orchid Fertilizer question

[kharma]

hi big steve
do all varety of orchids require the same level of tds when you are mixing fertilizer or do some have a higher rate than others

[citywildcat]

hi big steve
do all varety of orchids require the same level of tds when you are mixing fertilizer or do some have a higher rate than others

karma, I know you weren't talking to me but, in my opinion, it's better to be under them to be over. I believe, if you really want to get technical, you can buy something to test for tds. I'm guessing certain orchids have a greater or lesser tolerance for tds as a ratio to the pure water......anybody?

[raybark]

Missanna, there's a place I get distilled water very cheap.

What do you consider "cheap"? In this part of the world, $0.50-$1.00 per gallon is pretty standard.

A decent RO system will run you $0.04/gallon in the long run, and there are no jugs to lug home!

[kharma]

thanx wildcat i do have a tds tester orchid roots are so easy to burn and leaves as well i thought it might be easier to get the strength right to begin with one less thing to worry about

[citywildcat]

That's a very good point, Kharma. I'm one of these people that it may take me a lot longer to do a project than someone else, but once it's finished, I never have to go back to it and touch it again, because it's done right. This is the same principle....START with the correct pH (or whatever the case may be) and you don't have to go back and re-pot the orchid to put it in the correct media, blah, blah, blah..... Thank you for that reinforcing philosophy - it's better to start slowly, think things through, plan, and have the correct items for the project... Otherwise, you'll end up either ruining the plant, or putting in a lot of extra time that you wouldn't have needed to do, IF you had done it right in the first place. EXCELLENT POINT... you said it better than I did, LOL!

[raybark]

FWIW, I started the 25 ppm N regimen almost 3 years ago, and use it on all of my plants, from tiny bulbos, to paphs, phals, pleurothallids, catts, zygos, and all sorts of vandaceous plants. All grow and bloom well.

Obviously, the answer to the question about whether different plants need different nutrition levels is "yes", just as different people have different needs, but if you consider that my 25 ppm N, which, depending upon the specific fertilizer formula, will likely be in the neighborhood of 100 ppm TDS, is still 4x-5x the amount of nutrition they'd see in nature, it seems more than adequate.

And, lest we all get suckered by fertilizer producers, the idea is to keep the plants healthy so they'll grow and bloom to their maximum genetically-programmed potential, and more fertilizer does not make them healthier.

[citywildcat]

Fertilizer manufacturers definitely aren't getting rich off of me. I'm lucky if I remember to do it.