Question about fertilizer

[Chatbud]

Quick question:
Is a higher P or K number preferred if the objective is to induce spiking?

I read that a higher P is better for flowering but ppl who actually grow tell me a higher K is recommended? So now I'm confused.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by Chatbud

Quick question:
Is a higher P or K number preferred if the objective is to induce spiking?

I read that a higher P is better for flowering but ppl who actually grow tell me a higher K is recommended? So now I'm confused.

As far as I know, there's no scientific evidence that any fertilizer will cause an orchid to spike. The most common environmental factors that can induce flowering are tempertature, especially night time temperature or photo period (the length of the daylight hours). I'm sure there are probably other factors. Some growers like to reduce the amount of nitrogen the plant is getting during the blooming season so the plant won't be encouraged to put on new leaf growth and can concentrate it's energy on flowering. In practice that means reducing the amount of fertilizer as we go into the fall and winter or, in the case of bloom booster, using a fertilizer that has less nitrogen in it. Phosphorus and potassium are used by the plant when it blooms but they don't cause the orchid to bloom.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by butterfly_muse

I noticed that Dyna-Gro had an "orchid plus" or something, but its ratios are different than the "grow" one..is there one that is more preferable than the others?

The D-G "orchid Pro" is SO close to the "Grow" formula that you we see no differences in their use. In fact - they just made it to try to capture more of the growing orchid market.

Despite all of the debates ongoing here and elsewhere, I am convinced that choice of fertilizer formula is the "fine tuning" of the regimen, and that establishing and maintaining a regular, frequent, low-TDS regimen of a complete blend at a proper and reasonably stable pH is far more important.

[Island Girl]

Ray, I'm sure Tucker as well, y'all probably know if this is correct or not, but wasn't the 30-10-10 used/produced because ppl were under the impression (right or wrong, I do not know) that Fir Bark, in decomposition, "uses"* more nitrogen, so to balance it out, (so the orchid still got it's nitrogen) they used higher nitrogen formulas? Yet, now-a-days this is not even an issue.... I feel like I was reading info on this recently... But cannot remember well enough to explain the "what's, how's & why's", b/c I was skimming through the info at the time. Can either of y'all explain this further, and more accurately please?

*I realize it's the microbes in the media that "use" the nitrogen, and not the bark itself

[Ray]

Yep, it was. Stressing the 'was".

It used to be very common to leave plants in the same medium for a very long time. In that time, the micro-organisms that decomposed the bark and consumed the N flourished.

From those practices, we came up with both the "need for high-N in bark" and that "orchids need to dry out between watering". Both now known to be unnecessary.

[butterfly_muse]

Do any of you by chance know the shelf life of Dyna Gro's Grow? I ordered some KLN from them and I know that only has ~6 months or so. I ended up just tossing it out.

I only have 8 'chids total, so I don't want to buy a bunch of fertilizer if it will go bad before I can use it all. Ironically, I NEVER had luck with the KLN. Ray, your KelpMax seems to make my plants super duper crazy happy, though, so thanks for that. Plants I haven't seen do anything at all in months are spitting out new roots left right and center now.

[Island Girl]

I'm not sure about fert, but u can keep KelpMax/KLN in the fridge, & it'll last a year or so... I love my KelpMax too... Had used Superthrive last summer... Nothing happened, but who knows how long that had been on the shelf!

Thanks Ray!

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by butterfly_muse

Do any of you by chance know the shelf life of Dyna Gro's Grow? I ordered some KLN from them and I know that only has ~6 months or so. I ended up just tossing it out.

I only have 8 'chids total, so I don't want to buy a bunch of fertilizer if it will go bad before I can use it all. Ironically, I NEVER had luck with the KLN. Ray, your KelpMax seems to make my plants super duper crazy happy, though, so thanks for that. Plants I haven't seen do anything at all in months are spitting out new roots left right and center now.

KLN probably has a shorter shelf life because it contains hormones which break down over time. Dyna Gro Grow contains simple elements and probably has a very long shelf life. It's also available in very small containers so you won't have it sitting around very long.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by tucker85

KLN probably has a shorter shelf life because it contains hormones which break down over time. Dyna Gro Grow contains simple elements and probably has a very long shelf life. It's also available in very small containers so you won't have it sitting around very long.

Great, thanks. I ordered the smallest container I could find today and I am looking forward to it coming in so I can start giving them something better and hopefully see if anyone is willing to give me flowers at some point.