When and how often to fertilize my phals?

[deedlelu]

Hello there,

I've done some research online and asked an orchid shop and I have gotten contradictory information on when to fertilize my orchids. Some places say to do it only after the plant stops blooming and I've also read to do it all year round.

I purchased the FEED ME! MSU fertilizer and I'm hoping somebody could shed some light on the matter.

I've also read that I should water my orchids by letting them soak up the water in a tub from the bottom up, but then that seems like it would waste fertilizer so would it be ok to mix it in a water bottle and pour it in avoiding getting the leaves wet?

I'm a newbie, so please excuse my lack of knowledge in in this matter. Thank you!

[raybark]

You will find that almost all aspects of orchid culture are peppered with differences of opinion, and feeding is one of the hotbeds.

I prefer to take tips from nature, where the available nutrition level is very low, but almost constantly available, so I feed at every watering, at very low concentration - no more than 50 ppm N (divide 4 by the %N on the fertilizer label; the result is teaspoons per gallon to use for that concentration). Low feeding rates also avoids overdosing nitrogen, which can quash blooming.

I am also becoming a believer in what has been dubbed "K-Lite" formulas - a feeding regimen using fertilizers low in both P & K. I am one of about 75-100 folks around the world testing the concept, and it is apparent that the plants appear to be healthier, long-term. I understand that there will be an article about it in the AOS Orchids magazine in March.

[Polarizeme]

Thanks! I'll have to look into that for my Phals

[hank3443]

Hi Liana, I grow mostly phals. but I also have other species. I also use a msu fertilizer and I make a very weak mix so I use it just about every watering. I place my plants in a shallow pan of plain water then I run the diluted fertilizer thru the pots or mounts. Sometimes I will add liquid seaweed to the fertilizer. I use this system on all my orchids and have no problems, you will have to mix enough only for your plants, after awhile you will get to know just how much you will need. Hope this helps you. HANK.......

[Polarizeme]

Hi Liana, I grow mostly phals. but I also have other species. I also use a msu fertilizer and I make a very weak mix so I use it just about every watering. I place my plants in a shallow pan of plain water then I run the diluted fertilizer thru the pots or mounts. Sometimes I will add liquid seaweed to the fertilizer. I use this system on all my orchids and have no problems, you will have to mix enough only for your plants, after awhile you will get to know just how much you will need. Hope this helps you. HANK.......

Thank you Hank! I need to get on a good feeding regime for my orchids. I like the idea of a dilute mixture at every watering. I'll have to give that a try

Liana

[Carolla]

I don't water my Phals very often and I usually soak them with a dilute fertilizer too. If I'm busy and think they need a watering, I will just use my watering can and pour a little over the roots, but about half the time they get a good soak and light feeding. My conditions are very dry, so I use a little sphagnum moss in the pots with the medium bark and they do well. I water about 10 days to 2 week schedule. Most of mine are large mature plants. The smaller ones I might water more often.