When SHOULDN'T you fertilize?

[rwiskavitch]

I water every two weeks or so at 1/4 to 1/2 strength of Jacks 20-20-20. Then every 6 weeks or so I wash the orchid just to remove the excess salts when it is scheduled to be fertilized. Is it cautious, yes.......effective, yes. I have yet to have one die on me with this regimen.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by 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?

I recommend making a concentrate, then using that for making up the to-be-applied solution:

For a 2/10 teaspoon per gallon final solution, let's make this convenient and say you want 0.2 teaspoons in a tablespoon of concentrate. There are 256 tablespoons in a gallon, so you'd add 256 x 0.2 = 51.2 teaspoons of fertilizer powder to a gallon container, and add water to the gallon mark.

One cup measure is 48 teaspoons, so a slightly heaping cup of powder per gallon would be fine. Shake it up before dispensing, then add a tablespoon of that liquid per gallon of water for your plants.

[mimigirl]

Ray that is so much better! So i guess 50ppm is what you think i should be shooting for? Thank you for your help!

[Bill U.]

I would think that around 50ppm would be a good concentration for your watering schedule. I also only water around 1/wk (give or take a few days here or there). I have been fertilizing at that concentration for about 6 months now with every watering and it has done wonders! I'm on my second blooming of the year with my Pot. Burana Beauty with the third soon to be on the way! I think that 50ppm is a solid number to start with and see your results.