Need to know pros/cons of misting fertilizer

[KrissieLynn]

I mist my plants daily, and quite a bit (2-4 squirts), with plain water. What would be the benefits or drawbacks to adding a weak amount of fertilizer to that water?

Thanks in advance!!

---------- Post added at 11:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 AM ----------

I probably should add most are in a bark mix- 2 are potted in sphag surrounded by bark, my minis are in a sphag/bark mix and one mini dries out very quickly in sphag only.

[LizB88]

Hello KrissieLynn, What type of orchids are you spray bottle-misting? Because I did that with Phel and it did not go well for me. I mist with distilled water oncidiums, Dens, Cym, and Milt and a weak fertilizer and my Dens and oncidiums show over fertilization burns right away on the tips of leafs. So I stop doing it, went back to the way I was doing it and they are doing just fine.
I think that if your plants like what you are doing, don't change it. If they need more fertilizer, I would fertilize with every 3 watering instead of at every 4th. And then see how they like that.

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[tucker85]

Misting orchids is controversial in itself. Growers worry about it leading to fungus problems. I do mist my plants but they're grown outside with lots of good air movement.

Adding fertilizer would be fine if you keep two things in mind. Keep the concentration very dilute and fertilize during active growing months (spring and summer) and less during the fall and winter. I know of several growers, including one commercial grower and one botanical garden, that fertilize every time they water.

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[KrissieLynn]

Duh- I should have said what my plants are too... Lol- sorry.

They are all phals, and several of them are losing lower leaves as new growth is happening, which I've been told is a sign they aren't getting enough nutrition.

I have been watering/fertilizing weakly weekly (1/4 to 1/2 strength) with a 20-10-20 urea-free fertilizer.

Hope that helps some!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If your Phals are losing lower leaves it is either:

1. Senescence (aka getting old). Which would be natural.

2. The beginning signs of overwatering. Which leads to root loss. Which in turn leads to yellowing leaves. But the difference between this problem and the leaves naturally getting old is that the yellowing from overwatering is far more rapid, and there is rapid loss of leaves.

I'd pull the entire plant out of the pot to make sure that the roots are not damaged severely.

I doubt it's severe nutritional deficiency unless the yellowing is in fairly irregular patches throughout each leaf, and is showing up not just in the bottom leaves, but the newer, mature leaves, and the new leaves are getting stunted in growth.

You can check for nutritional deficiencies in a plant by sending a fair amount of tissue samples to a lab that can test for this. This is what agricultural companies do, in order to see how well their crops are growing and what they need to do in order to compensate for the plant's nutritional shortcomings. I know of at least one place out here that does it. It costs a good amount of money to do it, though.

---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 AM ----------

I forgot, misting with fertilizer should really, ideally be done during the early evening hours or at night when the stomata of the leaves are open. And they should really be done on the underside of each leaf, not the top.

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[KrissieLynn]

For curiosity's sake, does it make a difference if these "problem children" are ones I've repotted recently and have seen the roots on? One large phal is literally growing on its side, with roots springing up into the air. The other one is my mother's which has not lost a bloom yet, and was in partial bloom when she got it on March 2nd this year.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

How recently repotted are you talking about?

[KrissieLynn]

Let me check my notes....

The one on its side was in late April.
Mom's was late May. (Sorry, it was actually June 9th I repotted it.)

Both are in terra cotta clay pots.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Do you have a photo of them?

Can you post pics?

[KrissieLynn]

Here's one:
It has already lost 2 leaves and is starting to lose a third.