phal root system

[camille1585]

That label is not right, you are feeding way too much, and as Ray says, you should be using about 1/3 of that!

It would be good if you got a more balanced fert, 30-10-10 is going to promote lots of growth, but probably inhibit blooming. If you look at the instructions on the bottle, you should be using the 20-20-20 anyway.

Originally Posted by Ray

I'll add that you are - in my opinion - WAAAAAY overfertilizing the plant.

At a teaspoon per gallon, you're applying about 375 ppm N, which is about three times what I'd recommend. I feed my plants a solution about one-fifth as concentrated as you are - and am using pure water besides.

Orchids, in general, prefer solutions with fairly low dissolved solids contents. I don't know what the mineral level is in your water supply, but with that much fertilizer applied regularly, that could be damaging to the roots.

Don't forget that an imperial gallon (4.5L) is different from a US gallon (3.8L)! But even that into account, you're right, it's way too much fertilizer!

[nenella]

Tap water may be a problem.... Does your kettle get limescale? that is a sure sign of you having hard water! Can't see the pot & roots very clearly on your photo as far away. Also I have always read that one should feed weekly weakly.. which basically means put half the recommended dose of fertilizer in the water that it says on your fertilizer. I am have never used this brand so hopefully somone with experience with this will chime in.
Also it looks like the medium in your pot has broken down? and could do with replacing. A close up photo of the side of the pot would help get you better advice.

[catweazle1962]

thankyou for your reply accoring to the instructions it does say to use 30 10 10 through the growing season feb to october , this is the site where we got the orchid food from

http://orchidaccessories.co.uk/catalog/index.php

so if the instuctions are wrong then how can they sell the food it is very misleading for someone new at growing orchids

[catweazle1962]

Originally Posted by nenella

Tap water may be a problem.... Does your kettle get limescale? that is a sure sign of you having hard water! Can't see the pot & roots very clearly on your photo as far away. Also I have always read that one should feed weekly weakly.. which basically means put half the recommended dose of fertilizer in the water that it says on your fertilizer. I am have never used this brand so hopefully somone with experience with this will chime in.
Also it looks like the medium in your pot has broken down? and could do with replacing. A close up photo of the side of the pot would help get you better advice.

thankyou for your reply we do get hard water , which medium would be right we have been advised on chc as well also i did ask about what food to feed the plant with and all i got was a ratio level not a brand of food so have i been given the right advice thanks

[Wynn Dee13]

If your water is too hard you might want to water with rain water or distilled water. I buy 1 gallon of distilled water at my grocery store for 99 cents. You can use any complete fertilizer you just need to use the right ratio. Rays site has information on calculating the right dose. You want to feed week doses and flush with pure water on the fourth watering to flush out any extra fertilizer salt build up. Here is a link to fertilizer information on Ray's site. It also has a link at the bottom of the page to calculate the right dose. Fertilizers & Plant Nutrition

[james mickelso]

Hi all. I use this orchid food and it works very well although as Ray has said, the dose you are feeding it is waaaayyyyyy to high. I use 1/2 teaspoon for my orchids but that may be too high for your orchid. I grow in medium bark and the extra food helps because the biota in the bark uses a lot of the nitrogen. Growmore is not a bad food. But what I was looking at is the environment where you are growing the plant. It could use a little more light and you might want to give it a little more of a breeze. Those roots look like most orchid roots that most people who don't grow orchids have. But what we are seeing is the shriveled velamen not the root itself. I'd ask you to unpot this orchid once the flowers are finished blooming but you would need to be able to repot it once you take a few pics for us/. that way we can better assess the actual condition of your plant and help you maintain it properly. When and where did you get this orchid?

[james mickelso]

Just a quick pic to show what roots can look like on top but be very healthy within the media.

[RosieC]

I use the same brand fertiliser (bought from the same supplier) except I use their '20-10-20 Green' year round. I will have to check mixing instructions on mine because I've always used Ray's mixing rates since I bought it. You can see Ray's mixing calculator here and it's a good one to go on for any fertiliser. Fertilizer Mixing Calculators

[catweazle1962]

hi thankyou for all you advice , i cannot seem to use the mixing calculator a bit unsure of that , when i joined this forum i did ask what food and medium to use all i was told was to use chc , no brand of food was said about only the ratio 30 10 10 .so i searched about the net and found the site that i said about in the uk and bought some now what i dont understand it that how can someone who sells food for orchids etc say that the amount of food is correct and you say it is not are they misleading people ?..
we did buy the plant on amazon in the uk please note what i am useing and please advise allthough i bought green jungle as well i have not used it as yet as i did not know what plant food to buy as we dont want to lose the plant we would like to have some easy to follow advice thankyou

[camille1585]

I have to say that I find the instructions a bit strange, not just because of the dosage, but also the frequency. Many fertilizer packages give high dosages, but with relatively infrequent feeding (once a month usually). You can do it that way, but the general feeling among orchid people is to give low amounts, more frequently.

I'm very surprised that you were advised to use 30-10-10, and also for the chc. Not the best for Phals, it holds too much moisture for too long. Good it hot dry climates maybe, but certainly not in northern Europe.
I did go back through your previous threads and Philip (King of orchid growing) and RosieC did suggest 20-20-20? It's more economical to have to buy only one type of fertilizer (and most plants grow and bloom perfectly well with it), and the bloom vs grow ratio ferts seem to be more of a way to kae you buy more, rather than a true way of increasing blooming.