fertilizer + ~2 month old compots

[kewpie]

hi everyone. hope yall had a good feast last night.

ive got a few compots that i de-flasked at the beginning of october. anyway, i have a question for those of you who have raised flask-lings:

how much should i fertilize? my current regimen is probably too light. i fertilize once every three or so weeks at 1/4 strength, but i dont soak the pots -- i use one of those pump sprayers filled with nutrients, water, rooting hormone, and physan, and i only spray enough to dampen the sphag that the little guys are planted in. the rest of the time, i just moisten the sphag with regular water when the tops are *close* to crunchy (not completely dry), which is about every three to four days.

my neofinetia seedlings are doing ok, as are my psychopsis seedlings....however, ive got some phal hybrids (phal penang girl X phal bellina -- penang girl is (bellina X venosa)) whose leaves yellowing and losing pigment. this is not really localized at the tips of the leaves. it also happens in the middle of the leaf, and sometimes towards the crowns. in the same compot, there are also plants that show no sign of chlorosis (if thats what this is).

do you think this is a sign of nutrient deficiency? are phals heavier feeders than neofinetias or psychopses?

thanks for your help!

[LJA]

kewpie, dilluted at 1/4 strength, you should be fertilizing with every watering, and flushing the medium each time. The way you're doing it, spraying to moisten the tops, doesn't let you leach away any excess fertilizer or mineral salts. If that will keep things too wet the way your compots are set up now, you might have to re-compot, using a layer of sphag at the top that's only an inch or so thick, above a base of styro-peanuts or something else inert that provides good drainage. (That's the way I do it here when I compot in sphag.)

Assuming that your other conditions are appropriate, I would say that the yellowing you're seeing in the Phals is definitely a nutrient deficiency. Phals need a good amount of calcium and magnesium, so if your fertilizer isn't providing that, you'll have to supplement. You can add calcium either in liquid form or as a top dressing by putting down a layer of crushed oyster shell or diatomite, and the easiest way to add magnesium is to dissolve 1 tablespoon of epsom salts in a gallon of water before you add in your other stuff. (Or, instead of all that, just use Peter's Cal-Mag fertilizer on your orchid plants.....)

[kewpie]

ok, louis....youre officially my orchids godfather! theyre all gonna call you uncle lou.

thanks!

[OrchidTraci]

ok, louis....youre officially my orchids godfather! theyre all gonna call you uncle lou.

thanks!

You are too funny!!! Have you used Dyna Gro? They have great because not only are the levels lower so you don't burn the whoo haaa out of your plants, but they also contain minerals needed for healthy growth / appearance. They are fairly reasonably priced too. I can see a noticable difference when I haven't used a well rounded feed.

[kewpie]

hi traci! are you vying for the position of godmother?

i actually do have dynagro (both the grow and bloom formulations, plus protekt). it somehow just doesnt make it into my water jug when i water. i after this little incident, im going to start fertilizing more. i was erring on the side of caution, but im hoping that i dont go too overboard the other way now!!