Self-fertilizing semi-hydro?

[KathrynS]

Hi, all,

This is my first post here, but I've been lurking for awhile. As I work and travel frequently, I felt thtat semihydro may be a good choice for me. I've put a few cheap baggy baby cattleyas into semi-hydro two months ago to see if it'll work out for me. So far so good. (Although the roots haven't established themselves yet.). The biggest problem for me is that because I live in an apartment without a hose/large area for watering, it can be a bit of a pain to water with diluted fertilizer as often as I want.

Has anyone tried the method of fertilizer in a net bag tied to a stick with semi-hydro, so that every time you water it, the plant is fertilized? I know some people do this with normal potted plants? How about semi-hydro?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Do you have storage space enough to mix up a larger volume of fertilizer solution and store it until you need it?

Alternatively, each time you water you could put a pinch of fertilizer powder into a 1 gallon / 3.78 liter pitcher. In the old days measuring spoons for cooking went no smaller than 1/4 teaspoon / 1.25ml and smaller amounts were indicated in recipes by "one pinch."

[Ray]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the issue you're having.

Is it watering properly (flood the pot and let it drain) or merely the addition of fertilizer to the solution?

When I have my plants outdoors, I simply use a hose-end sprayer to add fertilizer and supplements to the water every time, but in the winter, when they're indoors, I resort to a 2-step process:

First I place the pots in the sink and flood them with plain water, and tilt them to mostly drain the reservoirs. Then, after replacing them in the nursery trays I keep on their benches, I come by with a pump-up sprayer full of dilute fertilizer solution and spray over the surface of the pot until the reservoir is refilled. I do that about weekly.

As my evaporation rate is pretty high right now, I also use the sprayer with plain water at times, in-between.

[KathrynS]

Thanks, Ray! That's exactly the answer I'm looking for. Right now I'm flushing with fertilizer all the way through, which I have to prep and pour over each one. With the few I have now, it's not a big deal, but I eventually want to put most of my others into the same system and I can see it taking a while

Also, sorry for the confusing wording! I was in a rush. To clarify: On most of my non-semi-hydro orchids , I put solid fertilizer in a reusable tea bag and affix it two or three inches above the pot with a stake. When I water my orchids in my shower (I use my detachable shower head) I can either let the water go through the fertilizer bags or I can avoid the fertilizer bag by watering to the side. My grandparents have used this with a lot of success. I wondered if I could implement something similar with semi-hydro, but Ray, your method will work really well by reducing the mixing to do.

estación seca- unfortunately I have 0 balcony space or place to store mixed fertilizer. I definitely plan on moving to an apartment with a balcony next time though. I like your pinch idea! Right now I measure the fertilizer out and use a gallon jug. However, I take 1/3 to half a gallon on each plant ( maybe I'm overflushing?). With only a few in semi-hydro it's not a big deal, but I have 23 orchids that I would want to put in semi-hydro and I think it'll be hard to water that many twice a week with this method...