Fertilizing

[Marty]

hehe... kind of like "How to care for a newborn". 20 people, 50 opinions !!!

we can always do: Fertilizing, an approach based on the growing experiences of 'littlefrog'.

[orcdfrk]

Wow....didn't mean to cause such a commotion. I use the Dyna gro 7-9-5 on a regular basis and when I say bloom booster, its not the drastic type you sometimes see with a middle number like 60. Its the Dyna-gro 3-12-6, so just a little bit extra. Now on another note; when do Catts usually flower? I know they're all different but does anyone have some input on that. I have one that produced a sheath and has since started a new growth with no sign of any buds coming into the sheath. Then I have another that the most recent growth has matured with no sheath and also has started a new growth. This prolly should have gone into a new thread but lets see what happens.

[justatypn]

Orchfrk, no commotion just a great topic in which so many of us have questions. I know everytime I think my chids should be blooming or at least coming around to do so with new growth, I think if the fert "food" is sufficient. But I do have to agree with Susanne and Sharon that one should come up with there own "system". Every enviroment is different, though I raise my chids indoors does not mean that Tindo or Tikva raising theirs indoors is the same enviroment, merely an area of growing. Thanks for the starter topic we have a wealth of information on the OB.

[cb977]

Originally Posted by Marty

hehe... kind of like "How to care for a newborn". 20 people, 50 opinions !!!

we can always do: Fertilizing, an approach based on the growing experiences of 'littlefrog'.

Ahhh! The proud daddy
How's our little bundle of joy and his parents doing?

[cb977]

Originally Posted by orcdfrk

Wow....didn't mean to cause such a commotion. I use the Dyna gro 7-9-5 on a regular basis and when I say bloom booster, its not the drastic type you sometimes see with a middle number like 60. Its the Dyna-gro 3-12-6, so just a little bit extra. Now on another note; when do Catts usually flower? I know they're all different but does anyone have some input on that. I have one that produced a sheath and has since started a new growth with no sign of any buds coming into the sheath. Then I have another that the most recent growth has matured with no sheath and also has started a new growth. This prolly should have gone into a new thread but lets see what happens.

Hi again...
thanks for causing the "commotion"! These are the threads that make us most happy
I do suggest you post a second thread on your Catt question...it'll get lost in here.

Thanks for giving us something to think about

[littlefrog]

I'd be happy to write up some opinions on fertilizing (like I'm shy with opinions... *grin*), but I think Ray covers it quite well on his website. firstrays.com Actually he also links to an article by the guy who makes my fertilizer, so I probably couldn't do better if I tried.

Ray really does have a lot of great information, you should check it out. I look there all the time. Every time I think about writing something, he has already done it, and probably better than I would have.

[Sandra Billeter]

Susanne, the only Den we don't fertilize year round is our Nobile. They require a cool down/dry out period in the fall in order to stimulate Spring blooming. The rest get the usual care at the usual times according to the needs of the season. Most of them are doing really well for us.

Sandra in South Carolina

[mjr092]

Originally Posted by Sandra Billeter

Susanne, the only Den we don't fertilize year round is our Nobile. They require a cool down/dry out period in the fall in order to stimulate Spring blooming. The rest get the usual care at the usual times according to the needs of the season. Most of them are doing really well for us.

Sandra in South Carolina

Hi, I read this thread and I don't now how to start a new one other then replying to this one. I bought 3 dendrobiums about two weeks ago, since then I've bought one more and I got some (3) Phals. (sheepish grin, I guess I'm bcming an addict). Anyhoo I'm no expert but just a regular ol' citizen good with plants, and familiar with basic principles of botany. I like to use organics like bat guano, molasses, worm castings on my other plants. Mostly because I'm eating them and its fun to play alchemist, mixup some formula and watch how the plants respond. Does anyone have any experience with using these types of ferts specifically with orchids? I bought a book and the book says something about an orchids inability to efficiently process urea and presumably, guanos will have a lot of urea. But when I think of an orchid growing in the wild it's not so inconceivable that they would get nutrients from bird or bat droppings. Does anyone know of an article or experience they can share as I am curious...

P.S. I also bought DynaGrow and DynaBloom for convenience. These seem less concentrated than other commercial ferts and since I won't be eating the orchids I have no problem with the inorganic stuff. But I get such great results with the guano & castings on my other greenery...

[ScottMcC]

deep breath....

deep sigh....

ok. I'm calm and collected. it's been a long and painful day for me.

anyway, it seems you are confused as to the difference between "organic" and "inorganic" vs "man-made" and "naturally occuring." Fertilizers are inorganic, regardless of the source, because they do not contain carbon. Any fertilizer, regardless of source, provides various ions to a plant, such as ammonium, nitrate, phosphate, etc. Things like bat guano provide the same ions as man-made fertilizers, they just do so in less controlled concentrations along with various other compounds, many of which plants cannot utilize. Man-made fertilizers on the other hand contain the various ions listed above (as well as a few others) in fixed concentrations as described on the label, and nothing that's not listed on the label.

Therefore, man-made fertilizers are superior to naturally occuring ones in my mind, because you know exactly what you're getting and in what dose. If you think your fertilizer is "too concentrated" then you can do some simple calculations (or go to www.firstrays.com and use his fertilizer calculator) to do a dilution.

A number of people report success with various naturally occuring fertilizers on their orchids, so this is not to say that they don't work, just that you don't know what you're giving your plants.

[cb977]

Sandra,
Thanks for the info
I've seen pictures of many of your plants and they are all beautiful...you must be doing the right thing
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.