Feeding Potless Vanda

[WaterWitchin]

Just a question here amongst the sci-guys... what's a tsuke?

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

k-sci,
thanks for addressing me.
You are absolutely correct that I was being a bit sarcastic just because I get ignored a lot. Sorry.

N.P. No offense was taken.

I look at my orchids and try to read the signs they give me. I could start feeding my neo's more but I've tried it in the past and ended up causing roots to turn brown ...

The sphagnum in traditional Neo mounds (all of mine are) can absorb massive amounts of diluted fertilizer. This causes a problem because water evaporating from the large surface area of the mound is replaced by water being drawn from inside the mound. The repeated application result is the deposition of very high concentrations of fertilizer on the sphagnum surface. When this happens you see the Neofinetia root tips die the moment they contact the moss.

People like to posture as experts despite knowing little about a topic. When it becomes habitual that internet behavior you describe shows up in some people's everyday life as know it all behavior that the experts know is B.S. but non-experts are often fooled. We just got rid of a new grad technician who thought he knew more than engineers with decades of experience.

About all you can do about this is to be skeptical and follow the evidence where it leads. Extraordinary evidence is how I came to be a Christian.
K-Sci

[Ray]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I wrote the answer to those questions in my first post to this thread.

Sorry. Missed that.

So a 20-20-20 @ 1 tablespoon per gallon every 5 days - that's about 940 ppm N, or an average of 185 ppm N daily.

That's a LOT of fertilizer! I guess my next question is if they water first, then feed, or apply that to dry roots - it'll make a HUGE difference in the uptake dynamics.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Ray

Sorry. Missed that.

So a 20-20-20 @ 1 tablespoon per gallon every 5 days - that's about 940 ppm N, or an average of 185 ppm N daily.

That's a LOT of fertilizer! I guess my next question is if they water first, then feed, or apply that to dry roots - it'll make a HUGE difference in the uptake dynamics.

In the book and videos he says a fertilization replaces a plain watering. So he's doing that every 5th day during most of the year and about every 2 days during hot weather. Vandas fertilized like other orchids hardly grow.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Vandas fertilized like other orchids hardly grow.

That was not true under the conditions I grew them in...

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Just a question here amongst the sci-guys... what's a tsuke?

Is that a trick question... like "How do you like my new hairstyle?"

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Just a question here amongst the sci-guys... what's a tsuke?

It is the Japanese word meaning 'attachment.' It's the joint where the part of the leaf that eventually drops off attaches to the part that doesn't.
Neo collector term.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by K-Sci

It is the Japanese word meaning 'attachment.' It's the joint where the part of the leaf that eventually drops off attaches to the part that doesn't.
Orchid collector term.

Gracias K-Sci!

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_North_FLA

I will second Motes methodology and confirm that if you want a solid bloom effort from from vandas you have to feed a TBSP per gallon rate.
A TSP will let them grow nicely with scarce bloom if any.

What led you to this conclusion?
K-Sci

---------- Post added at 09:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

Sorry. Missed that.

So a 20-20-20 @ 1 tablespoon per gallon every 5 days - that's about 940 ppm N, or an average of 185 ppm N daily.

That's a LOT of fertilizer! I guess my next question is if they water first, then feed, or apply that to dry roots - it'll make a HUGE difference in the uptake dynamics.

I'd like to know if it turns the roots blue.
K-Sci

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

"What led you to this conclusion?
K-Sci"
actual growing experience....'I built a 12x18 ft
shadehouse strictly for vandas and a few mounted cattleya alliance plants. plants were hanging on pipes at 8ft above ground. Used 50 percent shade cloth and was covered with clear 6 mil poly. I controlled watering with overhead misting system (on twice each morning 15 minutes each cycles)and dosmatic fertlizer injector all controlled by a battery timer and shade house was pretty much on autopilot, except for fertilization once a week.
I got tremendous growth on all vandas with 3 ft plus of uninterrupted full size foliage and roots that extended to 4-5 feet below first leaf and many plants had to have the rootball coiled up like a hose to keep them off the ground. initially all plants were on baskets but they wound up with roots interlocking each other and I had to literally use a machete to separate the plants and then removed the baskets and just hung them with a wire hook.
When fed at 1 tsp rate they grew normal and hardly bloomed, bumped up 1 TBSP and things changed substantially, more blooms.

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