Fertilizing a Phal. NoID Orchid?

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Im Just Saying

I ended up buying Better Gro - Orchid Plus urea free fertilizer from Lowes. The instructions say 1 tsp. per gallon every 14-21 days. The formula is 20-14-13, my question is this. After following the calculation that Ray provided I got .30 per gallon. In this case would I give it 1/4 tsp per gallon instead of rounding up to 1/2 tsp? Second part of my question is that amount of fertilizer for every 14-21 days or can I use this 3 out of every 4 times I water? With the humidity in my house I tend to water about once every 10-14 days.

I used Ray's calculator to double check, and 1/4 tsp would give 70ppm N in the end, while 1/2tsp is closer to 125ppm N. Both of those amounts are fine, so you can give anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2tsp. As to the frequency, this is calculated for fertilizing at nearly every watering, so as you say every 3 out of 4 waterings. Even if you are only watering every 10-14 days!

Originally Posted by TheJadeOrchid

So an all balanced water soluble fertilizer will be fine to use?

Essentially yes. A balanced fert is good in general. Afterwards, people may try different things, and what they try may also depend on their water quality. I use a nearly balanced fert, but add some calcium/magnesium since my tap water is soft, and soon I'll be trying a seaweed extract supplement.

[TheJadeOrchid]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Essentially yes. A balanced fert is good in general. Afterwards, people may try different things, and what they try may also depend on their water quality. I use a nearly balanced fert, but add some calcium/magnesium since my tap water is soft, and soon I'll be trying a seaweed extract supplement.

Okay. Thanks. So an orchid can have a PPM of 125 for Nitrogen. Can it be a little bit by say 10 PPM?

[Im Just Saying]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I used Ray's calculator to double check, and 1/4 tsp would give 70ppm N in the end, while 1/2tsp is closer to 125ppm N. Both of those amounts are fine, so you can give anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2tsp. As to the frequency, this is calculated for fertilizing at nearly every watering, so as you say every 3 out of 4 waterings. Even if you are only watering every 10-14 days!

Thanks Camille, I thought that was the case but I wanted to check to be sure.