Fish/Seaweed Fertilizer users

[kikitastrophe]

I purchased "Orchid Love" a while ago - based on the exceptional amazon reviews and a sudden desire to clean up my act and take better care of my small collection of apartment-imprisoned, sometimes-neglected 'chids.

I had no idea what I was in for with the smell of this type of fertilizer! The container says "shake before use" which I did vigorously before I opened it - perhaps too vigorously. Upon opening, brown, horrendous-smelling substance erupted over my arms and kitchen, covering everything in what I would generously describe as highly aromatic dead fish poo.

The 'chids don't seem to mind, and I'm sure it is just as good as everyone says. Just be warned that both the 'chids (this will be a bad time to check for bloom fragrance) and my apartment smell absolutely awful for a few days after I use it. Don't consider a dinner party for watering day.

[No-Pro-mwa]

It does smell bad right out of the bottle but by the time you dilute it then it isn't so bad. It say's to use 1 Tbsp to 1 gal of water and I can't remember if I used a 1/2 or if I used a 1/4. I think that is what I did because I was afraid of the smell so I was surprised it wasn't so bad. Wish I could remember because I think I will water them again with it. And yes it say's to mix up fresh every time. I'm going to do 1/4 tsp per gal.

I just use the left over for my other house plants. I have also use fish fertilizer on my garden for years. I do use it stronger and it does smell for a bit.

[tucker85]

I agree with many of the other posts, that seaweed extract is best used as a supplement and not as your regular (every week) fertilizer. I've heard that the fish & seaweed products work well but I think they smell stronger than the seaweed only products. I get some smell from the seaweed extract but it's gone in a couple of days. Seaweed products contain lots of micro-nutrients but I don't know how much calcium and magnesium are in them. Personally I like to use a regular fertilizer that contains calcium and magnesium or a separate cal/mag supplement. I suspect that using a seaweed supplement once or twice a month has many benefits but the one thing that I'm sure of is that it stimulates root growth in orchids. New root growth is very noticeable to me when I use seaweed.

[terryros]

Ray, since you first posted this a month or two ago I have wanted to ask you whether KelpMax doesn't look like a complete fertilizer to you (although not low in K).

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by jeremyinsf

The seaweeds I use are for root growth stimulation, and are not a fertilizer.

I still fertilize with K-lite and then add the seaweed together at the same time to the water mix. Seaweed is about once a month, sometimes a bit more, and sometimes a lot less.

Different brands look and smell very differently from each other. I don't rinse, but I also don't leave a lot left to drain out and sit around in the nursery trays if I can avoid it.

(I too am an indoor grower, mostly)

Happy to answer anything else you want, although I'm only sharing my own perspective of course.

Thanks!

I only see Naptune brand in stores in the city.
What are some brands that have less smells??

---------- Post added at 04:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 PM ----------

Originally Posted by kindrag23

I use gro mor seaweed extract works wonders. I use it once->twice a month. Seen good and even great results. Does take a little bit of time to see the results but you will see them.

Not a overly fishy smell...Unless I put it in my sprayer and use it in July in my little greenhouse then I must open the vents Because it gets really smelly. ALL my plants are inside now and I only use it once a month; since it is so cold now. Even inside it is on the cool side and my plants have gone sleepy a bit.

What kind of improvement do you see??

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by ALToronto

I use Neptune's Harvest, and it is a complete product (fertilizer + seaweed). I alternate with K-Lite and Dyna-Gro, but I'm leaning toward more NH than the other two.

Yes, it smells, but the smell dissipates quickly. You also cannot pre-mix it and leave it for the next day, and you must keep the bottle in the fridge. The N-P-K numbers are 2-3-1, and I don't know how accurate that is. I mix it up to about 20 ppm N, which means a bit less than 1 tsp/gal or 1 ml/L.

The orchids love it, but I do use the other fertilizers as well, just in case they offer something that NH doesn't. I'm pretty sure it has lots of Ca and Mg, though, since fish are a good source of these minerals, as well as Sulphur, Phosphorus, Silicon, Iron... There is no mineral analysis on the label, and I haven't tried contacting the manufacturer. The person who recommended this product to me (Pat Van Adrichem of Kingfisher Orchids) has been growing and breeding orchids for years, and he swears by it.

Interesting, I should go check again in the store, but I swear I only saw three types by NH.
Seaweed alone product, fish alone, then product with both seaweed and fish.
I would love to get that has fertilizer added in them.

[kindrag23]

I see root growth galore especially on some of my Vanda it has a Monster root growing right now. My bb.little star is shooting quite a few new fat and happy roots. My bulbo frank smith has about 15 new roots growing as well.

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by kikitastrophe

I purchased "Orchid Love" a while ago - based on the exceptional amazon reviews and a sudden desire to clean up my act and take better care of my small collection of apartment-imprisoned, sometimes-neglected 'chids.

I had no idea what I was in for with the smell of this type of fertilizer! The container says "shake before use" which I did vigorously before I opened it - perhaps too vigorously. Upon opening, brown, horrendous-smelling substance erupted over my arms and kitchen, covering everything in what I would generously describe as highly aromatic dead fish poo.

The 'chids don't seem to mind, and I'm sure it is just as good as everyone says. Just be warned that both the 'chids (this will be a bad time to check for bloom fragrance) and my apartment smell absolutely awful for a few days after I use it. Don't consider a dinner party for watering day.

That was my main concern as well because when I opened the product, they all smelled pretty bad.
and that is why I would like to know how stinky they would be when diluted.

---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------

Originally Posted by No-Pro-mwa

It does smell bad right out of the bottle but by the time you dilute it then it isn't so bad. It say's to use 1 Tbsp to 1 gal of water and I can't remember if I used a 1/2 or if I used a 1/4. I think that is what I did because I was afraid of the smell so I was surprised it wasn't so bad. Wish I could remember because I think I will water them again with it. And yes it say's to mix up fresh every time. I'm going to do 1/4 tsp per gal.

I just use the left over for my other house plants. I have also use fish fertilizer on my garden for years. I do use it stronger and it does smell for a bit.

Ok, that sounds better.

[jeremyinsf]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Thanks!

I only see Naptune brand in stores in the city.
What are some brands that have less smells?? [COLOR="Silver"]

I have only used two brands myself. Ray's KelpMax and MaxiCrop. Ray's does not smell much at all. I really like it, a lot, but the MaxiCrop costs me about 1/4 to 1/5 as much once you factor in everything, close to that even on a bulk level. I'm about out of my KelpMax and I haven't decided what to do next. Unfortunately, this is my most difficult orchid predicament at the moment. I've stressed about it more than I'd like to. The smell of MaxiCrop doesn't bother me (I'm a scuba diver, I could care less about the smell of the ocean) but my take is that KelpMax works a bit better.

My

[NYCorchidman]

Thanks!

I don't mind ocean smell either, but the smell out of the bottle I sniffed was quite something I have to say. lol

Ok, I'll look into kelpmax then.

[jeremyinsf]

I've never tried Neptune so I can't say how it fits in. MaxiCrop doesn't smell bad to me out out the bottle, I just wouldn't want to say, spill it all over a rug or something. It smells like the ocean, but, not 'dead' ocean. KelpMax doesn't have much of a scent when compared in my nose.