium as the cause of poor blooming. Might want to borrow an issue.

The numbers represent the ratio of nitrogen, phosperous and potassium. Theoretically, the nigher the nitrogen number, the faster the growth. So it appears that this type of fertilizer should be used when the plant is growing at its best.

Three months or so before a plant is due to bloom, the high nitrogen fertilizer should be stopped, as rapid growth is no longer desired, and the fertilizers with higher phosperous and/or potassium should be used to encourage bloom. That's why the fertilizers with low nitrogen and high phosperous/potassium are often called blossom boosters.

[jerrymeola]

The three numbers stand for NITROGEN encourages leaf growth, PHOSPHORUS encourages flowering, and POTASSIUM encourages root growth.

Since you plants need to do all three a balanced fertilizer is the safest and easiest to use.

Sharyn your 20-14-13 is only slightly high in nitrogen. It will work just fine. Very heavy Nitrogen fertilizers 30-10-10 or 40-10-10 will accelerate leaf growth at the expense of flowers. It can even prevent flowering.

The monkey-wrench in this equation is that if your plants are in bark the deterioration of the bark consumes Nitrogen. That is why 30-10-10 fertilizer was developed and often recommended for orchids. The bark consumes the extra 20 parts Nitrogen. But this varies with the extent of decay of the bark.

Sphag, semi-hydro and mounted orchids do not have bark decay and 30-10-10 should be avoided for them.

All orchids do good with balanced fertilizers, so I always recommend it. I have bloom boost 13-35-10 and have not even opened the bag yet. It is used commercially to encourage flowering but needs to be applied when the buds are just beginning to develop and before they can be seen. Once the buds appear it has less of a use. For a commercial grower that has all his flowers blooming together, this works, but it is more trouble for you than the minimal improvement it can deliver.

It is best used to control the timing of the blooms. If a Phal grower wants 1/4 million Phals for mother's day he can control the timing with bloom boost fertilizers (as well as temp and light). At most it may make yours flower a couple of weeks earlier - so what!.

[jerrymeola]

I forgot to mention that you should be able to see that if you are potted in bark and use the bloom boost that the decaying bark will use all the Nitrogen and your plant will suffer.

[arleneg]

First...Sharyn, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread you started. I think my question falls into this thread/title.

Now, the question...

I started using coconut husk chips, instead of bark, as my potting medium. Should I use the 30-10-10, 20-20-20, or 8-7-6?

[Richard Butt]

Sharyn,
I became so wraped up in procedure that I think I missed your question,"Are my fertilizers ok to use?" I agree with Jerry, do not go out and buy other fertilizer. Just mix the stock solutions according to package instructions and apply in a regular sequence. Consider 20:14:13 "balanced" and 11:35:13 a "bloom booster". The numbers are close enough.
Jerry makes a point about the impact of the growing medium, and another writer suggests watching the plant's flowering cycle to apply fertilizer. As we become more involved with orchids, accumulating knowledge, I will bet much of this will become an "art", done by feel. Until that time a few years down the road, I'm with you.
Richard

[Sharyn]

Thanks to all of you for your excellent advice. I think I have a better handle and understanding now.

p.s. I think Arlene still has a question regarding fertilizers when using coconut husks as a medium.

[bevzas]

There is a lot of advice on the percentages of nitrogen, etc, but I can't seem to find a fertilizer that has the required balance of those elements AND is without urea. Every food I look at has urea. I read that one should not use orchid food with urea.

[prisana]

bevzas, Better Grow "Orchid Plus ", and " Bloom Booster" do not contain Urea. I don't think it matters that much to the orchids otherwise there would have been more of them out there for us to choose from . I have used both Urea and non-urea and I have to say the roots seem happy either way :-) .

[LLW]

This is a very helpful discussion and one of the main reasons I love this forum. Since most of my orchids ore in semi hydro I understand from Jerry that I don't need the fertilizer with the higher nitrogen for most of my orchids. However, if I understand correctly the nitrogen is what encourages growth, so is it better to use the higher nitrogen for my "baby" orchids? By "baby" I mean the ones that are not blooming size yet. (I have a lot of these due to my husband's E-Bay addiction.) Lashelle

[bevzas]

Thank you Prisana. Very helpful.

[jerrymeola]

A couple of more issues on this thread.

Arleneg
Coconut husks are a sterile medium. They have no natural micro bacteria in it, whereas, Bark will develop helpful microbes easier. Also not all coconut husks is the same. Salt levels vary greatly. It has no natural micro ingredients and it retains a lot of water.

For everyone, it is not normally mentioned, since companies think 'Bloom Boost' sells well, that PHOSPHORUS kills helpful microbes in the medium to the detriment of the plant. It may encourage flowering but a healthy plant with good light flowers.

I have started using Worm Tea because of the abundance of good microbes. These microbes attack harmful pathogens and fungi. This allows me to avoid chemical insecticides and fungicides. They can even eliminate harmful nematodes.

As top Urea based fertilizers, it is very common in Florida for commercial growers to use Peters which is Urea based. It is available in 50 pound bags and that makes it very cheap. I have never noticed a problem with Peter's Urea based fertilizers.

[Aniko]

Jerry, I read your earlier post on the topic of worm tea - interesting, but is that available and where?
Aniko.