On Thu, 19 May 2005 07:26:09 -0400, "Ray"
wrote:

I vote for the constant feeding agenda, and to come up with that, I looked
at nature for a clue.

A tropical plant in the wild has a fairly stable, more-or-less constantly
available supply of nutrition. Sure, the concentration may vary a bit,
depending on the level of rainfall, what's decomposing in the immediate
vicinity, or when the latest bird deposit was made, but generally speaking,
it's all there, all the time.

Even if the plant has a definite growth cycle with periods of relative
dormancy, those nutrients are still there, aren't they?

I put some more info about selecting a feeding regimen he
http://www.firstrays.com/feeding_regimen.htm

Ray, I guess we're talking about trying to "improve" on nature with
the variation in NPK during the season. ie optimising the growth
requirements during growth, & the components that assist flower
establishment during that phase. If you raised your regime at our
society (& probably most others) you'd start quite a debate, with
comparable numbers for your approach as for what I wrote. I confess
to being a relative newbie, & I listen, learn, & experiment after
hearing the words of those with much more experience. One experiment
has already led to the suggestion my phalaenanthe bud drop was due to
over watering & high N for too long.
But do you remember that *huge* floral display from a D bigibbum I
posted on abpo a while back? You'd never see anything like that in
the wild. That plant was grown by the fellow whose fertiliser regime
I described above.

Dave Gillingham
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