Fertilizer advice and alternatives.

[magicsomething]

Hello everyone!

A couple of days ago I ask a lot of questions some related to a fertilizer use, I'm very allergic and have a bad background with chemicals used in aquariums.

So, has anyone use a product that doesn't have a strong smell and that is as safe as possible? Or is there a safe tested natural alternative?

I try to use a natural home made fertilizer, but all the videos I see a day before had cinnamon... And I just find out cinnamon isn't a good idea
But I already repot and wash all the roots carefully.

Thanks in advance.

[estación seca]

Most fertilizers sold for orchid use are compounded from ionic salts of different compositions. These are extremely tiny molecules that are too small to cause allergic reactions. Your antibodies need a fairly large molecule to attach to to react.

The two exceptions might be iodine and zinc; elemental iodine and zinc can bind to proteins and generate something that the immune system might react to. Cheap jewelry often contains elemental zinc alloyed with other metals, and this is one of the commonest causes of skin rash. (The solution is to wear only pure platinum, gold or silver!) But there is not much elemental iodine in any fertilizer, and the zinc is normally in salt form, which does not bind to proteins.

The coloring agents can cause allergic reactions in some people.

If you keep these inorganic fertilizers off your skin, there should be no problem, even if you might be allergic to the coloring agents. So using household gloves should be adequate.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Unless you know of something in conventional water-soluble fertilizers that you are specifically allergic to, I would just recommend a balanced water-soluble fertilizer that you can get anywhere. By balanced I mean the 3 fertilizer numbers representing N-P-K are the same, or similar. Also OK to use other NPK formulations, where the middle number P is lower for example. The form of nitrogen (urea, nitrate or ammonia) is not critical, the plant will metabolize all of them, just slightly differently. I recommend fertilizing weakly as the plants don't need much (maybe 1/4 the strength recommended on the package). I apply fertilizer at 1/4 strength maybe once a month in summer and less often in winter.

[magicsomething]

Thank you! I will then try to get one of the spray ones, I'll check the ingredients just in case for those lol
And wear gloves!

[Orchid Whisperer]

A granular water-soluble fertilizer is much more economical than a pre- made liquid in a spray bottle. In the spray bottle you are mostly paying for water and packaging.

Most big-box hardware stores with a garden center will carry brands like Peter's, Better Gro, Schultz, Miracle Gro (and there are many others). The fertilizers are very easy to mix. When you apply fertilizer solution to your plants, just water them at the sink, or outdoors, so the excess fertilizer water can go down the drain or onto the soil.

[estación seca]

I like to mix my fertilizer solution in a bucket and pour it into a spray bottle. I hold the plant in one hand, and spray with the other, until the solution runs out the bottom of the container. Sometimes I pick up a plant that needs to dry out between waterings (Cattleya alliance, Phalaenopsis) and realize it isn't dry yet because it's still fairly heavy. I don't water the plant that day; I let it dry out.

[bil]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I like to mix my fertilizer solution in a bucket and pour it into a spray bottle. I hold the plant in one hand, and spray with the other, until the solution runs out the bottom of the container. Sometimes I pick up a plant that needs to dry out between waterings (Cattleya alliance, Phalaenopsis) and realize it isn't dry yet because it's still fairly heavy. I don't water the plant that day; I let it dry out.

Yeah, I'm a spray waterer myself. tbh I never go by weight. My catts and phals being in large bark only, they can't be overwatered (as long as you don't leave them so long that the bark breaks down, but they should be repotted long before that. I don't think that either plant NEEDS to dry out per se. I think that is to do with the depraved mossite cult. If your phal or Catt is in moss, you sure as hell need it to dry out or the roots will die. That isn't for dryness per se I feel, it is more that dryness lets the air in where water keeps it out.

I prefer bamboo skewers for the orchids potted in fine bark, and I like to put them in horizontally near the bottom. I find that gives a more accurate account of the need for watering.

[cmoonbeam1]

I like to alternate with Schultz fertilizer and fish tank water. If you've found a way to make aquarium water ok for you, and still have an aquarium, maybe you could give that a try?

[magicsomething]

Hey!
Well... Isn't aquarium water gross? lol
Okay maybe not for the plants.
But I don't have an aquarium anymore, thought my parents do lol
I had mostly saltwater aquariums, so I guess they wouln't work... Right?

I was browsing for fertilizers and I notice something, what's the difference between those that say feed on the leaf (spray the leaves or something) and why some say to apply directly on the ground?
those that are put in the plant container and work up to 6 months... Are good? I think they was by Miracle-Gro.

Thanks!

[cmoonbeam1]

Fish tank water is gross to humans, delicious to plants! :P

But if you don't have a fish tank anymore, it's kind of a non-issue - salt water would be bad, though. Orchids do not like salt.

As for the fertilizers, I dunno - never actually seen ones you spray on the plant. I use a fertilizer specifically for orchids and fill up the sink around once a week with tepid water and a small amount of liquid fertilizer and let them soak for about half an hour.