Fertilizing

[skip1958]

I have some dens,oncid,phal.and dendros all actively puting on new roots leaves and spikes and fans how much should I fertilize. I heard that when they are acticely growing you need to fertilize more but want some pro advice the fertilizer the nursery suggested was Shultz Orchid food is there anything better or is that fine Thanks in advance

[Ray]

I am a firm believer is feeding at most waterings at a dilute concentration, and find that 125 ppm N is a good number to shoot for. Dividing 10 by the %N on the label tells you the teaspoons per gallon to use, and if you have to round to make it easier to measure, you'll still be close enough.

A good orchid food is any fertilizer than contains a complete array of ingredients (listed here: Fertilizers & Plant Nutrition), and is not excessively high in nitrogen (I view a 30-10-10 to be too high). Other than those criteria, I don't think a particular brand is critical, although I do prefer the Dyna-Gro "Grow" formula or the GreenCare Orchid Specials - the original, so-called, "MSU" fertilizers.

[skip1958]

Originally Posted by Ray

I am a firm believer is feeding at most waterings at a dilute concentration, and find that 125 ppm N is a good number to shoot for. Dividing 10 by the %N on the label tells you the teaspoons per gallon to use, and if you have to round to make it easier to measure, you'll still be close enough.

A good orchid food is any fertilizer than contains a complete array of ingredients (listed here: Fertilizers & Plant Nutrition), and is not excessively high in nitrogen (I view a 30-10-10 to be too high). Other than those criteria, I don't think a particular brand is critical, although I do prefer the Dyna-Gro "Grow" formula or the GreenCare Orchid Specials - the original, so-called, "MSU" fertilizers.

This Orchid food brand says it is 19 31 17 maybe I should try the Dyna Grow

[bonsai1504]

just round the 19 to 20 and you'll be fine!

[skip1958]

thanks