Humidity and Fertilizer

[skiye021683]

Hello,

I have a few questions about humidity and fertilizer. The first one is how do you tell how much humidity your house has to know whether or not you need more humidity? The second is I'm not quite sure what to use to gain/lose the proper humidity in your house? e.g (humidifier, dehumidifier, misting, etc.)

My third question is about fertilizer. I have Miracle Grow Orchid Food and it says to put 1/4 tsp in every gallon of water. I don't use a gallon of water to water my plants with as I only have about 9. How do I know how much fertilizer to use because it seems like such a small amount to put a tiny miniscule pinch in my watering can? Thanks!

[RebelCowgirl]

To measure the humidity I use a cheap temp and humidity meter I got at Wal-Mart. To increase the humidity I use humidity trays of a humidifier would work greatly. I have never had a problem with too much humidity because I keep my levels right around 75% but I'm guessing if you needed to lower it, ventilation would take care of that.
For the fertilizer I take gallon milk jugs and mix it in then use it as I need it. Hope this helps

[peacefuldusk]

How do you know how much of the gallon of water/fert goes on each plant? Do you pour it in or spray it on?

[RebelCowgirl]

I just pour it in until it starts to come out of the bottom of the pot, With my phals I make sure not to get any water in the crown.

[Ray]

I think the best thing you can do when irrigating your orchids - fertilizer or not - is to VERY thoroughly flush the daylights out of them every time. Yes, you waste a lot, but 1) it's the best thing for the plants, as they dump a lot of waste products into their environment, and that flushes it away, 2) same is true of mineral residues from the last time you watered, and 3), 1/4 teaspoon of Miracle Gro is what? $0.02-$0.03?

Skiye - Jenny's recommendation is a good one, but if you only mix up a quart at a time, it's simple math, with a quart being 1/4 of a gallon, you'd add 1/4 of the fertilizer.

Peaceful - You have stumbled upon an interesting aspect of plant nutrition. If you think of a "teaspoon per gallon" in the same light as "calories" in our own diets, then stronger concentrations and more frequent feeding is like higher calorie/more "meals". Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule about that, and a lot is trial and error. It's a very complex combination of type of plant (some are "hungrier" than others), where they are in their growth cycle, the rate of growth (controlled a lot by growing conditions), frequency of watering, etc.

[peacefuldusk]

Thanks Ray, But I am not yet into figuring out the actual nutrition value for each plant. I am just confused about how it is being applied. I have never fertilized before so how it is applied is confusing to me when I read people preparing gallons. Just as an example if the fert I bought called for a tbsp or whatever ratio in a gallon of water does that mean a couple sprays from a spray bottle and the gallon lasts a long time or as Jenny said a good pour through as if I was watering it and if so for 4 plants it would seem I would probably have to make a gallon per time maybe. So basically in simpler terms, it is applied as if watering it?

[Filb]

You usually mix the fertilizer (usually granules of some type) with water in a bucket or container.
People make gallons at a time for convenience purposes. I feed my plants (AKA apply the fertilizer) by pouring the solution I've made through the media and letting it soak in a bucket (the latter is optional).
To answer your question, fertilizing is done the same way as watering.

[Ray]

I believe Rachel answered your question well, but let me go back to the "diet" analogy for a moment.

Think of your gallon of fertilizer solution as a "refrigerator, full of food", and think of the pot full of potting medium as the plant's "dinner plate".

If you simply give the plant a couple of quick mists, it's the equivalent of grabbing a single grape as you go by. Tasty, but you're not going to survive that way; you need a real meal on a regular basis, don't you? So do your plants.

It is well established, in the poinsettia industry, that the plants need one-half gram of nitrogen (plus the other nutrients, of course) to go from rooted cutting to blooming plant . Knowing the size of the pot, the retention of the medium, the likely feeding frequency, and the time until harvest (i.e., being ready for sale), the growers mix up their fertilizer solutions accordingly - that is, adjust the "calorie count" so that the plants get that half-gram in the allotted time.

Unfortunately, there is no such known info on orchids, and it's likely to vary all over the map with the genera and species and hybrids, so we pretty much have to "wing it" abd be observant, adjusting as need be.