Question for Ray or Protekt mix

[Jill H]

Hi Ray or anyone that can answer my question.

I've ordered the dyna gro proteck from you and not real sure how to add it to my watering with R/O supply. It states never mix it with any other solution, and to mix it in a gallon of water . So silly as my question is...do I then add a little premixed protek to my water can, then add some of my premixed fertilizer water?
Thank you, Jill

[Ray]

The thing is that you cannot mix concentrated fertilizers with it. If you try to mix them in the same concentrate tank, all of the calcium and magnesium will precipitate. Adding fertilizer and Pro-teKt to the water you will irrigate with (i.e., the gallon of diluted solution) is no problem.

When I first switched to RO, I had to use two metering pumps so the fertilizer solution into which I injected the Pro-teKt was already diluted.

[bkim]

I made the mistake of adding Grow and Protekt into a container BEFORE adding water and created what looks like cooked egg whites at the bottom of my water container.

Always add concentrated solutions into water. Not the other way around.

[ruthann]

What is protekt?? Never heard of it...

[ruthann]

Okay, researched Protekt, can it be used on plumeria and adeniums? ruth ann

[Ray]

What are you trying to do with them?

[ruthann]

Ray, I am trying to root plumeria. Ruth Ann

[Ray]

1) Pro-Tekt will do nothing to enhance rooting. It's a potassium silicate solution, nothing else.

2) I always thought they rooted pretty easily, but if not, or you just wanted to give them a boost, try K-L-N or SuperThrive.

[Jerry]

Ray, or anyone who can help, I am enjoying growing my orchids in your SH system, it works so well and saves me hours a week.
I have a question.
I have just this last month found mealybugs on 4 of my orchids and have just found a few crawlers on 3 other orchids. I tried alcohol and cotton swabs but that is so time consuming and they came back fast, so I tried a mixture of alcohol, corn oil, lemon juice, Murphys oil, and water that I found the recipe for online.
The mixture sure kills the bugs but leaves a shiny film on the leaves which hardens and I didn't like the look of it so I washed it off.
These bugs are also inside the growing medium in the pots and I am using your semi hydroponic system.
I have scoured this board and the Internet for the past week but cant find a systemic insecticide for orchids, I see Beyer has one for roses and ornamentals but am hesitant to try it out on the orchids, considering the fact I am growing them semi hydroponics, is there a safe systemic insecticide you are aware of that I can use with the SH system ?

[ruthann]

I received an orchid with mealy bugs, which infected my gardenias. I used Triazicide. I also use S/H, so I sprayed the medium as well as the plants. It took a while to get rid of them, but, I hung in there. I sprayed daily. Calif is one of the states that get mealy bugs. ruthann