Quote Originally Posted by sciencegal View Post
Ray, with the low P do you still get good blooming? I read that it isn't the amount of P but the kind you use that matters.
I actually am getting better blooming than I've seen in years, although I'm certain part of that is the significant reduction in nitrogen provided, and may not be attributable to the formula itself.

Phosphorus actually plays a bigger role in leaf and root growth than it does flowers. The supposed relationship to blooming is likely an offshoot of the myth about high-P "bloom boosters", which actually worked not by phosphorus content itself, but through the addition of inexpensive P-compounds to the formula, the nitrogen was diluted, lowering its concentration, and "allowing" the plant to bloom normally.

About 90%-95% of an orchid is water. Of the remaining dry mass, roughly half is carbon, with nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen existing in the 1-5 percent levels. P, K, Ca, Mg, & S are in the next tier, at 0.1%-1%, with everything else being in the ppms.

That was part of the basis for testing the K-Lite formula, but I'm actually not that big of a fan of using tissue analysis as a guide. For example, a plant will take up as much K as it is given, through "pumps" that offset normal osmotic pressures, so the high K content of a plant does not mean the plant "needs" it. If tissue analysis was a good indicator of need, then I obviously need more cholesterol!