Spikes turn brown and shrivel

[Undergrounder]

When my Masdevallia spikes browned and died it was from not being humid enough. I moved the lone survivor into a humidicrib and he's still going.

[khill]

Thank you. I'm guessing it's a fertilizer/water issue from all the replies. I will look into the correct fertilizer for RO water and go from there. Can anyone tell me--is that the MSU fertilizer that I hear many of your talk about?

[quiltergal]

At 1.5 tsp per gallon of water your ppm of N is 396. The recommended ppm is 125. You're burning them. Use Ray's Fert calculator in the link below. With N of 20 you only need .50 tsp/gal water, or 1 tsp/2gal.

GreenCare MSU has several formulations, one for RO or pure water and 1 for tap water. It's a great product.

Fertilizer PPM Calculator

[khill]

Thanks Terri--I'm going to order the pure water fertilizer for my RO and follow Ray's calculator.

At least I feel like I've gotten to the bottom of the problem with everyone's help. This orchidboard is the greatest!!!