When SHOULDN'T you fertilize?

[NYCorchidman]

Yep, with proper concentration, fertilizers do not burn roots.

I'm rather random when it comes to fertilizing.
I would go without fertilizing for many months, or sometimes I would fertilize everytime I water.
I never burned anything so far. lol

By the way, I think I gave my plant way too high dose of MSU in the past two weeks!!!

I bought my first MSU and without looking at the ratio ( there wasn't any on the label as it was relabeled by a middle person), I just went off the only information on the bottle; 1 oz per Gallon, which I figured 1 Tablespoon per Gallon.
Oh, noooooo!!!!!

Everyone is alive though. hahah

now I know better.

[Leafmite]

I'm glad your orchids are okay.
I have accidentally fertilized my butterworts and had to flush them really well.

[NYCorchidman]

I too have butterworts now!

It was given to me for free as a gift when I bough tons of paphs from Glenn.

It was catching lots of those annoying fungus gnats, but the plant leaf surface got too dry in my apartment. One leaf is also dying.

How do you grow yours??

We should probably get a new thread going.
I feel like I'm hijacking this thread. lol

[mimigirl]

Well here is my question of the day: is it OK to switch up on fertilizer or should you stick with only one type? If OK to switch up, how ofter is that alright to do?

[Dante1709]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I too have butterworts now!

It was given to me for free as a gift when I bough tons of paphs from Glenn.

It was catching lots of those annoying fungus gnats, but the plant leaf surface got too dry in my apartment. One leaf is also dying.

How do you grow yours??

We should probably get a new thread going.
I feel like I'm hijacking this thread. lol

If the leaves are getting smaller and no longer produce the dew, then it's probably because it's going dormant. Most pings need a dry dormancy period, with temps around 60F

[Ray]

Originally Posted by mimigirl

Well here is my question of the day: is it OK to switch up on fertilizer or should you stick with only one type? If OK to switch up, how ofter is that alright to do?

Plants are very slow growers - especially orchids. Cycling through several fertilizer formulas really doesn't have much effect - assuming all of them have the same ingredients in different ratios.

Some nutrients are immobile in the plant, meaning that it must be provided constantly to be incorporated into newly-grown tissues. Calcium is a notable "big one" in that respect, but there are also S, B, Fe, Zn, Cu, & Mn.

Many others are mobile, meaning that if a fertilizer is not supplying enough, it will be transferred from older tissues to newer to compensate.

My guess is that it would take at least six months - maybe more - before you'd see the effect of a change in fertilizer formula.

[mimigirl]

Thank you, Ray for taking the time to explain this to me. This site is great!

[NYCorchidman]

I switched a few times. I have not noticed any difference at all.

[mimigirl]

Good then i m going back to Better Gro urea free 20-14-13. Unless someone else has a better choice.

[mimigirl]

I am so confused. I fert/water once a week. My nitrogen on my label is 20 (i use better gro orchid plus). Should i use 50ppm? I calculate that as 2/10 of a teaspoon. Since i fert once a week, is this all correct? Is so, how do i measure 2/10 of a teaspoon?