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I know I started this post and you all jumped right in to comment and I appreciate that and apologize for being so late in my response but I posted this really late yesterday and got really tired and went to bed before too many people got around to responding . Thank you so much Amey for your compact and precise response . You were quite informative and have given me some things to consider in the future in relation to the care of my orchids . I must say that all I read before I got into orchids said fertilize so my plants have had some fertilizer before but I recently went on vacation and had a friend look after my plants and told her not to fertilize so it would be easier on her when she came and I wouldn't have to worry that she didn't do it right . So I just asked her to water them . When I got back ( was away for almost 4wks ), they were perfectly fine and seemed to be doing well so I decided to try an experiment . It was at the ending of June that I got back and I haven't fertilized since . So far I have two plants in spike and others maybe following closely behind . Waiting to see what the blooms look like then I will decide if I will continue the no fert experiment or go back to the original regimen. Also most of my chids have been outside from then and getting lots of rain water, and possibly some lizard poop here and there, (we have no end of them here )
As for getting my tap water tested, I wouldn't know where to begin here . I do know it is chlorinated and it naturally is filtered through the coral or limestone that the island was formed from .( Our island is one that is not volcanically formed as far as I know).
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The thing with most orchids is that its the nutrients they got BEFORE spiking that influence the bloom. The storage organs are for both water and nutrients. Plants that aren't fertilized will still draw nutrients from backbulbs. It could be some time before you notice any decline.
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Ok so say I go back to my original regimen of weakly , weekly . The next question would be how do I fertilize ? Do I dip, soak , mist , what ?
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What in your experiences has worked out to be better for you ?