Feeding Complex Paph to Foster Budset

[JMNYC]

Hi.
I grow a collection of orchids indoors in Manhattan....evolved some mad genius techniques, did feature on all of it for ORCHIDS back in 01.
I grow fewer paphs than I do phals, cattleyas, oncidiums, etc.....but I fell in love with a fab bulldog few mos ago on ebay from a very reputable vendor, it was in bloom: Paph Eric "Pittsburg' HCC/AOS, image above.

It's been growing perfectly in one of my special paph pots in an ideal mix; the new growth is maturing beautifully.

I've been feeding it every other drenching with Grow More non urea, slightly diluted, meaning, once a week.
Should I switch to a combo of the Grow More and low nitrogen bloom booster toward the end of the summer? Switch to JUST bloom booster to abet bud setting then? Stick with the high nitrogen?

MANY thanks!

[james mickelso]

All I do when fussing over fertilizer feedings is to change the ratio of N to P/K. Many growers don't feel it's necessary to do so. Their regimen works for them. A lot of nitrogen in relation to P and K can retard or even curtail flowering. I just change the ratio of N to P/K and that usually starts bud primordial initiation. But I feel it has to be done when the initiation would commence normally for that species. I usually switch when the growth is halfway to maturity. I only do it now when I have something that refuses to bloom for an extended period of time.

[Fairorchids]

I have a large Paph collection, and grow in GH together with a Catt grower. Spring, summer & fall we feed every 2 weeks (= every 4th watering), in winter we feed once a month. We do not vary fertilizer selection.

For Paphs, the prime bud initiation factor is the nighttime temperature drop in the fall. You need a 10-15 degree temperature difference between day & night.

Last year I got some large (complex x fairrieanum) hybrids from Lehua. He was ready to compost these multi-growth plants, because they did not bloom in HI. As soon as they went through the fall cycle in NJ, they all budded beautifully here.

[JMNYC]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

All I do when fussing over fertilizer feedings is to change the ratio of N to P/K. Many growers don't feel it's necessary to do so. Their regimen works for them. A lot of nitrogen in relation to P and K can retard or even curtail flowering. I just change the ratio of N to P/K and that usually starts bud primordial initiation. But I feel it has to be done when the initiation would commence normally for that species. I usually switch when the growth is halfway to maturity. I only do it now when I have something that refuses to bloom for an extended period of time.

Thank you James! I do employ the same strategy for my other orchids, and will now include my Paphs! And, by "ratio' I guess you mean a combo, not switch to all P/K at the normal interval of bud set.

My Paphs...my bulldog esp, thank you!

---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

I have a large Paph collection, and grow in GH together with a Catt grower. Spring, summer & fall we feed every 2 weeks (= every 4th watering), in winter we feed once a month. We do not vary fertilizer selection.

For Paphs, the prime bud initiation factor is the nighttime temperature drop in the fall. You need a 10-15 degree temperature difference between day & night.

Last year I got some large (complex x fairrieanum) hybrids from Lehua. He was ready to compost these multi-growth plants, because they did not bloom in HI. As soon as they went through the fall cycle in NJ, they all budded beautifully here.

Hi!

See? Many advantages to living in not exotic, tropical locales, right? Nirvana....is SUBJECTIVE.

Wonderful, telling account; those hybrids whose lives you saved are so lucky! So, Paphs are not unlike Phals which clearly spike in response to the kind of temp drop you mention!

But, while the temp drop may be the nuclear issue....I now plan to reduce nitrogen too. One of my no name Paph hybrids (not a bulldog) I experimented with lowering the nitrogen on, is now in bud, tho only on one of several new fans. I have a second pot of that hybrid (I divided evenly a year ago), one I did not experiment on with lower nitrogen, and that has no buds.

I know correlation does not imply causation, but sometimes, it's hard to tell.

I also now think I may be over feeding; I do have a tendency to do that. I might just stick to my current schedule but use a greater dilution.

Thanks!!
PS: I like the big, pink dorsal on the paph in yr avatar!!

[JMNYC]

Hi again,

I thought I would put up an image of the bulldog in question as of today; I hang my Paphs.....new growth indicated by red arrow.

I so appreciate all the expert input!

[james mickelso]

I just switch from a higher N to Pk fert and find a fert that has a lower N. 30-10-10 to a 10-10-10 worked well.

[JMNYC]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

I just switch from a higher N to Pk fert and find a fert that has a lower N. 30-10-10 to a 10-10-10 worked well.

Well! Unexpectedly, that's a more modest change than I expected! I never considered a switch to balanced! So, I now think, I will, a bit down the road, combine my non urea high N at 1/4 strength, with my 10-30-20 at half strength. That's what I did with that one pot of my no name Paph in which, only the other day, I noticed a bud, ...again, in only one of several new fans.

Using a calendar system I invented, tho responding to each individual plant trumps all, I tend each scheduled plant on a given day in the sink; I first drench the medium with running water, and, if fertilizing is scheduled, then emerse the entire pot in fertilizer mix.

Works wonderfully.

I only wish a way to clone Paphs could be found. Then, I could afford MORE BULLDOGS. No more room never stops me; I always find a way.

Thanks again, James!

[Ray]

The more I look into it, the more I am convinced that N-P-K ratio is relatively unimportant. HOW MUCH of the fertilizer you apply is, and "less is more".

Over the last 20 years I have used Dyna-Gro "Grow" (7-9-5), to MSU RO (13-3-15), and starting in November of 2011, K-Lite, a 12-1-1 derivative of MSU RO, and obviously, the one with the highest N-P/K ratio.

By most orchid-feeding lore, that "high nitrogen" formula should promote tremendous vegetative growth, but quash all blooming. In fact, not only are all of my plants growing better than ever (including a large number of paphs), they are also blooming better than ever.

I attribute that to the use of pure water with a very dilute fertilizer supply. They get frequent feedings - it's been really hot, so they're now getting fed and watered about every other day - but at around 30 ppm N, so the total mass of nutrients supplied is very low.

[JMNYC]

Hi, Ray, thanks for weighing in!!

The more I look into it, the more I am convinced that N-P-K ratio is relatively unimportant. HOW MUCH of the fertilizer you apply is, and "less is more".

Yes, I have always known the "less is more" cognitively. But sometimes have to struggle to comport with it.

By most orchid-feeding lore, that "high nitrogen" formula should promote tremendous vegetative growth, but quash all blooming. In fact, not only are all of my plants growing better than ever (including a large number of paphs), they are also blooming better than ever.

Well, I hear U. But, my subjective experience gainsays this. Am I positive of that? Not so much.

I attribute that to the use of pure water with a very dilute fertilizer supply. They get frequent feedings - it's been really hot, so they're now getting fed and watered about every other day - but at around 30 ppm N, so the total mass of nutrients supplied is very low.

Given I grow indoors,. no artificial augmentations at all, and use NYC water....far better than bigots believe, my water source is set in stone as it were.

I am also a fan of frequent, dilute feedings....it makes intuitive sense to me and always has. Given I grow in diverse mediums: bark mix with good organic matter added for my terrestrial paphs; bark mix with top third AAA long fiber NZ Sphagnum for my Phals; largely tree fern fiber for my larger Catts, etc......the drying speed in any weather, in my case, is plant specific.

So now, I am back to some confusion re my Paphs---part of the journey.

And, I also can't get multi quote to work normally. Perhaps it needs a temp drop.
____________________________________
Edit: re DynaGrow, have tried it; I prefer water soluable powder fertilizers, they're just more cost efficient over time.

I will also share, while I luv them all, this bulldog is right now, my obsession. A while back, I traded two fans of my Paph Swallow Karen with the president of Carter and Holmes for (drum roll) a two fan division of Winston Churchill, the real deal.

I went away for a bit, and my orchid tending surrogate messed up and, when I returned, both were beyond saving. Along with other beloved specimens, tho Catts can come back from the dead. And, while it seems the new bulldog has either no Winston Churchill (or some from way back), I like it better; its segments are so perfectly balanced, and so flat. I think, it's worth an AM/AOS but I guess nobody else agreed. So truth is, I now have BULLDOG PARANOIA.

[JMNYC]

Addenda:

Is this any form of scientific sampling? Not even close. BUT, see below: two pretty evenly divided pots of this no label Paph; the one on which I have been using a mixture of hi N and bloom booster for the last several weeks, at least now has a bud on one fan; the other, I continued to feed with just hi N.....has none.

Is this serendipity? I have no clue.