Large Catt about to bloom. Help

[james mickelso]

Timing the switch is the key. Too much nitrogen in the ratio can keep an orchid producing new growth at the expense of blooms or empty sheaths. And yes orchids will bloom despite anything we do. In nature the cycle goes something like this. When the rains come, nitrogen from the atmosphere is abundant while the potassium and phosphorus in the ratio are at a minumum. That is because the release of those two are slow because they are leached out of the rock dust and organic debris the orchids roots are in contact with by the rains. Then the dry season (with their more abundant pollinators) comes along with much less moisture available as rain but with some moisture as fog or clouds. The releasing of potassium and phosphorus increases as a ratio to nitrogen and the orchid (most plants) begins the switch from growing leaf and sugar storage material to initiaing blooms. That is how it works in nature and why I choose to switch to a bloom booster. It's not necessary to do this as most balanced fertilizers offer the orchid lots of nutrients. But unless the ratio changes, the orchid may not switch it's physiology. The best way to find out for yourself is to do the experiment and feed a couple one way and the others how you've been doing it all along. There's a reason for bloom boosters. It's not just marketing. People took a long time experimenting.