Glycerin for orchids?

[reptilegrrl]

Anybody using glycerine on their orchids? I've been reading some stuff about the benefits of glycerine in horticulture and wondered if anyone was using it to water or in a foliar spray.

In my other plants, I grow in soil, and giving a potted plant things like molasses or glycerine seems like an obvious positive, but with orchids, I am using inert media and wondering if I will just get ants.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I had not heard of this, but did do a little looking online: 6 Glycerin Uses In The Garden | Balcony Garden Web

I would try anything you plan on a small scale first, maybe with one or a few plants that you would not lose sleep over if something went wrong.

[Ray]

Back when I still manufactured Rise & Shine Leaf Cleaner and Insecticide, I added glycerine to it, which served as a leaf polish. I saw no plant growth benefit.

I think that the average orchid grower, and I include myself, focuses entirely too much on "what can I add to make my plants grow better", and should instead focus their attention on eliminating the things they are currently doing that detract from the ideal culture of their plants.

[greenpassion]

Just curious Ray. Why did you stop selling the Rise and Shine? I now use mayo, but would prefer the Rise and Shine...

[Roberta]

I think that the molasses (or glycerine) provide some extra soluble carbs. Orchids like all green plants make their own carbs by photosynthesis , of course, but may benefit from a little extra. I had not hear of glycerine, but a product that is no longer available (Jerry's Grow) was about 30% methyl alcohol, and had a reputation for stimulating excellent growth in high-light plants. That would fit the "soluble carbs" group as well (and not attract ants) I have also heard of using ethyl alcohol (the cheapest rum or vodka you can find). I add a 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of very cheap vodka to my fertilizer, think that over long period of time have seen good effect. Whether it's the soluble carbs or the orchids just enjoying their little aperitif it's hard to say... have not done a controlled experiment.

[reptilegrrl]

Ethyl alcohol is known to stunt plant growth, so I've never added more than a little beer to a plant.

Ray, would you care to elaborate on what kind of things people do that should be eliminated?

I am used to growing plants in soil, and to fostering a healthy microbiome there, and I'm just not sure how to do that in clay pellets. Of course molasses provides a shot of carbs and minerals for a plant, but it also enriches the microbiome (by feeding microbes.)

[estación seca]

Pay as much attention and effort as possible to giving your plants growing conditions as near to ideal as possible. Until you do that none of this stuff will have any effect. Correct your temperature, water, humidity, air circulation and light.

It's like a beginning weight lifter who gets sold thousands of dollars worth of food supplements. The food supplements can't possibly help before somebody has reached the level of a very well-trained athlete.

[reptilegrrl]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Pay as much attention and effort as possible to giving your plants growing conditions as near to ideal as possible. Until you do that none of this stuff will have any effect. Correct your temperature, water, humidity, air circulation and light.

It's like a beginning weight lifter who gets sold thousands of dollars worth of food supplements. The food supplements can't possibly help before somebody has reached the level of a very well-trained athlete.

As a gardener, I disagree. By the time an orchid gets to me it's typically not in perfect condition. As an example, in the garden we use molasses to help a plant get through extremes like transplanting, or to give them an advantage- a little boost- to help ensure success. If we give our orchids fertilizers, there's no reason not to give them other nutrients if those benefit them.

In terms of human physiology, your analogy still fails: food supplements (like protein) can help to build and repair tissues in order to increase the level at which you can train. Muscle-building is of course beneficial even before one "reaches the level of a very well-trained athlete."

[Ray]

It is a bit of folly to equate gardening of terrestrials to the cultivation of orchids. In the former, the plants' interaction with the growing medium plays a huge role, and many supplements are for the benefit of the soil, more than the plant directly; in orchids, the substrate is primarily for mechanical stability and moisture and nutrient storage.

That is not to say that additives are of no use - Hell! Of the over 300 products I used to carry, the only two remaining ones are additives, and both are very effective on orchids, as well as terrestrials.

I think you missed the point ES and I were trying to make: Give the plant exactly what it has evolved to need, and it will do its very best growing and blooming. Anything you do that falls short of providing those needs, and it will not do as well, and there is no additive that will overcome that.

If you acquire a lousy plant, merely improving its culture will help, and some supplements can accelerate the recovery process, but if your culture isn't any better, throwing things at the plant is wasted effort.

Your human analogy is a different arena altogether. If you are doing training, you have "changed the environment", putting more demands upon your body, so additional nutrients might be of some benefit, but if that environment has not changed, those additives can be detrimental.

[orchidsarefun]

The science may or may not be proven but the bottom line is that these are your plants and you take the risk of "losing" them with your experimentation. I hope you are a windowsill grower because I have found that most of the research into orchid cultivation has been carried out by commercial ( greenhouse ) growers where time is money. Windowsill growers do have entirely different conditions. I'm sure you've heard of the watering technique for phals of "just add ice" and its universal condemnation by orchid growers - and for logical reasons. Well I've seen photos of phals grown by numerous people where the plants are healthy and spike regularly. In face to face conversations, with photographic evidence, who am I to advise otherwise?
So - to end a long story - I would encourage experimentation. Just report back the results !