Leftover bloom booster - use or not?

[ambersartain]

Hi,
I got this bloom booster fertilizer, I don't remember why, I guess I thought it would help them bloom. I'm honestly not sure how to use it in the first place. The bag says every 4th watering or something like that which makes no sense to me. I've read a lot that they don't help, so now I'd just kind of like to get rid of it and get something better.

Can I go ahead and just use a little at every watering and try to use it up? I also have some Miracle-Gro orchid fert. that I got when I freaked out that all I had was the bloom booster and I was going to hurt them. I know, MG, but it was the only thing that I could find at the moment and I tend to go a little nuts on these things. Can I try to use it up too, or what should I do? I hate to waste things.

Also, I have some mini phals setting spike (so cute!), a catt that's confused about the season, a tolumnia (also, soooo cute!) that was also confused and mostly put out new growth, but they just kind of stopped growing, an epicyclia that also put out new growths really late and now they're pale and weak (it's okay though I guess, the thing grows like crazy), and a dend that actually stayed on schedule. Oh, and the epi, tolumnia, and dend are mounted.

Sorry if I went into too much detail, I'm just not sure if I'm supposed to be fertilizing them differently. Oh, and can someone recommend a good fertilizer? I've heard dyna-gro is pretty good.

[isurus79]

You should use a balanced fertilizer specifically for orchids all year round. A 20-20-20 or a 10-10-10, for example. Just fertilize the orchids that are growing according to the instructions on the label and use plain old water when they are not growing. Blooms boosters don't really do much of anything to be honest. As for the left over bloom booster, maybe you could scatter it on your lawn in the spring?

[james mickelso]

But.... since I have used a high phosphorus/potassium low nitrogen fertilizer just as the new growth finishes, I have had better results by far than I did when I just used a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer all the time. When I used just the balanced 20-20-20 I had good vegetative growth but poor flowering. But when I started using a 10-20-20 or the like (depending on where I get my fertilizer) I got more flowering from matured growth. I am convinced that it is "when" you start using it that is the important factor. Each to their own. When SBOE has their next sale, I am going to get 10 of the same orchids and do a proper experiment. I'll let everyone here know the results. That's my story.

[ambersartain]

Okay, so should I be fertilizing them at all right now? Should I be fertilizing the confused ones? What about the ones setting spikes? In bloom? I'm guessing growing means vegetative growth and roots?
Thanks.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by ambersartain

Okay, so should I be fertilizing them at all right now? Should I be fertilizing the confused ones? What about the ones setting spikes? In bloom? I'm guessing growing means vegetative growth and roots?
Thanks.

Always fertilize plants that are growing, no matter what the season. The only exception is if you can't provide warm enough temperatures for them to not rot if they get wet. For simplicity, lets stay this is usually around the 60 degree mark. Different species/crosses will have different tolerances, but as a gross generality, lets stick with 60F. If things get colder than that, you might want to only fertilize on a "warm," sunny day. If your night temps are quite a bit cooler than that where you grow your 'chids, then it is best to "force" dormancy by withholding fertilizers and watering much less to prevent rot. This is usually not a good option because it can have negative effects on your plant, but is better than rotting roots/leaves.

Phalaenopsis tend to have VERY long time of blooming if you go from spike initiation to the when the last few flowers fall off, so yes, you can fertilize during this time. Maybe not quite as much as during vegetative (ie. root/leaves) growth, but having that extra bit of energy will help your blooms!

Finally, if you grow under controlled conditions (ie. inside, where its fairly warm all year round), I have found most orchids no longer pay attention to "seasons." Many will often grow year round. For example, I have at least one Cattleya leopoldii, amethystoglossa, nobilior, walkeriana (and a few others) that are supposed to be dead asleep right now, but are actively growing because I did not cut water/fert to them and kept my temps up by keeping my house about 65F. I did change my lights to a 10 hour day over the course of several months, however, and they keep growing non-the-less. This is a great trick to get small, immature plants to bloom quite a bit quicker than their cousins who are forced to contend with dormancy!

I hope this all made sense! Good luck!

[ambersartain]

Thanks, very informative.
So, let me see if I'm understanding this, fertilize more heavily (how heavily?) when the plant is putting on leaves and roots, fertilize lightly when setting spikes (am I saying that right?) and blooming, then do I keep fertilizing lightly until vegetative growth, or drop off all together? Do I change immediately when I see buds forming or let it grow a little more? Probably won't hurt to start soon.
Also, how much fertilizer during each of these periods? If you can give me what ppm are considered heavy, moderate, and light and tell me how to figure it out from the info on the bottle that would be really neat, or I'm sure it's probably already been explained somewhere. I'm thinking I read somewhere to never go to heavy on the epicyclia or tolumnia. I can't remember for sure. Also, I'm probably going to try to feed at every watering. I do get lazy though.
Oh, and they're pretty close to a sliding glass door, it gets kind of cold right now, really warm during the day and then cold at night, prob. about 60-65F, never measured though. They seem to be handling it okay. I tend to keep them very dry, just soak them and then let them dry out. Probably should be getting a bit more water, esp. the phals.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by ambersartain

So, let me see if I'm understanding this, fertilize more heavily (how heavily?) when the plant is putting on leaves and roots, fertilize lightly when setting spikes (am I saying that right?) and blooming, then do I keep fertilizing lightly until vegetative growth, or drop off all together? Do I change immediately when I see buds forming or let it grow a little more? Probably won't hurt to start soon.

Fertilize as directed on the bottle when the plant is actively growing new leaves, bulbs and roots. Less (lets say half) when your plant is only sending out a spike and none if no growth of any sort is seen. Many orchids throw spikes at the same time they are growing, so just fertilize those ones normally (ie. as indicated on the bottle). As for timing, it doesn't matter all that much, especially if you are using just a balanced fert all year round. As your collection grows, you'll probably have two groups of plants. Those that get fertilizer and those that don't. That's how I do it and it keep your hobby from turning into a chore. KISS is a really great motto that I use to the max!! lol

Originally Posted by ambersartain

Also, how much fertilizer during each of these periods? If you can give me what ppm are considered heavy, moderate, and light and tell me how to figure it out from the info on the bottle that would be really neat, or I'm sure it's probably already been explained somewhere.

As for ppm, I never really got into that because I just eyeballed it as I went, based on the dosage instructions given to me on the bottle. If it recommended a dosage for 1x per month fertilizer, I took this and divided it by four and fertilized once a week. This art over science method worked great for me for 18 years.

However, when I started growing orchids in a terrarium (about 10 months ago), I realized this probably wouldn't work, so I asked Ray (a member here from First Rays Orchids) what dosage he thought I should use for fertilizing my plants that draw from a well, 2x per day. His recommendation was that I use my liquid DynaGro Orchid-Pro 7-8-6 at a N dosage of 50ppm (1/4 teaspoon/gallon). The package's recommended dosage is 1/2 teaspoon/gallon at each watering, which would put the N dosage at 100ppm.

So there you have it, the scientific way and the non-scientific way!! lol I hope this all helps.

[gardengirl13]

I think (personally) that fert is like water/media it's a personal thing. Take everyones advice and see what works best for you and your chids. What you use depends on your house/greenhouse your media, how you water, when you water, what you water with etc... So many variables.

For me fert is different, for outside stuff like veggies it's easier, you use seaweed and fish emulsion and any old veggie fert. For anything that flowers, again for me personally, lower N since N promotes leaf growth but can sometimes slow bloom growth. For my inside plants again a general houseplant fert works well. But for the chids, it's again low N due to it being more for leaf growth. Again this is my personal experience, how everyone else does things may be totally different! confusing yes? I tried the MG orchid food and it did nothing. Then I read here about urea and threw it in the trash not caring it was wasteful. I then looked through every fert at the store (which the store I go to had about 60 different kinds so it took a long time to read through them all!) I saw most had urea, didn't give them a second glance. Even most of the orchid ferts had it. Only three brands didn't one was way too expensive and the amts seemed off to me. It was a while ago so I can't remember what it was or what the amt were. The other brand had everything balanced and I don't like that even though it works well for a lot of people. Then I saw the bettergro, they had two, one higher N and the other a bloom booster. Now they can't prove that bloom boosters work or not, but to me it doesn't matter, what matters is that the chids are getting fed. I do the somewhat typical weakly weekly thing. Meaning I use at MOST 1/4 strength of what they say to use. I've been doing this for 2 months now, and if things dry out I'll spritz every one with my sprayer to lightly soak the media, but for the most part everyone gets a nice watering once every 7-10 days depending on the humidity in the house. This time of year it's closer to 7 days with sprays every 4 days if needed, plus of course the sprays to the plants themselves. All I can say is WOW! In just two months my plants have ALL gone nuts! Every single one of them is spiking, blooming, producing tons of new root growth or leaf growth. I never thought I'd get this kind of results so quickly! But everyone is SO happy! Even my 2 picky pain in the neck plants are perky again! The Catt I got a couple weeks ago that I though may die both the plant and the piece that broke off him have new leaf growth!

So basically if you find something that works just keep using it! Mess around to find what will work for you and your plants and you'll both be happy. One thing that helped me is finding someone who may send you a tiny bit of fert just to try. I had someone who I barely knew from another board send me a tablespoon of bat guano to try. She was so nice! I still have a little left and do still use it! I'd say if the bloom booster is working ok for you then keep using it. Don't worry that it's a bloom booster, unless it has urea, but again there are those who use stuff with it without issue. Like I said it's all personal!

[tucker85]

This thread is getting into a lot of different fertilizer questions but I'll just give my opinion on the original question about bloom booster. Like James, I've been reconsidering my position on bloom booster. It certainly doesn't hurt to use bloom booster occasionally in the fall and winter. The extra shot of phosphorus will help flower formation. If you use bloom booster in the spring and summer (growing season) the plants will not get enough nitrogen and won't grow well. If you do use the bloom booster now, I would consider alternating between bloom booster and a more balanced fertilizer. In the spring, stop using bloom booster completely and use a fertilizer with a more balanced formula or an MSU type fertilizer.

[isurus79]

I think gardengirl is right on the money! Its very personal when it comes to fertilizing your plants. For example, I think bloom boosters are snake oil, but many people swear by them. Once you get your particular system down, start playing with it and see what works best for you. I also have some additives that I use in my regimen that I didn't mention because I had the feeling it would make things more confusing!

As for the urea, I have also heard that it is no good for orchids. However, since I moved to Austin, I have met several people (including one lady who has one of the largest, most well grown personal collections I've ever seen) who use urea based fertilizer with great results!! Will I try it? Probably not, but it just goes to show that trying new things and not necessarily sticking to the old adages can prove successful.