Kelpack, K-Lite Fertilizer, Quantum Microbial Test!

[Bloomer001]

So my Kelpak, K-Lite Fertilizer, & Quantum Total Microbial (Optimum Growth Package) just arrived from First Rays! As I like to do, I'm going to perform a small test against my current fert regime (miracle grow NPK 24-8-16), MSU pellets, and a little CaliMagic.
Prior to purchasing Ray's regime I did as much research as I could, and his products seem to be supported by scientific research (but I'm new at this and don't really know.) I'm interested to see how Ray's regime performs. Today I took pics of my 6 Orchids (enclosed). I have had them on my once a week Miracle Grow fert regime for about 6 months. I will keep 3 on this regime and put the other 3 on Ray's regime. I will try to keep all other variables constant (all orchids get about 1k fc 12 hrs a day via artificial light. I move the light as the spike grows, so this is a slight variation.) All orchids are currently spiking and are healthy.
Will post updates as they bloom.

[fredfarmer]

I'll be watching. Nothing beats a controlled scientific study.

(Added next day}

I started looking through my old files to find the best statistical way to analyze the results of your experiment and came across one of my old favorites. It’s called the Fischer’s Exact test for a 2 x 2 contingency table. It’s a non-parametric statistical test used for small samples. In this case you have two groups of orchids , three in each group. One group will be treated with “Treatment A” and the other with “Treatment B”.

You have to have some pretty dramatic differences with such a small sample to get any statistical significance but in this case if all of the members of one group appeared “better” than all of the members of the second group, the difference between the two groups are statistically different from each other at the “p less than 0.1 level”.

Try it yourself at Easy Fisher Exact Test Calculator.

[Ray]

1) Three plants per set is not big enough to call differences significant.

2) Unless those are 6 identical clones, the comparison is even worse.

3) Even with that, make sure you're applying the SAME nitrogen dosing. For example, if you were applying 1/2 teaspoon/gallon of the 24-8-16 every two weeks, you should use 1 teaspoon of the K-Lite for the other set. With the other stuff you throw in there, I don't know how you'll do that, but you should estimate it as well as you can.

[minicoerulea]

Looks like they're potted somewhat differently, too (some have some sphagnum, anyway), which is another confounding variable.

[Ray]

Here's my prediction of what you'll see:

Change in fertilizer formula: Nothing, unless you change the nitrogen concentration, which should be avoided.

Use of a probiotic: Nothing. Basically, you won't see a tremendous improvement, but you might - after a while - start to notice the plants generally growing with fewer issues. That's something that's hard to notice and for me at least, was more of a sudden realization.

Addition of Kelpak: This will be noticeable in 4 to 6 weeks or so. The plants will sprout new roots and the existing ones with begin branching, you'll probably see new growth starting, as well. A lot more is going on that is improving the overall health and growth of the plant, but that's more of an "over time" sort of thing, as well.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i switched to a first rays regimen a few years back...the change was not immediate but i will say i have more vigorous plants and less random death. i am NOT a perfect grower, i neglect and overlook my plants when life gets loud, so i am not a perfect example lol but i would recommend the mix of kelp max, k lite and a probiotic to anyone growing anything (except mushrooms and carnivores)

[Roberta]

I would consider it pretty questionable to draw any statistical conclusions with n=3, only 6 months, with all the other likely confounding factors. Orchids are slooowww (even Phals). And each has a different history, which can muddy the waters. Experiments like this are more likely to produce useful results with rapidly-growing plants like tomatoes or cannabis. Even then, one needs to look at the whole growth cycle, not just a part of it.

[realoldbeachbum]

Hello Bloomer. I am interested in your experiment, so please keep us posted.
I began using Ray's products about a year ago and haven't seen a noticeable difference. That being said, however, I am an orchid newbie and EVERYTHING is a big experiment!

[Bloomer001]

I got all the Phalaenopsis orchids (Noid) at the same time in Spring of 2023. They were all from Wholefoods. About a week after purchase, I repotted them in plastic pots with lots of air holes. The substrate is the RePotMe Phalaenopsis Dark Classic Orchid Mix made with:

- Medium Coconut Husk Chips
- Medium Sponge Rock
- Medium Stalite
- AAA New Zealand Sphagnum Moss

I added some extra moss in layers to each pot to help prevent drying out too fast, as it gets hot in the summers of my apartment in NYC.

On the substrate surface there's a little Cyanobacteria growth (I partially cover the surface moss with bark to limit the Cyano growth.) I uploaded some close up pics of the substrate. I wanted to test rhizosphere pH, but this was too difficult. However, I believe pH is same for all.

I water once a week with fert by watering directly into the pots (the water drains out the air holes and pools in the outer container away from the roots). Mid-week I spray the aeriel roots and top substrate with the water fert mix as the top substrate dries out first. I "top spray" mid-week instead of canister watering bc 2 waterings a week makes the inner soil too wet (esp.in winter) as the moss retains a lot of moisture. In the summer I will top spray 2-3 times per week, in addition to the flow through watering. So basically, I water the portions of the substrate as soon as they dry out (this allows for constant feeding without oversaturated roots.) The temperature in my living room (where they grow) stays at about 70° F in the winter and can get to 100° F in summer with no ac.

I have a Levoit humidifer about 2' from them that keeps humidy around 50%. They each have their own Barilla full spectrum grow light. I use a light meter to ensure they get about 1k fc for 12 hrs a day.

I only use water filtered by Berkey carbon filters, with additional Berkey flouride filters. I put Santevia Mineral Stones in the filtered water as the Berkey filters strip out essential minerals. The mineral stones add the following:
- calcium
- magnesium
- potassium
- zinc

As per Ray's instruction, I'm making sure both fert regimes get the same amount of nitrogen, which is 24 ppm per dose (both water & spray applications). I think the quality of the nitrogen is the primary differentiating factor in the fert regime. The Miracle Grow is urea/ammonia based. Ray's nitrogen is nitrate based. The studies I read indicate that nitrogen derived from nitrate noticeably outperforms urea based formulas (esp. longterm bc urea can have adverse effects on plants overtime). See Ex. 1 (PhD Study re Nitrogen on Phals). I'm also interested to see the effect of the Kelpak over time.

I think my culture is fairly sound, but if anyone has any suggestions for improvement please let me know.

Here is a YouTube link to the setup https://youtu.be/pLOjrnqAd8Y?si=Q--VnYVa_26yyI6K

As they grow I will post pics and provide links to YouTube videos.