Water before fertilizer question?

[Vanessa]

Do you water first and then fertilize your orchids or wait a day. I'm curious about the sequence.

[cupcake]

I never let the medium dry out completely, and I fertilise weakly weekly, Judi

[caseydoll]

I water thoroughly first, let it drain for a few minutes or so, then I run my fertilizer mix through. I don't wait a day because it just is too much trouble and I wouldn't want it too be that wet 2 days in a row. Also the idea is just to get everything damp first so the fertilizer doesn't burn the roots. But if you use it weakly then it wouldn't be a problem anyway. Thats just how I do it.

Sarah

[Dorothy]

I always water first then fertilize.

[Ross]

I fertilize with every watering. But the mix is probably weaker than most of you use. I use MSU mix at 125ppm Nitrogen with added Dynagrow ProTekt. Some orchids get a daily soak and others get every third day (or so). I believe Ray has great info on this topic on his site and I believe him.

[Team Ferret]

So a fertlizer mix at N 125ppm is weak? Wouldn't that be at a rate of 1 teaspoon of fertlizer per gallon of water? I read Ray's pages, and used the calculator, but those amounts are double of what I see on the lables. I think I am missing something somewhere.

Sorry for the

Dave

[Ray]

The "water first, then feed" thing was created back when it was common to feed rarely (once a month was common) but very heavily. It was intended to fill the velamen with clear water to slow down the absorption of the mineral salts, as a way to prevent the severe damage that would otherwise occur. It was a very wasteful regimen, and really didn't do that well for the plants. Feeding at a lower concentration more often is better for the plants and avoids the need to prewater altogether.

I got the 125 ppm N recommendation from the folks that did the study at MSU, as it's a good level for a varied collection in less-than-tropical parts of the world. I have fed at that rate at every watering for the last 5 years and have had no issues with root damage or burning.

How much fertilizer you add to reach that level is dependent upon the fertilizer formula. Divide 10 by the %N on the label and it will tell you the teaspoons per gallon to use. Rounding up or down a little is OK.

[Team Ferret]

Thanks Ray.

Dave

[Candice]

I also try to use Ray's info as much as possible and believe it too.
I feed at every watering, thgough at least every fourth or fifth water/feed, I use just water to rinse the salt buildup and anything else to flush out the bad.

[Vanessa]

Thank you all for clearing this up for me.