Not meant to be a sales pitch, but will be construed as such by some.

[Ray]

I have found KelpMax to be a truly remarkable addition to my orchid culture. I've been growing orchids for over 45 years and using KelpMax for 9 (as of last month), and folks get tired of me recommending it, as they (incorrectly) assume I'm hyping it solely for sales purposes. In fact, the only reason I still carry it - and the only reason First Rays is still open since I retired - is because the manufacturer told me they would not permit any retailing in the US if I dropped it, and it is just too good of a product to let that happen.

There are several commercial growers who use it regularly. One of the early adopters is Dave Sorokowsky, who owns Paph Paradise. When the "orchid ladies triad" owned J&L, they used it as well, and I recently shipped some to Chuck Acker.

Not long ago, I sent some to Graham Wood of Lehua Orchids in Hawaii. I got this (attached) email in return. (He has since begun using it on some paphs as a comparative experiment.)

[camille1585]

To see such an endorsement from a grower is great. A lot of the feedback on the product on OB comes from home growers and most of us can't test the product on the same scale as a grower.

I'm become a firm believer in the nearly 'magical' properties of kelpmax/kelpak after 6 months of use. Being a plant scientist I wish I had set up a sort of controlled experiment, but my anecdoctal evidence has convinced me that it is beneficial for use in regular culture and for orchid ICU cases.

[estación seca]

I have over the years treated more than a dozen medium-sized Vanda seedlings with an overnight soak in KelpMax. There are visible new root points the following morning, all along the old roots. This hasn't happened with water soaks. This is a historical comparison and not a simultaneous controlled experiment, but then nobody has done a controlled study of jumping out of airplanes with and without parachutes.

[early]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I have over the years treated more than a dozen medium-sized Vanda seedlings with an overnight soak in KelpMax. There are visible new root points the following morning, all along the old roots. This hasn't happened with water soaks. This is a historical comparison and not a simultaneous controlled experiment, but then nobody has done a controlled study of jumping out of airplanes with and without parachutes.

I left my two seedling vandas who have not grown in a year for 12 hrs in Kelp max recommended strength. I just two days of alternating KM to air, the healther of the two has a tiny new green leaf. The puny one as well as the first one are both sprouting new buds....two nights. I have a question, I have them back away from direct sun that only last a couple of hour due to the way my east windows are located. Should they have a little direct sun, or should I use my grow heat pad to keep them warmer, or move across the room that is warmer where I have all my bloomers. I have on other Vanda that came this fall and is double the size but did not seem to be growing in 4 months, so I put her in a S/H clear pot with LECA in bottom, moss in the middle and Leca on top. I keep checking the moisture in the moss and only add 1/4 202020...when it fees slightly dry. Should I worry about in being in LECA and moss and no air to the root like the little ones I have in KM and daytime air?? Sorry, this is hard for me to remember all this vanda requirements inspite of frequently reviewing the sticky. Thanks EC

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

No. I removed that info when I retired, and with pandemic restrictions, I’m not traveling to visit anyone! A couple of folks approached me about doing Zoom sessions, so I thought I might try that and see how it goes.

My first upcoming session will be on orchid nutrition, as I already mentioned, and another society wants me to do one on semi-hydro, which I will have to resurrect from a while back.

There is a a contact link in the website menu.

Thanks for reminding me to re read it. I read the S/H section on evap. cooling, and just ordered some Rock Wool from you. Most of my orchids are doing well in LECA, I like it cause it is easy and works in arid NM. Is the weight of the rock wool and LECA about the same. I have been growing long enough to see if I need more water by weight of the pot. No hurry in sending it. I won't be repotting for a month or two, but did not want to forget the have it on hand.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by early

I have questions....

I suggest you start a new thread, either in the Beginners or Vanda forum. More people will see it and respond. Just copy your above text to the clipboard, and paste it into a new message.

[Orchidtinkerer]

I think I have noticed the first signs of improvement after using Kelpmax or its equivalent name for it here.

This is my laelia lundii and was one of my first test subjects. It had just produced a new shoot that quickly died and the plant being so small I decided to try to do something for it as things can go downhill fast on a weak small plant. The shoot that died is circled black. I sprayed it once and it grew a new shoot circled in red, I sprayed it again 3 weeks later and it is developing a second shoot. Who knows maybe it was going to anyway but I felt this has gone from going downhill to going uphill so I think the kelpmax helped.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i did a fairly uncontrolled study....uncontrolled decent



I love kelpmax and swear by it- if you are ever contemplating stopping, please let us know so i can stockpile

[Keysguy]

Ray- Lucas (new owner of J&L) isn't still using it?

[Orchidtinkerer]

I've started using it and am still undecided.

The previous recommendations I had seen were too unreliable either by people who didn't have the experience to compare it to anything else or people who claimed it gave instant results in 2 weeks.

Those claims made me especially suspicious as nothing is instantaneous when it comes to orchids.

I will test it some more. So far I have treated a bunch of phal seedlings and comparing to untreated ones. I then have one I repotted, compared to the others I have not repotted. So far there is no difference between the treated and untreated ones after a month but the repotted one is shooting ahead of the rest.

This tells me they all need a repot I guess before I get reliable results.

I am all in favour of trying it even if it doesn't work on the offchance it does, I'm hoping to see some results. Like the email says it can take up to 3 months to see results which is more reassuring than the 2 weeks claims I'd seen before.

What I do wonder is whether people treat it like a magic pill instead of repotting when it is needed. Like I mentioned repotting has had more of a positive effect which is also something I feel should be worth mentioning.

No matter how much kelpmax or any other booster you use it will never rectify if something is preventing the orchid from thriving.

[Ray]

OT - you and I agree on all points! That last point especially. If we do everything perfectly, the plant will perform to its genetically-programmed maximum. Anything we do that's less-than-ideal detracts from that potential.

When I first got a sample of the stuff (it took 6 months of email and telephone hounding to get the manufacturer to give me the US distributor's contact info), I tried it on my vandas. It was mid-spring, when they typically started "waking up" after the winter doldrums, but that hadn't quite started. I treated them twice in 2 weeks, and about 2-3 weeks later, they started throwing roots like mad.

The typical root growth for me was about a half-dozen new ones each spring, but the average that year was about 40, consisting of new roots plus lots of branching of existing ones.

Interestingly, the response plants have to KelpMax goes far beyond what the small auxin content would lead one to expect. Apparently the rest of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, alginates and other polysaccharides and other growth regulators are directly usable by the plants, supplementing what they would naturally produce by themselves and by the microbes living in the rhizosphere, multiplying the effect.