How often

[Tommy]

Hi all, just received my Worm tea from Our Vital earth. and was just wandering how often do those of you that use it spray your Orchids and feed them. i have marked a few just to check it all out to see if it makes a difference.hope so looking forward to experimenting with it. would appreciate your response. have read Jerry's test results was very interesting.I did repot my phap. a couple of weeks ago and now it has a couple of spikes so i sprayed it today also.it was looking bad i posted a picture of it on this forum and was advised to repot it. it had put out two new growths but the leaves were turning yellow and the potting mix was bad i had it for over a year.and it never bloomed for me. glad i followed the advice looks much better now. looking forward to seeing it bloom.it was from of Lowes bargain table.. Thanks Tommy

[Tobi]

Hi Tommy,
I've been spraying the folliage and top of the media every other week.
Usually the opposite week that I fertilize. I have cut back on the fertilizing
on most of my orchid since we are now in fall here, but don't know if I will
cut back on the worm tea as well. Guess I'll wait until I get more feed back
on what the other members using it have found.

[jerrymeola]

I find I love to walk around with a spray bottle and spritz the plants. Even if it does not do much it makes me fell good.

I do spray all my den spikes to prevent mites that destroy the buds. I had a lot of problems last year from them.

I spray all my open flowers regularly. It seems to extend the life of the flowers and if the heat has wilted the flowers it is the fastest rejuvenation I have ever seem.

This flower was badly wilted from being in my car for 36 hours while traveling. It was to be a featured plant at my show this week and I was disappointed. Sprayed with worm tea and the next day I took this photo. Today after a week it looks much better than the photo, strong and very flat.

[chefatplay]

I love your Psychopsis, Jerry. I have a "Giant". In the process of waiting for the two buds to bloom. I have a ways to go, though, they're about an inch long each. I had to re evaluate my watering system with my plants. We're doing much better now.

PA010009.jpg

[MariahK]

I also just spray away usually once every few days or so, it is nice to spend a little time with my plants and I examine them as I spray away

[PhalPal]

One of the things I like best about worm tea is that you can't over fertilize with it. I mist with it a lot to revive stressed or hot plants and find by using it this way I don't have a problem with critters.

[11Orchid126]

Question for everyone. When you spray, do you spray the tops of the leaves or the bottom of the leaves, or both?

[PhalPal]

I spray both and dab away wetness from the crown.

[Tobi]

I do exactly the same as PhalPal. Both sides and wipe the excess from the
crowns.

[jerrymeola]

I just realized that I spray only the tops unless the plant is over my head and then I spray the bottoms.

Just started that way and never considered the bottoms. Thinking about it now, it is not as critical to spray the bottoms as with chemicals. The microbes are alive and will move to where ever they want. Many of the microbes are symbiotic with the plants and the microbes will 'adhere to or enter the Plant roots'. They act much like systemic chemicals.

Still thinking about it spraying both is probably better and necessary it you are killing scale. I do remember soaking everything when scale was present. When I soak plants rather then spray I soak the leaves as well.

[NancyG]

I spray the leaves and the roots sometimes everyday when itis really hot. I spray all the hanging and mounted orchids too. I use worm tea for watering, soaking, everything. I don't use fertilize anymore. My plants are flowering more and just look better. I had the same problem as Jerry with the blooms on my Dens and this year I don't.

I recycle the worm tea when I water. I water over a bucket and let the plant drain and then reuse so it is not expensive. I love this stuff!

NancyG

[Vivienne]

Ditto NancyG. I no longer use fertilizer... only worm tea. Mist my mounts and baskets daily. It's great stuff!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Jerry, I wonder what kind of mites you have that like flowers. I have spider mites, and they are chlorophyll eaters, and are only found on the underside of leaves, and preferably older leaves. If the infestation is really bad, I have seen hatchlings in the new growth at the top of my young Den growths. So, under leaf spraying is high on my priorities in addition to tops of leaves. I have just started spraying the entire greenhouse with worm tea at 6oz per gallon according to recommendations for a serious problem. So, I have just started my second spraying in about 3 days. Since I am supposed to do it very late in the day, I can't finish the entire greenhouse in one pass and have to break it up into 2 or 3 days. I have a couple of pet mites on particular plants that I am watching keenly. They will tell me if this stuff really works on spider mites. They looked quite healthy the day after the second spraying. But I will tell more in a few days.

[jerrymeola]

Cynthia,

you may have noticed before that I am not too careful about my generalizations.

I had an insect infestation attack the flower buds and sprayed to solve it. Whether it was mites or some other insect was never really a concern to me.

One very unusual result was with a Cattleya. It was a Blc Beatrice Foster Hybrid. I had two flower spikes one of which was being attacked. I sprayed both to protect the good spike, and was surprised to find the shriveled spike put up new growth along the side of the original spike near the bad buds (about 8 inches from the base of the leaf), which went on to flower with several perfectly formed Flores.

I have never seen or heard of a Cattleya spike branching before after being damaged. It is not a characteristic of this hybrid for flower spikes to branch.

[pikevi]

The reference to 'pet mites' just whisked past my head!

Are there good mites as well? If there are which ones are they?

Thanks.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, they are only temporary pets while I use them as Ginny pigs. So far doesn't look good for worm tea. Six days and 2 spraying later, I have 2 very healthy looking families. A mature mite in each, and a few small fry. This is very interesting. It appears that the adult is tending the young. This is certainly something I would not have expected, but it serves my purpose well, as the adults seem to be happy sticking around the young, and being available to be inspected each day. I will give the plants, particularly the infected ones, one more round of spraying that is NOT in the instructions just to give the stuff one more chance. I really am hoping it works.