Amazing New Fertilizer

[ronaldhanko]

I had been having a lot of problems with yellowing leaves, leaf drop and leaf spotting on Masdevallias, and was really struggling with them, though a number of other plants also seemed to be at less than optimum condition. I Should mention that I grow most plants in live sphagnum or on mounts.

I had tried another of things, decreasing light intensity, switching to other fertilizers, providing more air movement, and had even considered trying a fungicide, but nothing seemed to work. This was all happening after 35 years of growing orchids successfully.

Then the March issue of Orchids arrived with an article by Rick Lockwood, "What do Orchids Eat? Are Your Orchids Addicted to Potassium?" I do not always read the scientific articles but this looked interesting and changed my views on fertilizer.

I had always been very unscientific about fertilizer and it had worked. Generally I threw a pinch of whatever houseplant or orchid fertilizer that was available into two gallons of water and alternated that occasionally with plain water and it had worked for me.

In addition I was always dubious about all the claims for this fertilizer or that, since most had very little to back them up and seemed more advertisements or experimentation than anything else. And of course, why change what was working.

But for the first time in memory things were not working and this article seemed to address the problems I was having. The article stated that potassium is very rare in nature but that epiphytic plants are very efficient at taking it up.

However, the article suggested that when taken up in quantity it would block the uptake of calcium and magnesium resulting in yellowing leaves, susceptibility to disease and reduced growth, exactly what I was struggling with.

I checked the fertilizers I was using and all of them had relatively high amounts of potassium (K), 10-15-10, 20-10-20, 20-10-10, etc., and no discernible amounts of calcium and magnesium, which, according to the article, are readily available to orchids in nature.

The article mentioned a new fertilizer called "K-Lite" formulated by Ray Barkalow of First Rays and others (and available from him). This fertilizer is 12-1-1-10Ca-3mg, i.e., very little potassium and available calcium and magnesium in amounts that matched the experimental data in the article.

I ordered a container of this fertilizer from Ray and began using it. The results were dramatic, so much so that I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Within days plants had greened up and were growing, or so it appeared, much more vigorously.

Not quite sure that I was not deluding myself, I waited a couple of months before writing this (though I did write Ray), but those couple of months have only confirmed that what I was seeing was not a delusion.

My plants, especially the Masdevallias have greened up, leaf spotting is almost non-existent and leaf drop has also stopped. I am still somewhat stunned by the abrupt change. I can see the difference even in the few Paphs I grow - better color, more vigor and strong new growth.

The article concerned Paphs especially (didn't mention Masdevallias at all) and mentioned some of the problems that author had had with his Paphs. Since it seemed to speak to my problems, I followed it and am converted to the arguments of the article and to this new fertilizer.

Those who are struggling with the same problems I had should look up the article and anyone who grows under the same conditions I do should consider changing to a low potassium fertilizer and perhaps consider, too, using a fertilizer with supplements of calcium and magnesium.

The article changed my way of thinking about fertilizer - it matters what you give your plants! It has also lead to the best thing I've done for my orchids in many years and to even better culture and I want publicly to thank the author of the article and Ray for their efforts

If you read this post, however, I hope that you, especially if you are a beginner, do not think that this fertilizer is the answer to every cultural difficulty. All the other things I mentioned, good air movement, proper light and humidity, etc., are all essentials ingredients of good culture.

[silken]

Very interesting Ron. I struggle with my Masdies too and also my Milts get a blotchy green which I can't explain. Both these types of orchids I have mostly growing in moss. Food for thought-pardon the pun

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

I do not always read the scientific articles but this looked interesting and changed my views on fertilizer.

That article is not a scientific article. It is junk pseudoscience.

The article stated that potassium is very rare in nature

That statement is blatantly wrong.

However, the article suggested that when taken up in quantity it would block the uptake of calcium and magnesium resulting in yellowing leaves, susceptibility to disease and reduced growth

Yet another misrepresentation in the article.

I checked the fertilizers I was using and all of them had relatively high amounts of potassium (K), 10-15-10, 20-10-20, 20-10-10, etc., and no discernible amounts of calcium and magnesium, which, according to the article, are readily available to orchids in nature.

The lack of calcium and magnesium is the problem, not the normal amounts of potassium.

The article mentioned a new fertilizer called "K-Lite" formulated by Ray Barkalow of First Rays and others (and available from him). This fertilizer is 12-1-1-10Ca-3mg, i.e., very little potassium and available calcium and magnesium in amounts that matched the experimental data in the article.

The formulation does not match any experimental data.

It is disappointing that the AOS would have published such a misleading and factually incorrect article.

[orchidsarefun]

although this appears to be a re-hash, I think I will grab some popcorn.......

[WhiteRabbit]

Glad to hear you have had good results with this, Ron! I have been getting horrible spotting on some Masdies, and being winter, I couldn't attribute it to heat ... Interestingly enough (to me, anyway), it's far worse on the Masdies in sphag. The ones in chc look much better.

[ronaldhanko]

The article may not appeal to you, David, but I am certain of two things:
(1) it helped me to see where my problems with my plants lay.
(2) it helped me solve the problems.
Hard to beat that!

You can argue the science of the article all you want (and I don't see any arguments, just accusations), and though I don't know enough science to argue either way, for me it was one of the best articles I've found in Orchids.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

You can argue the science of the article all you want (and I don't see any arguments, just accusations), and though I don't know enough science to argue either way, for me it was one of the best articles I've found in Orchids.

Yes , I accuse the article of not having any basis in fact. For example, you got this from the article:

The article stated that potassium is very rare in nature

That statement is not correct, where in the article is the relevant citation for that "fact". There isn't any because it is not correct. The article is riddled with these inaccurate and misleading statements.

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 PM ----------

Originally Posted by ALToronto

But that's my point - there IS no evidence. K overload is a hypothesis.

And that is my point, the AOS article was written as if it were presenting scientific evidence for this potassium toxicity thesis, that is what Ronald and others have thought when they read the article but as you say there is no evidence. It is fine to write a speculative article but not to disguise it as a presentation of fact.

[Jayfar]

I've been using K-Lite myself irregularly for about a year, but began alternating its use with a regular MSU well water formulation (used with tap water), so I can't really remark one way or the other as to results with my Phals (and a few Vandas). Of some concern to me is a study on possible effects of Potassium deficiency in Phals, which seems to run counter to the thinking behind low potassium fertilizers.

HORTSCIENCE 42(7):1563–1567. 2007.
Potassium Nutrition Affects
Phalaenopsis Growth and Flowering
Yin-Tung Wang1,2
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University System, Texas Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 2415 East Highway 83, Weslaco, TX 78596

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/.../1563.full.pdf

[ALToronto]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

I've been using K-Lite myself irregularly for about a year, but began alternating its use with a regular MSU well water formulation (used with tap water), so I can't really remark one way or the other as to results with my Phals (and a few Vandas). Of some concern to me is a study on possible effects of Potassium deficiency in Phals, which seems to run counter to the thinking behind low potassium fertilizers.

HORTSCIENCE 42(7):1563–1567. 2007.
Potassium Nutrition Affects
Phalaenopsis Growth and Flowering
Yin-Tung Wang1,2
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University System, Texas Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 2415 East Highway 83, Weslaco, TX 78596

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/.../1563.full.pdf

This study is very flawed - the dosages used were all absurdly high. It’s what commercial growers use to make phals bloom as quickly as possible. If you used these concentrations longterm, you'd kill the plants.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

This study is very flawed - the dosages used were all absurdly high. It’s what commercial growers use to make phals bloom as quickly as possible. If you used these concentrations longterm, you'd kill the plants.

The dosages were not "absurdly high".

Nutrient solutions were made from KH2PO4,
KNO3, NH4H2PO4, NH4NO3, CaCl22H2O,
and MgSO47H2O to provide (in mg/L)
200 nitrogen (N), 200 phosphorus (P), 100
calcium (Ca), and 50 magnesium (Mg), with
K concentrations at 0, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400,
or 500 mg/L
Your attempt to discount this study is very weak.

Can you show me some evidence as good as this in support of this potassium toxicity thesis.