unspoken truths...

[bil]

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

Apparently you don't know any real beer drinkers...

After watering and letting pots drain, you add a small enough volume of more concentrated fertilizer that all or most of it stays in the pot. The roots have all the time until the next watering to take it up.

Naaah, two sniffs of the barmaid's apron and I'm done.

I don't like that strategy for a number of reasons. It would give me no control over what fertiliser was taken up, and I would just prefer that the whole pot was drenched with weak fertiliser, because that's the way it goes in the wild, and I like to keep as close to what they would get in nature.
Stuck in a greenhouse with limited temp control, they are bound to get a little bit outside their comfort zones at times, and too much of that will risk degrading health and or blooming. I know it's a small point, but where I can stay tightly to the script, I'm happiest.

Plus, with any number of orchids, it would make watering more complicated than I like, and at heart I'm lazy...

[dounoharm]

Originally Posted by bil

Naaah, two sniffs of the barmaid's apron and I'm done.

Stuck in a greenhouse with limited temp control, they are bound to get a little bit outside their comfort zones at times, and too much of that will risk degrading health and or blooming. I know it's a small point, but where I can stay tightly to the script, I'm happiest.

Plus, with any number of orchids, it would make watering more complicated than I like, and at heart I'm lazy...

The whole point of a greenhouse IS TO CONTROL EVERYTHING! temp, water, light, humidity, insects, fert...you name it CONTROL IS THE NAME OF THE GAME!....and that IS the game for me, to create the optimum comfort zone for my plants....and, I am quite good at it....if I do say so myself!

I have been working on them and in them for most of 50 years....lol....NEXT!

[bil]

Originally Posted by dounoharm

The whole point of a greenhouse IS TO CONTROL EVERYTHING! temp, water, light, humidity, insects, fert...you name it CONTROL IS THE NAME OF THE GAME!....and that IS the game for me, to create the optimum comfort zone for my plants....and, I am quite good at it....if I do say so myself!

I have been working on them and in them for most of 50 years....lol....NEXT!

On the funds I have, I simply can't do that. I have to get clever and try and achieve some control with other tricks.

I heat in the winter, but this year it's been cold and the power bill is WAYY up over last winter.
Last summer the base temp outside hit 43C and was 46 in the greenhouse, but the Cattleyas, Catasetum, and den phals coped. All the rest were in summer camp, where they get more shade than the Cattleyas do.

I simply can't afford to keep anything that can't cope with the conditions here.

[u bada]

Originally Posted by bil

On the funds I have, I simply can't do that. I have to get clever and try and achieve some control with other tricks.

I heat in the winter, but this year it's been cold and the power bill is WAYY up over last winter.
Last summer the base temp outside hit 43C and was 46 in the greenhouse, but the Cattleyas, Catasetum, and den phals coped. All the rest were in summer camp, where they get more shade than the Cattleyas do.

I simply can't afford to keep anything that can't cope with the conditions here.

I'm with bil here (except I don't have a greenhouse but...) too many variables in my climate here, indoors and out, my growing cases (e.g. aquariums/terrariums) are where i have my most control, and even still too many variables... especially considering time and funds!

goes with having any sort of garden... you can go crazy trying to control everything that can happen (weather, animals, pets, clumsy self, no time), better working with the plants that work with what effort you can offer and with the climate you have and conditions you can provide.

---------- Post added at 05:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 PM ----------

Originally Posted by WalkingHorse

Yup. Watering before fertilizing is old school. Gone the way of the dodo bird for many. But as I always say...ask three orchid growers a question about "proper" culture habits and you'll get four answers.

Four or ten really...

and watering before fertilizing is basically watering twice each time... oh man, that's a lot of time!... when I hit upon the weakly, weekly idea it was like I had a whole 3 hours to my day!

(I should note I don't bother with vandas really, and the ascos/et. al. get what they get)