Recommended fertilizer for phal

[Dendy83]

To start, yes, I have read up to page 25 in the "Phal abuse ends here" sticky :-) But, while I understand what type of fertilizer I need, I'm wondering what brand you recommend? I am looking for a urea-free and even across the board type fertilizer. When I first started keeping orchids I bought some fertilizer at my grocery store and now that I actually look at it, it's very much geared for producing blooms and that's not what I want right now. My nursery recommends "Grow More" brands and here it is on amazon (here), but it doesn't say urea-free anywhere.

So anyways, what brand of basic fertilizer do you recommend?

[RosieC]

One of the main recommendations is MSU fertilier. It contains micro-nutrients as well as the standard NPK and a lot of people here on OB have had good success with it.

MSU stands for Michigan State University and its a formulation that was developed there. It's not so much a brand as a formulation, however see below for our member Ray's version that he sells mail order in the USA. Here in Europe I use one called Akerne's RAIN MIX which is based on the MSU formulation and I've been really pleased with it. I plan to use it for all my orchids when my other fertilizer runs out.

Here's an AOS link about MSU fertiliser A New Fertilizer Without High Phosphorus Proves Itself with Orchids

Here's a link to Ray's site, this shows a pure water version but there are also slow release and well water versions on his site so use the search on the left to search for MSU and you should see the others.
https://www.firstrays.com/cgi/cart/c...3&keywords=MSU

[tucker85]

Grow More is a perfectly good fertilizer. They make a urea free version that's in a greenish colored bottle. MSU fertilizers are good also, especially the version that has extra calcium and magnesium. Dyna-Gro is another good fertilizer that doesn't contain urea. All of those are complete fertilizers that contain the micro-nutrients as well as the three major elements. Remember, urea doesn't hurt orchids, it just isn't easily utilized by the plant. You're right about the bloom fertilizer. That's not the best formula to use on a regular basis.

[FSUOrchids]

I bought some 13-13-13 slow release from an orchid show 3 months back and that has been working well. Had a triple spike on one plant.

[cutie_monster]

this is the brand i use. i have had great success with it, all my phals are thriving; putting out new roots & spikes simultaneously and also healthy green foliage. i bought it at my local Lowes for a reasonable price, plus its a big bag so it'll last a Long time. i'm no expert by any stretch, but this is what's worked for me.


Untitled by big_cutie_monster, on Flickr


Untitled by big_cutie_monster, on Flickr

on the directions, it says to use 1 tsp. per gallon when feeding weekly (weakly weekly), but since i don't have enough phals to make up a whole gallon at a time, i will usually put like 1/3 tsp. per half gallon. that's what has worked for my plants, but you should use your judgement in respects to what your own plants need to flourish. brandy


Untitled by big_cutie_monster, on Flickr

[Dendy83]

I did see that Better Gro brand at Lowes and it was very reasonably priced. I will check out that fertilizer from MSU though and do some more research. Thanks so very much for all your help!

[orchidsarefun]

we had an interesting discussion at our Orchid Society. Basically what we eventually agreed on is that it is better to alternate orchid fertilisers ( say 3 ) one after the other - all year round......some growers who had been using just 1 said they noticed that after time the orchids weren't doing as well.
Something to think about.

[Dendy83]

That is interesting. So, I found a pack of two on amazon, is this what they alternated? A basic fertilizer and a bloom booster?

[cutie_monster]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

we had an interesting discussion at our Orchid Society. Basically what we eventually agreed on is that it is better to alternate orchid fertilisers ( say 3 ) one after the other - all year round......some growers who had been using just 1 said they noticed that after time the orchids weren't doing as well.
Something to think about.

its kinda like switching out different brands of deoderant or shampoo/conditioner.

[naoki]

Dendy, I think Rosie gave a good pointer. If you want to learn about fertilizer, you should check Ray's web site. Tons of great info:

First Rays' Free Info

Popular ones are MSU, Dyna-Gro Grow, and K-Lite (from Ray). The last one is a pretty new, experimental blend. The article by Rick (active in slippertalk.com) linked in Ray's site may be an interesting read:

http://www.firstrays.com/PDF/What_Do_Orchids_Eat.pdf

A lot of people have opinions about fertilizer, and my opinion is that unless other factors are relatively optimized, the type of fertilizer is unlikely to be the limiting factor for epiphytes. Obviously, if you use too much fertilizer, you can kill roots and plants.

BTW, most of us consider that "bloom booster" is just a commercial gimmick.