MSU Fertilizer-where to buy, who to trust

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ray

That leads me to partially correct my earlier statement. Using the RO formula with tap water is OK, but can become a problem when your water supply already contains a fair high amount of calcium. In that case, you could be overdosing it, which can block the uptake of other nutrients.

Interesting about the calcium. Do you know what a rough limit would be? I'm using Akerne RainMix with my tap water since the folks at Akerne told me my tap water was low enough in dissolved solids and soft enough for it. I'm guessing that with soft water calcium isn't going to be a problem (my water has 28mg/l ,so 28ppm), but I'm curious at which point it's overdosed.

[Ray]

That is apparently a complex question, and it depends a great deal on the particular plant. Even Marschner, who literally "wrote the book" on plant nutrition, does not give absolute values, but does state that the optimal levels for monocots if very low versus that for dicots, and that excess calcium can lead to stunted root growth and a burn, rusty appearance to leaf edges, primarily due to the "lock out" of other nutrients.

When I had my water analyzed by the J R Peters lab, it was returned with "typical ranges" for many elements, and for calcium, they specified 45-75 ppm. That is, however, for standard greenhouse crops in general.

I think part of the issue is accumulation in potting media. My water has about 50 ppm Ca, but I have no issue adding more from my fertilizer (K-Lite @ 100 ppm N = 78 ppm Ca), because I keep the medium moist and flush the hell out of it. If I let it dry between waterings, it would eventually become toxic.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer370

Well, I guess I'm confused. I thought the MSU formulas were pretty well-regarded. I've only ever seen two different formulas, one for RO/rain/tap, and a separate one for well water. I've been using the RO/rain/tap version for several years for watering with my "city" water. It's tinted a bit blue. I do see on the repotme.com site that the well water formula appears pink.

Yes, the cost of small quantities plus shipping is high, but my biggest reason for buying it from repotme.com is that they are the only place I have found where I can buy a small enough supply. My collection is very small, and I don't want fertilizer sitting around for years before I use it.

MSU fertilizer is well regarded. I think Ray's point was he isn't a fan of repot me... although I hate to put words in his mouth. They overprice everything. And pink MSU?? Huh, weird. No other comment.

I understand not wanting a ton of fertilizer sitting around for years. If one only has a few, there's no reason one would want to buy pounds of it at a time. Having said that, perhaps there are others in your area who would be willing to go iin halfsies or thirdsies on a larger quantity and all would save money? Or you can get a half pound on Amazon, split with a friend, or consider fertilizing other houseplants, etc, with the remains.

PS Since you exclusively raise phals, most of them are pretty hardy orchids to begin with and much more forgiving than many others.

[Ray]

I have considered offering smaller containers of K-Lite, just as I used to do with KelpMax.

The problem is that both packaging and shipping become much larger percentage of the cost, so the selling price ends up being only slightly lower than that of the larger package.

[Bayard]

I buy the MSU Pure water special by Greencare from Kelly’s Korner. I buy the five pound size, which is plenty for my collection of about 250 plants. I fertilize at 50 ppm nitrogen, but not at every watering. It lasts me about a year. The Greencare fertilizer is very uniform with small granules. As a bonus, the five pound size is portioned into five small bags. This helps to keep the fertilizer dry.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

MSU fertilizer is well regarded. I think Ray's point was he isn't a fan of repot me... although I hate to put words in his mouth. They overprice everything. And pink MSU?? Huh, weird. No other comment.

I understand not wanting a ton of fertilizer sitting around for years. If one only has a few, there's no reason one would want to buy pounds of it at a time. Having said that, perhaps there are others in your area who would be willing to go iin halfsies or thirdsies on a larger quantity and all would save money? Or you can get a half pound on Amazon, split with a friend, or consider fertilizing other houseplants, etc, with the remains.

PS Since you exclusively raise phals, most of them are pretty hardy orchids to begin with and much more forgiving than many others.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to talk to others in my society and see if there is anyone else with a small collection who might want to share an order. It wasn't too long ago that I ordered some, though, so it will probably last me quite a while.

[Ray]

Go buy a few mason jars and divide it up. Sealed tightly, it'll last forever.

[Lady Oscar]

Thank you for the suggestion! I just had another bag of fertilizer turn into weird liquid mush even though I sealed the ziplock at the top, and I was despairing that I could keep any long enough to finish the bag. I'm definitely going to try mason jars!