Natural organic fertilizers (liquid earthworm humus)

[Cach26]

I have a dilemma regarding the fertilization of my orchids, I love growing them, but honestly where I live they do not sell special fertilizers for orchids (There is but generic triple 20, without micronutrients
). I have searched for information on organic fertilizers that supplement macro and micronutrients and I found that worm humus is the best in general for plants, but I don't know how it reacts with orchids (if it contains urea or not...), also a grower told me I comment that I prefer to avoid it because it "causes fungus", but nothing is conclusive, I remember reading an experiment they did on phaleanopsis using 10ml of liquid humus x lt of water per week, and it was a complete success. In addition, a nearby university fertilizes all its crops (including orchids) with 30ml of liquid humus x lt of water every 2 weeks. What do you think?

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

With these "magic mixes" you have no idea what amounts of nutrients you are giving. You really can use any fertilizer, ideally either "balanced" (all 3 numbers the same) or higher nitrogen (first number) You will hear endless debate about "urea versus non-urea) but orchids CAN utilize urea. (Think about what happens in nature for epiphytic orchids... rotting detritus washing down from the forest canopy, maybe a bit of bird poop... organic nitrogen. Certainly no ammonium nitrate in nature) As far as trace nutrients are concerned, general fertilizers have some. So whatever you use, maybe use about half of what it says on the label. Orchids want - and use - very little since they grow slowly (and fertilizer minerals are used for growing new tissue, not energy which comes from photosynthesis) For successful orchid growing, fertilizer is the least important parameter - get everything else right (light, watering, air movement, temperature, choice of medium), then fertilizer is the "fine tuning". If you have a commercial nursery, it can make a difference, for hobby growing you probably won't be able to even see the difference. Mine get very little, and do fine.

[Cach26]

Wow, knowledge refreshes doubts . Thank you very much, I am doing the environmental conditions well, and I wanted to give it that "fine touch", I am curious about the urea, since I used a little on my vanda and it burned the roots (3gr x lt), can you explain a little more? ? Also how do people who grow award winning plants? The inflorescences literally overflow with flowers, how do they fertilize?

PS: Mr. @Ray, they don't sell Kelpmax here

[Roberta]

I have used fertilizers with urea, with no problem. It's the concentration that was the killer... I would use half teaspoon (about 3 grams) of a fertilizer that is around 20% Nitrogen, per gallon (4 liters) So your concentration is quadruple that or much more if it was straight urea! Yikes! If you fertilize too little, the plant may grow more slowly but will be fine. If you fertilize too much, you burn roots. Err on the low side.

To get those spectacular plants, it's much more than fertilizer, it is getting everything perfect. Very dilute fertilizer in every watering can be beneficial. But then, the "very dilute" part is critical. More is not better.

If you are growing a crop that grows rapidly (like tomatoes... or cannabis...) then a high amount of fertilizer is useful. But where some of these can grow a meter per week, orchids mostly produce one or two growths a year. Big difference.

[Louis_W]

Award winning plants require 3 things

Good genetics.
Time.
Great culture.

Great genetics can be pretty expensive but often cheap plants have the potential to be great too. Easy enough...

Time requires patience and consistency

Culture is the hard one. Fertilizer, light, water. There is a lot of factors that are pretty hard to master. No one can just tell you what to do, it's a learning experience that is very personal.

Perhaps a pinch of luck does us all a little good as well....

[Cach26]

Wow, I guess those people even calculate daytime and nighttime humidity to get those results. Thank you very much for your answers. However, I still have a question: Is worm casting viable as a fertilizer? Yes, it is not a magic solution, but it is very effective in other plants. Personally, I am not interested in the macronutrients that it can provide, but specifically the micronutrients that humus has, what do you think?

[Roberta]

I can't claim any expertise at all... I leave that one to Ray to answer.

[Dimples]

If you have absolutely no other options for supplying micronutrients to your plants, adding a little worm casting tea every so often probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. Keep it dilute and infrequent to limit any downsides (funky smell/etc.). Maybe Ray will have other ideas.

[estación seca]

Tap water containing dissolved minerals will probably supply most micronutrients. Depending on the mineral content of your water you might be fine with your 20-20-20 in tap water. Micronutrients are more important for people using very pure water like rain or reverse osmosis.

[Ray]

As was stated, your water may be a good source of trace elements, but - yes - the worm castings may add them, as well.

Steep them in plain water for several days and use the solution every few months.