Orchid feed question

Hi guys and gals
I have been doing some reading, while I await the flowering of my rescued Phal, Orchid advice. please, which is nearly there,


A lot of the advice states to use a high N feed (for growth) after flowering and high P (for blooms) at other times.
The nutrient profile it would have access to, in habitat, wouldn't vary much, over the year, I would have thought.
So is this a scam by the feed suppliers to get us to buy more "stuff"?
Your thoughts and comments please

Fof

 

Hi,

In a word No.

Its actually true of most plants in that they need a more Nitrogen feed after flowering and then a higher Potash feed once the flower spike starts to form.

For orchids there are masses of formulas because the hobby growers want to get the best results.

However as general rule if you want to use standard fertilisers then they must be diluted to quarter strength as higher is not recommended.

Have tried a few different types on our Phals over the years and now use the low cost Vitax Grow and Bloom solutions, stocked by many garden centers.

hth

 

When I started the Phal rescue, I just grabbed some orchid fertiliser, Orchid Focus 'Bloom' and media.

I agree that plants of all colours will use more N or P dependent upon their immediate needs, ie foliage or flowering. So long as there isn't a deficiency, they will absorb what they need.
I realise that crop plants such as tomatoes, need high N,P,K fertilisers as they are grown for yields.
Normal, for want of a better word, plants only need to have sufficient N,P,K available to meet their growth and flowering needs. To me, it would seem logical to use a single, balanced fertiliser, especially with plants, such as orchids, where you flush the growing media, to remove any build up of salts. In the wild, the ratios of the available nutrients wouldn't change much, throughout the year.

Looking at the specs, the Orchid Focus 'Grow' and 'Bloom' have the same N and different P & K i.e. Grow - 1.1:0.7:1.9, Bloom - 1.1:1.5:1.9

Those are my thoughts on the subject.

 

Yes, understand your thinking, but its your comment "they will absorb what they need." that seems most relevant.
As such we change the fertilisers ratios to ensure we supply enough of the right nutrients for their immediate needs.

As you say , in the wild they will get an uncontrolled array of nutrients and the orchids will just take what they need at each stage of their growth and flowering.
So in a way we could use the bloom feed which is higher in all nutrients and let the plant take what it needs.
Just depends on which method you prefer ?

When we grew a lot of different orchids we were members of a good uk orchid forum ( now sadly closed) a popular fertiliser was Rain Mix (powder) which is still sold in the uk , it follows the one feed method.
Ideally its used /mixed with rain or RO/DI water unless your local water is very soft ?

You might find this suppliers site of interest - though not sure how fresh their stock is based on the dates /quantities they show ?
Rain mix Orchid Fertiliser, potting compost and orchid supplies- Orchid Accessories

 

I checked out your link. Product sounds interesting, and "shouldn't" deteriorate.
Cheapest is £5.99, with MOP of £10, plus postage.
Therefore I would need to buy 2 which would supply me for the next 10+ yrs.
Nah! I think I'll give it a miss.
Interesting, thouh.

 

When we grew lots of Orchids that RainMix was considered good by that forum we frequented, but the question we could not get a clear answer to is, as its a soluble type of product its prone to clumping with any moisture that gets in to it, so does that affect its properties ?

Its the same with many other types of solubles like the ChemPack range.

Thats why we now use liquid fertilisers, though again over time you can find that they also come out of suspension and form solids at the bottom of the bottle etc, so its always good to shake them regularly and before use.

So we now stick to the cheaper liquids but replace each spring when the new years stock comes into the shops, in the Vitax range you can easily see which are the new products, because their labels fade easily.

If your are happy with your current ferts would say keep using them as they are a well established brand.

Whats equally important is to water them using water thats at the same temperature as the plant and ideally soft water, if you are in a hard water area, eg plenty of scale deposits in the kettle then better to use rainwater or similar soft water.

Also once the flower spike is well developed with plenty of buds , avoid moving them to a new area as the change can often make the buds drop off.

A few of our favorite rescue phals we grew on,

 

Just been watering the orchids and looking on the Vitax bottles of fertilisers they show rather different values to yours.

Growth 100 - 30 - 50
Bloom 50 - 30 -100

You could probably use any standard balanced fertiliser but at 1/4 strength, which some of the old hands seem to do to save money.

As with using any fertiliser, its recommended that every 4 th or 5 th watering you do so with just plain water to flush away any excess of salts that may build up.
Always wait until the roots down in the pots turn a light colour before rewatering.