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06-17-2011, 09:00 AM
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That's a good comment. I have no idea what the PH of my distilled water/fertilizer solution is. I should get some of those PH strips and make some measurements. I suppose those strips are available at the larger pet stores? - that seems like something the Fish People would need.
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06-17-2011, 09:09 AM
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I think you would be better off getting fertilizer meant for pure water, like Rosie suggested. Other than the pH issue, normal fertilizer only contains a few nutrients, on the basis that tap water has pretty much everything else. For instance, most fertilizers usually don't contain magnesium or calcium. Pure water has nothing in it, so you need a more complete fertilizer to make sure the plants get all they need.
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Camille
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06-17-2011, 09:09 AM
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WOW, I never thought of that either Rosie! Thanks for the heads up! Looks like both Lund0682 and myself are headed to the pet store, lol...
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06-17-2011, 09:17 AM
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I use tap (well) water and add worm tea. I fert once a week at half strength with a balanced fert. Seems happy so far. It is growing under lights. I have wanted to take all my orchids (except masdies) outside but our weather has been so screwy that I have been afraid to. And then there is the bug issue.
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06-17-2011, 09:20 AM
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Oh, and Lund, at our Orchid Society meeting I think someone mentioned that the PH of our water was around 7 which is just slightly higher than what most orchids want. However, they mentioned that for the general (not picky) orchids that our tap water would be just fine. I've been using tap water sometimes and distilled with fertilizer the other times and haven't seen any issues yet.
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06-17-2011, 09:21 AM
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Now we've got lots of rain at the moment (at last), my nice clean water butt should fill up and I can get back to using that. The distilled hasn't appeared to have done any harm for 2-3 months. However, if it's for long-term use, they're great points to keep in mind ![Smile](http://www.orchidboard.com/community/images/smilies/new/smile.gif)
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06-17-2011, 09:28 AM
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I alternate (more or less randomly) between two fertilizers that claim to be specifically designed for orchids. They also both claim to contain a whole bunch of "micro nutrients"; things like magnesium, boron, molybdenum, etc. That's very interesting to me, although I never did well in my chemistry classes back in school.
I do have a bicycle frame that is made out of an alloy of molybdenum and chromium - I wonder if I could mount an orchid on it? Plenty of fresh air for the plant, although maybe too distracting for my morning rides. I'd probably crash because I was admiring the orchid, or trying to not ride in direct sun.
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06-17-2011, 09:29 AM
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Good sense of humor, Lund.
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06-17-2011, 10:39 AM
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One thing I do for Masdies is use rain water for most waterings, but when I fertilise (which is needed less frequently for Masdies) I use tap water. Seems to work for these, but I'm not sure what I would do for ones that need more fertiliser like this if my tap water was not very good.
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06-17-2011, 12:00 PM
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I would stick with rain water for all waterings.... If you use tap for the cal and mag. You could add calmag supplement or add about 10% tap into the rain water. Tap adds TDS's to your solution that you could replace with more fertilizer if your not to high on the TDS already.
Along with PH, water temp is important for maximum nutrient uptake. 68-72 deg f is optimal.
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