Lycaste skinneri questions about fertilization

[GRMRA-GUA]

hi to you all!

Here are my concerns:

1. I've been using a 20-20-20 fertilizer every week (weakly, weekly). I know that it should be 1/4-1/8 diluted but how much of that dilution should I use? Does it deppend on what kind of medium the flowers are? and how big the pot is? If so, how should I do it? And
2. When the flower spikes start, when should the fertilizer application stop? Because I've notice that after applying the fertilizer a flower bud falls after 2 days or so, turning yellow first then brown.

I' ve got some flower spikes growing in my Lycaste skinneri and I wouldn't want to see them fall! :-)

Thanks a lot!

[Michael Saar]

Although I don't grow skinneri, there are enough questions about your fertilizing practices that I need you to answer a few questions. Weakly, weekly is the practice of fertilizing at every watering with a water-soluable fertilizer at 1/2 to 1/4 the recommended(on the package) dilution. The quantity applied to the plant is relatively unimportant as long as the plant roots are thoroughly wetted with the fertilizer, regardless of plant size or pot size. Is this what you are doing now? I don't know why fertilizing would cause a bud to fall unless the concentration was too great by a large amount. What kind of fertilizer are you using now?

[GRMRA-GUA]

Wow, thanks for answering to my post so soon!

Yes, I do apply about a liter of the fertilizer after having water them with about 2-3 liters of water about 30 minutes before.
I'm using a foliar fertilizer (20-20-20), the instructions on the container say that one of the measuring spoon included should be used in 1 gallon of water,so I dilute it in 4 gallons, That should be a 1/4 dilution, right?
And I don't know the reason, but every time I use the fertilizer solution on an about to flower orchid the last flower on the spike falls, it has happened to a vanda, 2 of my oncidiums and today with an orchid that my gave me, and I don't know what kind it is:-)
so, there is no problem with fertilizing my orchids all through the growth phase and the flower phase, is there?

[Michael Saar]

I don't have any other suggestion except to suspend foliar feeding during the flowering phase of your plants, and use a normal water-soluable fertilizer during that period. Hopefully someone who uses foliar feeding regularly can provide some help.