Homemade fertilizer

[rogerman]

I'm using a liquid fertilizer thats using N,P,K. It isn't a homemade fertilizer, but it could be i suppose. Just a straight ratio...21.21.21. Works wonders..... Also, when i clean out my fish pond i spray my orchids with the old water..... It's full of nitrogen because of the fish dirt in it. Now that does work wonders....Especially on young plants (acts like a turbo)

[violacea]

Originally Posted by Ray

Let me give you a little advice - I have, after all, been growing orchids and working in the chemical industry for more than twice as long as you've been alive - before you go spouting science to us, really know what you're talking about, or at least explain yourself better.

For example, what are you trying to say with "those proteins can benefit the plants in a different than the the nitrogen alone"? Not as proteins they can't. Plants really cannot absorb proteins, the make them from the tiny little mineral ions they do absorb.

I have been teaching Science [Physics, actually] for years amounting to about three times Ray's age. And my students are the best. They go to the top Ivy League colleges in the US. I've written successful recommendations for them to go MIT, Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, and MSU too.

And they all began like BlakeeBoo. And I am impressed with his high intelligence to attempt what he is attempting now, in a project that fascinates me. It is not the results that count but the doing of it, which will educate him. I am rooting for him to have some measure of success. I am used to my students doing projects too, and sometimes in a subject out of my discipline.

I think Blake is asking if nitrogen, carried by proteins, would be absorbed as such, and benefit the plant in a different way than as nitrogen alone, as a single element. And you told him correctly that only ions in solution can go in. Which is what I believe too but know it need not necessarily be true.

I am waiting to see if science is wrong (again!) as so often happens in Physics - what is logical or expected need not necessarily be true! Or there are exceptions that prove the rule.

Medications get absorbed through the skin from skin patches. I don't believe there is osmosis occurring in this case. Somehow, complex molecules can get in between other molecules too. Unless you rely on pores to absorb the medication.

So, can there be diffusion of a kind into roots besides the usual process of osmosis? I am willing to learn. The open mind waits for all its contents to be improved or confirmed or replaced. The open mind can also have a lot of rubbish thrown in too.

Anyway, BlakeeBoo, keep an open mind and keep on asking questions. That is how a scientific researcher always works. The day you stop asking questions is the day you stop learning. I like what you are doing.

[Of course it may not mean you will get right answers, but never mind. You must next query the answers you get.]

[violacea]

Rogerman, you are in Thailand. No wonder things are so easy to grow. It is the cool nights in Thailand I envy. There are so few of them in Singapore.

Luckily the nights are cool at present. Meaning 24 degrees Celsius. That saves my plants from drying up.

[rogerman]

Originally Posted by violacea

Rogerman, you are in Thailand. No wonder things are so easy to grow. It is the cool nights in Thailand I envy. There are so few of them in Singapore.

Luckily the nights are cool at present. Meaning 24 degrees Celsius. That saves my plants from drying up.

Nights are cool here at about the same temps 24 degrees) as well. Nights aren't usually cool other than in the cool season. Come February, the nights will be mid to higher 30's and days around 45 celcius.

[violacea]

Originally Posted by rogerman

Nights are cool here at about the same temps 24 degrees) as well. Nights aren't usually cool other than in the cool season. Come February, the nights will be mid to higher 30's and days around 45 celcius.

This is very enlightening! There goes my old ideas about Thailand. But it might vary, right?

Tell me, can Vanda coerulea grow where you are? Usually intense blues require a cool climate, or so I thought. Am willing to change my mind.

Perhaps the key to success in growing orchids well in Thailand is the dryness? Nah, I have always felt that orchids require moisture. Am willing again to change my mind. Moist maybe, but they don't like being drowned.

[BlakeeBoo]

I wish it was 24 degrees Celsius in the day here! How I envy my homeland of Acadiana, It was about 18 degrees there yesterday!

Thank you so much Violacea many people have been criticizing without offering solutions it is nice to have some positive encouragement.

I've been reading and any single atom or anything water soluble can be taken in by plants. Then things beyond that depending on the plant. Because of orchids porous sponge like root covering they hold onto anything that touches them until either the chemical is absorbed or broken down to a point where it can be.

[Royal]

Originally Posted by BlakeeBoo

Thank you so much Violacea many people have been criticizing without offering solutions it is nice to have some positive encouragement.

Hey Blake, I don't think people meant to criticize. Just trying to contribute. I wish you the best of luck too, but would urge you (as Violacea urged us) to keep an open mind. If you already know this stuff, just post an article or start a blog. But if you post a question, be prepared for answers you may not have though of, or might not like.

[Vina]

Originally Posted by BlakeeBoo

I wish it was 24 degrees Celsius in the day here! How I envy my homeland of Acadiana, It was about 18 degrees there yesterday!

....

Guys! I wish it was at least +15 degrees Celsius in the day here! And longer days... We experience the shortest days of the year, less than 6 hours! I hate thinking of my electricity and heating bills...

[kosmickforestchild]

I'd go with the compost tea route because it will supply your orchid with natural nutrients and if done properly, beneficial micro-organisms that may help encourage immune system and natural plant defenses. Also these micro organisms may combat pests and pathogens directly. Compost tea is also awesome because it's the extract of the nutrients without solid organic matter that may rot your plants, retain too much moisture, etc.

To get the best compost tea I'd recommend googling diy methods and looking for methods that involve aeration of the tea, which encourages the best beneficial micro-organisms as well as discouraging the brew from smelling like something straight out of hell.

As long as you are using well composted material to make your tea, you are providing a much safer and more natural way for your plants to get the nutrients they need. No worries about salts that build up and hurt your plant. I would recommend using a nutrient test kit to find out your ratios of nutrients but if this worries you, why not use organic soil additives such as worm castings, bone meal, blood meal, that state the nutrient ratio on the packaging.

I don't know why people are so afraid of doing this home made natural fertilizer thing, while they wouldn't think twice about dosing their plants with synthetic chemicals and salts that may harm the plant, invite pests, and leach into the environment causing just as much harm, if not more than pesticides.

It is my hope that organic orchid culture will continue to develop and become popular as well as organic hydroponics....YES WE CAN!!! lol

[kosmickforestchild]

I'd go with the compost tea route because it will supply your orchid with natural nutrients and if done properly, beneficial micro-organisms that may help encourage immune system and natural plant defenses. Also these micro organisms may combat pests and pathogens directly. Compost tea is also awesome because it's the extract of the nutrients without solid organic matter that may rot your plants, retain too much moisture, etc.

To get the best compost tea I'd recommend googling diy methods and looking for methods that involve aeration of the tea, which encourages the best beneficial micro-organisms as well as discouraging the brew from smelling like something straight out of hell.

As long as you are using well composted material to make your tea, you are providing a much safer and more natural way for your plants to get the nutrients they need. No worries about salts that build up and hurt your plant. I would recommend using a nutrient test kit to find out your ratios of nutrients but if this worries you, why not use organic soil additives such as worm castings, bone meal, blood meal, that state the nutrient ratio on the packaging.

I don't know why people are so afraid of doing this home made natural fertilizer thing, while they wouldn't think twice about dosing their plants with synthetic chemicals and salts that may harm the plant, invite pests, and leach into the environment causing just as much harm, if not more than pesticides.

It is my hope that organic orchid culture will continue to develop and become popular as well as organic hydroponics....YES WE CAN!!! lol

here's some links to get you started:

Notes on Compost Teas

NPR : Compost Soup, Ketzel Levine's Talking Plants