When to feed?

[waldobrits]

Sorry all but this might be a stupid question....

Is it ok to feed my plants while they are in flower.....Someone told me that the plants will drop there flowers if i feed them....is this true .....I was just wondering about if cz must of the plants flower for a long time and im sure that will be needing some food even while flowering....

[kmarch]

waldobrits,

Check out this recent thread on fertilizing, how and when:
Another Fertilizer Question

[fred]

you may ask all the question you would like to ask waldobrits

we are all here to help you with the wonderful knowledge of Orchids

and at the top of our home page suggests

There is no such thing as a dumb question, only the one Not asked

[Andrew]

I fertilise my orchids while they are in flower. I have never noticed any effect on the longevity of the flowers.

[norris]

I also fertilize my plants when in flower, and haven't had any problems.

[janet_a]

absolutely feed when in flower. flowers take a lot of energy.

[11Orchid126]

If you do feed while the plant is in flower, I suggest a fertilizer lower in nitrogen, as nitrogen tells the plant to grow foliage and not blooms.

[waldobrits]

thanks you all !!! It info helped a lot .... Good to know that im not doing it wrong !!

[patticake]

The only plant that I'm familiar with where you shouldn't fertilize while in bloom are Christmas cactus, zygo cactus.. etc. They will drop their blooms. My orchids love a good cocktail even when in bloom!

[sandra]

This is a question where you will continuously get different opinions, I promise. It becomes a feeling of information overload, doubting what you just learned because guaranteed, someone else is doing it all differently. I just met up with someone over the weekend who told me that he waters his Nobiles year round and gets loads of blooms. This is the newest, contrary to everything I've been told. Another person recently told me to never, ever fertilize when the plant is beginning to and in bloom.....

There will always be different opinions, leaving you guessing, doubting, wondering, what's best. I now give it 1/4 tspn. every watering, regardless....except for a monthly flush of just straight watering.