Quote:
Originally Posted by isurus79
Actually, switching fertilizers to a bloom booster is probably the most robustly documented orchid myth that i spoke about. The person using bloom booster all year round isn't switching to boost blooms, they're just using it as a normal fertilizer! So it's not an apples to apples comparison.
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There is no “perfect” fertilizer formula that induces anything special, and the N-P-K ratios are quite unimportant.
The key is nitrogen management, and finding the spot in between deficiency and excess, and that can be done with any formula, knowing that the other ingredients constitute “extra baggage” that may-, or may not be of value or harm.
The formula that was the culprit was 30-10-10. The ”cure” was 15-30-15. If used at the same bulk dilution rate, the second provided half the nitrogen of the first. What also would have worked is using half the amount of the first formula per volume. (And doubling the second would have quashed the blooming, as effectively as the 30-10-10.)
When it was first released, I jumped on the MSU bandwagon hot and heavy, and used the 13-5-19 formula at their 125 ppm N recommendation. The part I failed to grasp was that they applied it every 7-10 days, while I was doing so every other day. Guess what? I had no blooms. About 18 months after cutting back and learning about managing the N, and for the decade I have used the most extreme-ratio formula out there (K-Lite @ 12-1-1), it’s no longer an issue.
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