Against the "Status Quo"

[james mickelso]

Nitrogen, which is produced by lightning in the atmosphere, is in the rain drops. Phosphorus/potassium is in the leaf litter/animal and bird poop/Decaying wood that makes up where the orchid is growing it's roots. When it is the rainy season, raining day and night, there is little potassium and phosphorus available to the orchid's roots. At the end of the rainy season the phosphorus/potassium becomes available to the orchid due to the fact that the rain isn't washing it away as soon as it becomes available. I'll also beg to differ with Dr. Motes. Mature velamen absorbs moisture almost instantly and becomes saturated and won't absorb any more moisture beyond a certain point. Fertilizing media seems a waste to me. The orchid doesn't grow roots quickly enough to absorb it so it is wasted. Difficult to just fertilize the roots I know except for mounted plants.

[NYCorchidman]

Even during the rainy season, plants get what they need. Rain pattern also differs, short burst of shower in the early afternoon is very common, although the rain might fall for hours or even days on end, but this is not the norm.

Even then, the animals continue to poop, and with each rainfall, it is washed over the plants.

Apparently, the poop has be washed over to the plants to be available, whether it is rainy or dry season. Orchids or other plants won't just jump on the dry poop and feast on it. lol

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

If I am correctly interpreting the Went article and it's subsequent lines of derivative research, charged ions are held within the velamen, while uncharged ions are lost; I would suspect that you could simply mist your plants to keep them happy, provided that you accounted also for maintenance of humidity, airflow and the like. I believe that one of the reasons that we water is also to increase localized humidity around the plant.
It would be interesting to to mount up two stellar growing plants (Onc. Gower Ramsey comes to mind) and water one, while only misting the other to see if there is a notable difference in growth and flowering. Perhaps four plants would be needed, then we could also test out the pre-watering and then feeding vs. straight up feeding (both in a watering application and in a misting application...); and just for giggles, a fifth as well...I suspect that I keep the rh high enough in part of my gh that I might be able to maintain a mounted Gower Ramsey without watering it at all (aside from the occasional drip that comes from the glazing or errant throw from the hose)
Adam

I've thought similar, and started just spritzing a few times a day with water and kelp mix, rather than this soak twenty minutes every 7 to 10 days. I am seeing very good growth, and even a tillandsia I am doing it to seems to be taking off. Any orchid needing more humidity, like he thin rooted oncidiums get a little top covering of sphagham moss. This is only because my plants are outside in arid desert conditions. If I were in Florida, I would not do this.

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[Hiester]

I’ve been reading through this topic and just want to state this information, since I noted there have been a few misstatements along the way regarding the names and numbers of essential elements for plants. All plants need a total of THIRTEEN essential elements in order to survive and thrive. There are SIX macro-nutrients and SEVEN micro-nutrients. Primary macro-nutrients are nitrogen–N, phosphorus–P, and potassium–K. These three macro-nutrients (essential elements) are generally in lower supply in soil/media because plants use up large amounts of these three for growth as well as for survival. The breakdown of organic matter supplies these nutrients in the natural world, but practices like farming and ornamental gardening tend to deplete these nutrients from the soil, thus they need to be added back via the addition of composted organic material or through fertilizing. The secondary macro-nutrients (essential elements) are calcium–Ca, magnesium–Mg, and sulfur–S. These three nutrients are generally in abundant supply in soils, often from the slow weathering of solid mineral matter, so plants rarely use up all the available supply.

The seven micro-nutrients (essential elements) are boron–B, copper–Cu, iron–Fe, chloride–Cl, manganese–Mn, molybdenum–Mo and zinc–Zn. Because plants generally do not need much of these seven elements the breakdown of old vegetative organic matter in soils tends to supply these necessary nutrients in abundance from a plant perspective.

Though lots of orchids, as well as many other types of plants, grow as epiphytes or lithophytes, they still need all these essential elements available to them in order to survive and thrive.

Hope this didn’t bore anyone…

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Hiester

I’ve been reading through this topic and just want to state this information, since I noted there have been a few misstatements along the way regarding the names and numbers of essential elements for plants. All plants need a total of THIRTEEN essential elements in order to survive and thrive. There are SIX macro-nutrients and SEVEN micro-nutrients. Primary macro-nutrients are nitrogen–N, phosphorus–P, and potassium–K. These three macro-nutrients (essential elements) are generally in lower supply in soil/media because plants use up large amounts of these three for growth as well as for survival. The breakdown of organic matter supplies these nutrients in the natural world, but practices like farming and ornamental gardening tend to deplete these nutrients from the soil, thus they need to be added back via the addition of composted organic material or through fertilizing. The secondary macro-nutrients (essential elements) are calcium–Ca, magnesium–Mg, and sulfur–S. These three nutrients are generally in abundant supply in soils, often from the slow weathering of solid mineral matter, so plants rarely use up all the available supply.

The seven micro-nutrients (essential elements) are boron–B, copper–Cu, iron–Fe, chloride–Cl, manganese–Mn, molybdenum–Mo and zinc–Zn. Because plants generally do not need much of these seven elements the breakdown of old vegetative organic matter in soils tends to supply these necessary nutrients in abundance from a plant perspective.

Though lots of orchids, as well as many other types of plants, grow as epiphytes or lithophytes, they still need all these essential elements available to them in order to survive and thrive.

Hope this didn’t bore anyone…

Not a bore.

Orchid nutrition is often a hot topic of discussion.

You're correct, but what you mentioned is only part of the story...

I think optimal nutrition for an orchid is dependent on the type of orchid, the type of environment those orchids come from, and what the nutrient availability is like in those environments.

I think that optimal nutrition for orchids is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all thing. You will most likely fail miserably if you try to apply one idea to all orchids. Some orchids will require different nutrient loads based on where they came from and what kinds of nutrients were available and at what concentrations the nutrients were available at in the orchid's natural habitat.

What I've just mentioned is the "Cliff Notes" version of what has to be said on the matter.

[Hiester]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Not a bore.

Orchid nutrition is often a hot topic of discussion.

You're correct, but what you mentioned is only part of the story...

I think optimal nutrition for an orchid is dependent on the type of orchid, the type of environment those orchids come from, and what the nutrient availability is like in those environments.

I think that optimal nutrition for orchids is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all thing. You will most likely fail miserably if you try to apply one idea to all orchids. Some orchids will require different nutrient loads based on where they came from and what kinds of nutrients were available and at what concentrations the nutrients were available at in the orchid's natural habitat.

What I've just mentioned is the "Cliff Notes" version of what has to be said on the matter.

Thank you, Philip. I agree that each species or hybrid might have differing requirements, all according to eons of adaptability to localized environmental conditions where they are found in nature.

Some might ask, where's oxygen and carbon dioxide? Aren't they also necessary? And the answer would be, "Yes." As they are used by plants in a gaseous state, they are covered under the topic of gases (i.e. atmosphere along with humidity and air movement), which also are essential requirements for plant survival.

[Optimist]

I loved your post of coursr, but the generalization "all plants need" worrys me, not because I think you are wrong, but because these plants fill a specific nitch in the environment, living where no other plants live and so on. Not a one to one correlayion, of course, but you could not say yhal "all animals" need xyz list of nutrients. They need different amounts, they make their own and store it and excrete it differently. But of course, they need more nutrients than commonly found in the fertilizers. Often something is not bioavailable unless it is paired with another micronutrient.

[DavidCampen]

I would like to know about any plant that can make nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium etc. Perhaps with a bit of selective breeding we can get it to make gold or platinum though I would be happy enough even with silver.