Fox Farms Nutes

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Andrew-L

Ray! a question! as per your website:
"When flowering is desired, a high-phosphorus fertilizer (such as 10-30-20) can be applied to promote blooming."

well really AOS website, but quoted on your website. would you not call this a bloom booster?

I merely make those culture sheets available. I don’t necessarily support their recommendations.

High P does not boost blooming. High N suppresses it. Those sheets regurgitate outdated suppositions.

By the way, several decades ago, I scanned the previously only photocopied sheets for the AOS, making them downloadable for the first time. They gave me permission to post them, and I’ve pretty much just left them there since.

[Andrew-L]

Thanks for clarifying!

The amount of outdated/null information that is out there on orchids is staggering

---------- Post added at 05:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:33 AM ----------

And coming from AOS no less

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Andrew-L

Thanks for clarifying!

The amount of outdated/null information that is out there on orchids is staggering

And coming from AOS no less

The AOS is a small group trying to keep the organization alive, and a great deal of their info is provided by volunteers. There is no organization whose job it is to discern the facts scientifically, and we should not disregard the fact that, whether the P is a booster or a way to dilute N, the result is the same.

Also, let’s face it - with few exceptions, most orchid-culture information is anecdotal.

Even the university-based nutritional studies on orchids, such as MSU and Texas A&M, were “we had a concept, we tried it and it worked”, and not “this is why”.

One of the oddest, in my mind, was the creation of K-Lite: Two orchid growers, one a microbiologist working on toxicity in freshwater mollusks and the other a ceramic engineer with knowledge of glass and ceramic systems, happened to be discussing the negative influence that excessive K (and P) can have, and wondered if that held true for orchids. A little digging into textbooks on epiphytes and plant nutrition suggested there might be a similar impact; if nothing more than interfering with the uptake of other ions. BOOM! - a new formula was born, and guess what? “We tried it and it worked!” (and has become quite popular).

[Andrew-L]

That's the problem with the scientific community today. Everybody is worried about making new discoveries and nobody is fact checking older scientific breakthroughs. One thinks that once a paper gets published, that makes it fact.

---------- Post added at 08:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 AM ----------

I was taught countless things in school that I found out in adulthood were false.

The biggest one being " you're not always going to have a calculator with you"

Yes I do, every day

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Andrew-L

That's the problem with the scientific community today. Everybody is worried about making new discoveries and nobody is fact checking older scientific breakthroughs. One thinks that once a paper gets published, that makes it fact.

Is the the scientific community or the layman’s interpretation of science these days?

I’ve been out of the academic community a long time, but I recall being taught to challenge everything back then, and I’m still pretty good at it.

[Andrew-L]

I don't know if it's regional, we were taught "facts"

It's kind of like cannabis prohibition. Full of lies

[My Green Pets]

I just had to reply when I saw 'nutes' in the subject. Reminds me of when I used to spend lots of time on Overgrow and IC mag.

Andrew you are right, the amount of bullshit info out there is staggering, I'm guilty of perpetuating some incorrect info too, as I have learned over the years. Everybody wants to be an expert—often the least knowledgeable.

All I can recommend is that you comb through the suggestions and just start trying things. Try to be as scientific about it as you can and note what seems to be working. And in general, give changes several months to show their effects.

I will vouch for Ray's website as I have used his info and calculators many many times. Yes he is constantly promoting his products but...dammit, they work. Check out his 'regimen for growing excellent plants' as a baseline.

[Andrew-L]

Thanks for the advice!

Ive combed Rays website, and will continue to visit it, but will continue on with the new information I have come across, and not read AOS culture sheets like they are fact.

Ray seems like a very knowledgeable guy. Given the amount of years he has put into working with these plants, he should have learned a thing or two along the way. He probably knows little tips and tricks that he doesn't even realize are tips and tricks, he just does them naturally.

Is there any way somebody could get in touch with AOS and have them edit culture sheets?

That is one of the first websites that come up when searching for orchid care.

On a side note @ My Green Pets ,

I see where you are located, and I can only surmise that you might grow cannabis flowers.

Have you ever done any research in to inducing polyploidy in cannabis via colchicine treatments trying to get bud gigantism to show its face?

[My Green Pets]

Andrew, I know a few things about cannabis culture but I do not currently grow it. I will say that it is about a hundred times easier to grow cannabis than orchids, lol.

[Andrew-L]

Yes, it is a weed after all. I'm more interested in the breeding side of it