ORCHID FEEDING CONTROVERSY! Oh my!!

[isurus79]

Your plants look great! However, I wonder if you dont see the effects of overfertilizing because you are washing away any excess salts that would other wise burn your plants. Basically, I have the feeling that while you may not be burning the plants, I doubt they are taking up all that fertilizer and that you are actually washing most of it away. That would be a bummer as you would essentially be washing away a bunch of money and likely dumping a bunch of excess fertilizer into the drain. You might be having great success because they are getting lots of fertilizer, but you might go broke trying to do so! Have you tried fertilizing weakly weekly? For an experiment, I would buy 2 plants of the same size, maybe identical clones from the same flask and water one with your current feeding schedule and one with the recommended weakly weekly dose. That way you could figure out if your success comes from tons of fert or just regular feeding. After all, your post made it sound like you went from a very laid back approach to orchid care to a very focused and attentive one. Ray (from First Ray's Orchids) often mentions that people see amazing results from some fert schedule or some miracle new product not because of the amount of fertilization or the new product, but rather they see results because the orchid owners are now paying attention to their plants and are feeding their plants on a fixed schedule rather than whenever they get around to it. I would be very interested in the results of any tests that you do!!

[kiki-do]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Ray (from First Ray's Orchids) often mentions that people see amazing results from some fert schedule or some miracle new product not because of the amount of fertilization or the new product, but rather they see results because the orchid owners are now paying attention to their plants and are feeding their plants on a fixed schedule rather than whenever they get around to it.

Naw, I'm always in my chids face doing one thing or the other and they seem to balk at the attention. When I ignor them, then they produce....it seems. Or when I dangle one of them over the garbage can, then it takes me seriously.

[quiltergal]

I gotta agree with Steve here. Just having a set schedule may be the miracle you're seeing. That's what I noticed with mine. That said not only is it more expensive to overfertilze, but that super fertilized water that goes down the drain or runs off into the yard ends up somewhere like the ground water or the ocean. Just something to think about.

[Des]

Originally Posted by JonnyBravo

ok, i have VERY few pix to offer, but here's a specific example of what i'm talking about:

14 months ago i bought a Prosthechea cochleata at near-blooming size, and was told by the grower that it would be a year or two before i saw mature growth and blooms. the timeline proved to be correct, as she's just popping her first flowers, but the growth has been exponential. the biggest pbulbs at time of purchase were just over an inch long, and there were 4 or 5 of them. now there are closer to a dozen, with the biggest at 5-6". every pbulb produced multiple new growths 2 and 3 at a time.

in the pics: the cochleata, just about to bloom. unfortunately, i don't have any "before pics". the tiny unbloomed plant didn't seem worth a photo then. next is the aforementioned B. Little Stars, who bloomed from October through the winter, with a few stragglers lasting into April. didn't count, but I'm pretty sure that she had over 100 blooms start to finish. i love my plants, they reward me more than i deserve!

Do I see some leaf tip die back in the first pic, a sure sign of too much salt in the media BEWARE !!! LOL
More is not better, less more often is the way to go . Orchids will only take what they need the rest goes to waste and is absorbed by the media creating the ideal conditions for a future swamp in a pot !!!

[orchids3]

PeeWee,
Is that 250 ppm total fertilizer or 250 ppm N?
To me heavy fertilizer is 150 ppm N using 15-8-11 Cal Mag fertilizer. I dont understand "magic" fertilizers that do not indicate their contents. To me any fertilizer discussion should start with what water is used including the minerals contained there in plus the Macro and Micro nutrients of the fertilizer added to that water. The form of N be it Nitrate, Ammoniate or Urea. The pH of the resulting mix is also important. I think a lot fish lures on the market catch fishermen not fish - ------

[peeweelovesbooks]

Originally Posted by orchids3

PeeWee,
Is that 250 ppm total fertilizer or 250 ppm N?
To me heavy fertilizer is 150 ppm N using 15-8-11 Cal Mag fertilizer. I dont understand "magic" fertilizers that do not indicate their contents. To me any fertilizer discussion should start with what water is used including the minerals contained there in plus the Macro and Micro nutrients of the fertilizer added to that water. The form of N be it Nitrate, Ammoniate or Urea. The pH of the resulting mix is also important. I think a lot fish lures on the market catch fishermen not fish - ------

Sorry, it's 250ppm N. I use the MSU 19-4-23. I think I was over-fertilizing before, I was using a 20-20-20 solution at some insane rate, but using the 125ppm N never got any results for me. I read on Ray's webpage that some nurseries feed up to 350ppm N, so I thought the 250ppm N would be a good compromise.

I'm a religious (read: compulsive) orchid caretaker, and consistency has never been a problem for me. In fact, the exact opposite is true: I tend to over-do everything--overpot, overwater, overworry.

In any event, the 250ppm N ratio has produced good results:
--My large vanda that was just staring at me for the longest time is now growing a lot of roots, the leaves stopped turning yellow, and it has new leaves. Right before I started this new fertilizing regimen I cut off all the dead roots and fertilized away. I haven't changed its location since probably December of last year. And, the two keikis that are attached to it are growing as well.

--All my orchids have very healthy roots and most of my catts have started producing sheaths. I've had them less than a year for some and they are doing very well.

--I have some phals that their roots are thicker than my finger--and these are "hospital plants" that my aunt sent me to take care of after they bloomed. They definitely perked up when I started doing this.

--My renanthera Bartholomew Motes is blooming again (it grew a spike in about 1 month after the first one)

--I've checked my plants,and none of them have the "too much fertilizer root burn" on them.

--my grammatophyllum speciosum has doubled in size since January

--my Angraecum sesquipedale has grown tremendously since that time as well.

--my brassavola nodosa NOIDs were mounted in January, and now they are growing like crazy and I even removed the filament with which I mounted it. The roots hold up the plant.

I'm definitely sure that my fertilizing program isn't the SOLE cause of the health of my plants. It may be that I have purchased healthy plants and they are just responding to obsessive care on my part. But, I'd like to think that its partly the fertilizing.

Having said all this, however, I just wish there was a definitive answer out there...

[nhman]

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
I think that by both the utilization of mounts and the "washing" action of your plain watering schedule following your feedings, you are able to stay out of any trouble with retained materials.
Thus, although you may be over feeding, it doesn't hurt your plants with your current system!!
Rock on!!!

[Don Perusse]

I can't add any fuel to your fire but I sure like the story. Like Susanne indicated, a little of this and a little of that, put together, add your own schedule and may the magic work........flowers are the end game. Good luck.

[Phyrex]

Originally Posted by JonnyBravo

I feed the EVER-LIVING DAYLIGHTS out of my orchids. Every week that it is warm, they get the following: 3/4 strength MiracleGro, 3/4 strength Schultz Orchid Fertilizer, and full-strength Super-Thrive... all in the same gallon of rainwater. That's right, baby. 1 gallon of water, almost 3 times the recommended dose of food. OOHHH, I'm dirty. And they loooooove it.

Do people at your society point at your orchids and scream "roid-monkey"?

I'm guessing it's the watering schedule that you have that allows the overfeeding. I have everything in pots so it'll take way to long to flush out the salts and I'll probalby kill one before it's evening if I feed at 3x the strength.

If it ain't broke.....

[natasha]

i think that's is a waste of fertilizer if you water your plants instead of spraying them. not to mention not environmental friendly too... fertilizer run-off will definitely go to the world oceans, increase algae blooms, kill the corals and them our sea creatures ~ sorry for the long preach, just watch it...

i spray my chemical fertilizers to the plants, whenever i feel it - once or twice a week. only the organics get in the medium and perhaps a squirt or two of the chemical fertilize - if i remember to do it, usually just the leaves and flowers.

i try to be responsible to my environment while keeping my chids happy. and i want my seafood to thrive too, as i love eating prawns & crabs!