Fertilizing a vanda with a pouch of time release?

[SaraJean]

I swear I read something about fertilizing a vanda using a pouch of time release fertilizer attached to the base or basket of a vanda. Has anyone tried something like this? I think mine have not been getting enough food and I would like to up it with the easiest solution possible without having to mix up a seperate batch of fertilizer for my three vandas. I have over a hundred orchids now and have things potted or mounted in a way that they all get the same water with the same weak MSU fertizer (about 35-50ppm) almost every day. It takes me 15 minutes to water in the morning, so I would really like to avoid anything that adds too much time to this routine. I use a little Nutricote sprikled in the pots of my Catasetums with excellent results and want to figure out a way to do this with my vandas in open baskets with out burning any roots

[fishmom]

Your vandas are getting watered with the same mixture as you other orchids, correct? Do the roots get nice and green when you water? If so, they are absorbing the fertilizer mix well, I would think. If you want to up the absorbtion, can you put the vanda baskets into buckets periodically, to give them some extra time to take up water and nutrients? I guess that would depend on how many roots hang out.

I"ve never seen the pouch method. I'm envisioning something like a horse's feed bag. To me, wrestling a bag over the roots and basket sounds like more trouble than a bucket.

[Ray]

Panty Hose + pellets.

Make up a bag, tied with string. Suspend bag above plant so it gets soaked when you water, and drips into it..

[DeaC]

Yes,Ray's suggestion I've seen before or else I've also seen tiny plastic baskets suspended above the growing medium. Both are great ideas and time savers.

[SaraJean]

Panty hose! That will work perfectly thanks Dea and Ray, I will give that a try

Originally Posted by fishmom

Your vandas are getting watered with the same mixture as you other orchids, correct? Do the roots get nice and green when you water? If so, they are absorbing the fertilizer mix well, I would think. If you want to up the absorbtion, can you put the vanda baskets into buckets periodically, to give them some extra time to take up water and nutrients? I guess that would depend on how many roots hang out.

I"ve never seen the pouch method. I'm envisioning something like a horse's feed bag. To me, wrestling a bag over the roots and basket sounds like more trouble than a bucket.

Reading back through my original post, I could see how it sounds like I'm talking about a grain sack over the root system, lol. A little tiny tea bag sized satchel was more what I was thinking. The roots do turn green and are watered 1-2 times per day, are in high humidity, and I believe they are in good light (5 hrs of direct, 3-4 hours indirect), so I figured upping the fertilizer might help get some blooms. I really wanted to avoid dunking my big one, it has some seriously unruly roots that I always seem to break every time I move the darn thing