Head swimming with questions about water

[Leafmite]

I just switched to an MSU fertilizer a month ago. I was using powdered Ironite, powdered milk, Epsom salts, and a fertilizer that did not have micronutients. I had amazing, healthy growth but crushing the ironite and making certain it was evenly suspended was a bit of a pain. I think my plants miss my old mix, though, as a new lead turned black yesterday. I added some eggshell to add a slow, steady source of calcium.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by bethmarie

Appreciate all the help! I'm experimenting with Ray's SOLO, which can be used every 2 weeks with any type of water. For regular watering, it's RO or rain with 10% tap added. I guess the orchids will let me know soon enough if they like what I'm doing.

Solo sounds like a really good product, makes me wished I lived over there. Solo is a mixture of MSU and seawead extract from what Ray has said here on the forum.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by plumania

spetrizio, glad I saw your link on calcium deficiency. Looks like 3 of my plants have same problem. Is there any product I can use that supplies calcium?

I have been using regular tap water with various fertilizers and sometimes MSU .

A little oyster shell in your mix will supply a natural source of calcium, the same product easily available at a pet store for use with birds.

Be sure to read your fertilizer labels. Depending on the source of the MSU you obtain, it may or may not have Ca and Phos. added. Other fertilizers should clearly state the amounts.

CL

[Ray]

Orchids' demand for nutrition is VERY low, so pretty much any fertilizer will work, as long as it is complete (including what's in your water supply) and available to the plant.

My experience is that RO plus a small amount of an MSU-type formula is probably the best combination, but that's not to say that some tap- or well water supplies are not acceptable. My first 25 years of growing used what was available, and it was OK.

Using a pure water supply and not providing the nutrient ions will lead to weak plants. Period. Can you drink water only and never eat?

[bethmarie]

No question about the need for fertilizer. What I was trying to clarify is this: some of my plants are watered daily, some weekly, almost all of them more often than every 2 weeks. I'm using Solo+RO only once every two weeks. Is straight RO ok for the waterings in between, or would RO+ a percentage of tap be better for the plants.

[Ray]

I think your plants will be fine with that current regimen.

About a year ago, I had a dosing pump malfunction, and watered with pure RO only for almost 3 months. No issues.

Plants - especially epiphytes - do a pretty good job of storing nutrients, as they just never know when they are going to get more.

I prefer to feed at every watering (via the new metering pump), so use a very dilute solution. "Solo" was created with the "more casual" grower in mind, so the fertilizer concentration is higher. When used at the two-week interval, the average is roughly equivalent to my feeding regimen.