The thing about urea may be wrong. It has been discovered many plants, including at least some orchids, are able to take up and use nitrogen in the form of urea. I don't know about bromeliads.

Bromeliads have a root system but the very most of Tillandsia do not so the urea is being wasted. Urea does not seem to hurt Tillandsia in my limited experience.

Using a fertiliser called HSO-22 orchid food. N22.2 P8 K12. Urea 14% and other nitrogen that Tillandsia can use is 7.6% For Tillandsia am using this fert at 1/4 strength per 1 to 2 weeks & 4-6 weeks in the colder months. It is the best fert I can find in Australia. Use another fert for our Staghorns as they have root system that make food. So urea will work for them.

Using K-Lite on your Tillies should be fine (especially at half strength). I believe Ray hit it on the nail head - "I think that copper toxicity is a matter of concentration with anything".

Quite a few tilly growers use 2 popular commercial fertilizers: Epiphyte's Delight (Paul Isley: Rainforest Flora, Inc.) and Grow More Bromeliad (Tillandsia) fertilizer.

Guaranteed analysis on Epiphyte's Delight (17-9-26)
5.5% ammoniacal nitrogen
11.5% nitrate nitrogen
9% P205
26%K2O
boron .02%
copper .05%
iron .10%
manganese .05%
molybdenum .0005%
zinc .05%

Guaranteed analysis on Grow More (17-8-22)
6.4% ammoniacal nitrogen
10.5% nitrate nitrogen
.10% water insoluble organic nitrogen
P205 8%
K20 22%
iron .10%
manganese .05%
zinc .05%
*does not list copper (although the copper content could be so low they did not list it).

I make a DIY fertilizer using a blend of synthetic salts for macro nutrients, along with a blend of micro nutrients/trace elements, for my Tillandsia. This allows me to have the ability for tailoring a specific formula, and to isolate specific individual nutrients. The macro ratio (N-P-K) is around 15-7-24. Micro nutrients/trace elements also include copper (about .1% Cu). My formula is heavy on the potassium, which through my experience, has been a positive with my growing conditions.

Late note: an interesting read ‘And then there were three’: highly efficient uptake of potassium by foliar trichomes of epiphytic bromeliads

Wow. Great info guys. Thanks! Off to read that article

UREA It's all a matter of degree. Plants can directly take up nitrogen as nitrates, ammoniums or urea. In orchids, root uptake favors the first two over urea, while the converse is true for foliar uptake.

Immature orchids take up foliar urea faster than more mature plants, as a waxy cutex gets thicker with time, slowering water loss and uptake.

Copper in Gro-More Not being listed could be due to 1) there is none, 2) its concentration is extremely low, or 3) they don't guarantee the content.

In plant products like fertilizers and additives, you usually are not required to state what's in it, you are only required to state what you guarantee (and test for) is in it, which can have a significant impact on registration status.

Good to know, Ray
So it not being listed is not guarantee about it NOT being included

Nice thread DC. A lot of good info coming out with copper, the nitrogens & K-lite


Hi estación seca. Very interesting

Very interested estación seca about the info on urea. Did it come as a written message or was it a verbal message?

Would really like a link if it was a written message. Maybe I am stressing over nothing concerning urea?


Hi wisdomseeker. Thank you for the info.

Grow More Bromeliad (Tillandsia) fertilizer. Looks like I can not buy it in Australia. But I will keep looking.


Hi Ray. Thank you for your info! Especially about copper amount can be so small in a fert or fungicide spray it is really nothing to worry about.

You can find air plant fertilizers on Amazon. I got a spray bottle of it (17-9-22) with a gift someone gave me.

I can't remember where I read that about urea. It was long ago. Even farther back, the first time I read orchids could not utilize urea, I didn't believe it. Urea is a tiny, relatively unstable molecule and plants have amazing chemical synthesis / degradation mechanisms.

Their adaptability never does cease to amaze me.