Fertilizer

[elitebettas]

Articles i have read have said to stay away from fertilizer that derives most of the nitrogen from urea, since it takes forever (over a year) to break down and become available to plants and that it releases harmful ammonia. I just bought some Jack classics 30-10-10 to use on my plants potted in bark.
Should I throw it away and continue to use my Better Gro 20-14-13 which is completely urea free?
Any thoughts appreciated
Chris

[brookn]

Chris, I believe that there is a thread that was done recently that had fertilizer information in it. Can anyone help me out? There was some very useful info on fert from Jerry. maybe I can find it, I will let you know.

[brookn]

Hi, I don't remember how to do a link to a thread, but if you go to search and type schultz, it is the thread newbie question, schultz orchid food. Hope that helps.

[fred]

Urea as N source in Fertilizer?

newbie question: Shultz Orchid Food?

some useful links for you i hope they help

[Tobi]

Hi,
Just alittle add on to Fred's link, I've been using MSU (Michigan State Univ.)
fertilizer for about 2 1/2 yrs. now and I love it. It's not expensive and is available
freshly made up from Orchid vendors (I get mine from one in Michigan) to accommodate different water conditions

formulas for different types of water
Well water and city water - GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: 19-4-23- 2Ca
Rain water, distilled and reverse osmosis (RO) water - GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: 13-3-15- 8Ca

[elitebettas]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the input, reading up on it now!

[jerrymeola]

Peter's fertilizer is used commonly in Florida by commercial growers. I have heard the issue with urea but have never seen it to be a problem at the commercial level.

I used Peter's before I went totally to Worm Tea.

All and I mean ALL fertilizers can not be absorbed by an orchid or any other plant. The compounds have to be broken down by microbes in the medium into a form that can be absorbed by the plant.

This is a major problem when re-potting, and the reason reduced fertilizer is recommended after re-potting. It is also a problem with coco which is a sterile mix.

I changed to worm tea since the worms have already done the work and have the nutrient in a form that is immediately accessible to the plant.