Where to "Buy" MSU fertilizer - Orchid Board

ruthann · #1 06-04-2008, 08:20 PM

Where does one purchase MSU fertilizer? I see a lot of posts where it is being used. Is there a fertilizer that is equal to MSU that can be purchased locally (Calif.)

cowboy51278 · #2 06-04-2008, 08:27 PM

I always end up getting mine off ebay.

peeweelovesbooks · #3 06-04-2008, 08:35 PM

I've never seen it locally.

I have been buying mine from repotme.com, but the shipping for the liquid is killing me. I think I'm going to buy the powder form from firstrays (Hi Ray!!)--the 25lbs. ....that should last me a while.....or not, if I keep buying at the rate I am.

cb977 · #4 06-04-2008, 08:41 PM

I get mine from Welcome to First Rays Orchids

DelawareJim · #5 06-13-2008, 08:54 AM

Yes, go with First Rays. He has everything you'll need for S/H and he's the "Ray" on this site so he knows his stuff.

Cheers.
Jim

gmdiaz · #6 06-13-2008, 10:17 AM

Get it from First Rays!

newflasker · #7 06-13-2008, 01:52 PM

Yep, It's better to buy from a reliable source such as Ray store. Ray also supports and provides a lot of information of orchid to us. A month ago, I need small amount of MSU to test so I bought 1lb from a web site. This is a home made fertilizer. You can see a mix of flake and powder of different color not like fertilizers from brand name which have the same grain size and color. There is no way I can check if this is MSU or a fake MSU. So it's better to buy from a well known source.

charmbutterfly · #8 06-13-2008, 02:30 PM

I get mine from First Rays! He's really helpful and knows his stuff!! *Hi Ray

*

Ray · #9 06-14-2008, 08:24 AM

Newflasker, don't think for a minute that what you got was "home made". I buy the stuff directly from the manufacturer, and depending on where they purchased their ingredients and the time of year, it can be anywhere from a fine, uniformly dispersed powder to a mixture of coarse flakes and prills.

The calcium compounds are really hygroscopic, so in the humidity of the summer, trying to grind them would completely clog their equipment, so the ingredients are simply blended.

Because of that, I highly recommend that folks mix a relatively large volume of the solid material (about a pound - increasing the chances you're getting the representative chemistry) to make up a gallon of concentrate, then dilute that for use. With the RO formula, that concentrate should be diluted about an ounce (6 teaspoons) per gallon, for the Well Water formula, about 4 tsp/gal.