Amazing New Fertilizer

[Orchid Whisperer]

Regarding atmospheric nitrogen, don't forget that there is significant volatilization of ammonia from decomposition of organic wastes and other sources, such as inorganic fertilizers. This happens in natural systems (forests, grasslands) as well as man-made systems (farms, feed lots).

If you are interested, there is an article on this in Trace Gas Emissions and Plants (2000; S.N. Singh, ed.) page 309, article by Tripathi and others, Uptake, transport and emission of ammonia by the plants. Apparently the atmospheric ammonia can be excessive at times, sometimes to the detriment of ecosystems.

If you look up "nitrogen cycle", you will see that there is a great degree of connectivity and transformation between all of the forms of nitrogen previously listed. So, N2 may or may not be directly useable by an orchid, but run it through some biological and chemical transformations in the ecosystem (exterior to the orchid), and it may become available later on.

[Nexogen]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

Nexogen, if you have been watering with tap water (which contains nitrates) and growing in organic media (which releases N as it decomposes) then you have been feeding your unfertilized orchids. If you had been growing them in inert media and watering with RO water, you would have seen a very different result.

70 ppm N is a huge concentration when you compare it to what orchids get in the wild. Since I stopped reading fert bottle labels and started using Ray's calculator for 10-20 ppm N, my orchids have been growing much better.

I cringe when I see other members here advise that 'weakly' is 1/4 of the manufacturer recommended amount. Do the math - most of the time that's still 200-300 ppm N. Plants will grow well for a while, then decline. The media will decompose faster, too.

Is an exception to the rule, sometime in speed, I don’t use ppm meter and is possible 70 (I suppose is between 20 and70), I use only distilled or RO water and no decline at all.

[DavidCampen]

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[SilverShaded]

I notice in the wild that some terrestrial orchids get massive doses of organic fertilzer for a short period. I started doing something similar, huge dose of fertilzer, then wash it out a few weeks later. For those orchids that experience this in the wild it does seem to work in cultivation too.

[naoki]

Originally Posted by SilverShaded

I notice in the wild that some terrestrial orchids get massive doses of organic fertilzer for a short period.

I'm curious about this. What kinds of terrestrial orchids are you referring to? Also where is the massive fertilizer coming from?

[Ray]

When a deer, or some other animal stops and craps on it?

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by Ray

When a deer, or some other animal stops and craps on it?

or something dies right beside it. Ever see something that died and the grass grows all green and tall around it

[nenella]

[SilverShaded]

Originally Posted by naoki

I'm curious about this. What kinds of terrestrial orchids are you referring to? Also where is the massive fertilizer coming from?

Elephant, deer, buffalo, sun bears, and lots of other things.

Erias, dendrobium, cymbidiums, doritis, coelogyne, thunia, pleione and just about any other lithophytic or ground dwelling species, of which there are many.

Some of these are grazed on periodically by dear, noteably erias, and there's often deer crap right on top of the plants as the deer just stand around there munching.

I normally grow doritis in gravel trays or attached to sandstone slabs about 1/4 inch under water, for a few years i've taken to throwing in undiluted urea containing fertilizer neat into the water and draining out a week or two later. They love it.

---------- Post added at 03:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 PM ----------

Here's doritis and some other orchids just sitting around sun bathing, waiting for something to poop on it, it might not happen very often, once every few years at most, but when it does i'm sure they take full advantage of it.

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by SilverShaded

Elephant, deer, buffalo, sun bears, and lots of other things.

Erias, dendrobium, cymbidiums, doritis, coelogyne, thunia, pleione and just about any other lithophytic or ground dwelling species, of which there are many.

Some of these are grazed on periodically by dear, noteably erias, and there's often deer crap right on top of the plants as the deer just stand around there munching.

I normally grow doritis in gravel trays or attached to sandstone slabs about 1/4 inch under water, for a few years i've taken to throwing in undiluted urea containing fertilizer neat into the water and draining out a week or two later. They love it.[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 03:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 PM ----------

I have had literally amazing results using fresh horse manure to grow catasetums, using it in the bottom 3rd of the pot. I have just posted an update. This was a case of bringing the orchid to the poop and not vice-versa.