Water with plain water first before fertilizing?

[Clawhammer]

I think he is saying that orchids need very little phos and it is unnecessary to use a high phos fert as it will have no positive effect on the bloom (for orchids). That is why the research team at MSU designed their optimized orchid fert mix as a 13-3-15. That has also generally been my experience in my environment too. My blooms improved when I went from using a bloom booster to a constant weak feeding program in my indoor environment.

I look at ferts as potential bottlenecks and my goal is remove bottlenecks. More does not always equal better as orchids are adapted to need only minute quantities of non-nitrogen nutrients to grow vigorously. The right amount of any fert is dictated by the environment and the plant's genetics.

I think too much importance is placed on the fertilizer question. We aren't growing produce here, we are growing generally very slow growing plants that are adapted to live in a nutrient scarce environment.