Agreed Dave, we're not trying to totally duplicate nature, but improve upon
it.

The part I was gleaning from nature was the constancy of nutrition, not the
level of it, and I find it easier to attribute your den's display to higher
levels of nutrition more than any particular pattern of its application.

I've been growing orchids for over 30 years, and in that time, my feeding
regimen has changed a great deal. I have gone from newbie overenthusiastic
poisoning to benign neglect to diligent application of differing formulas at
different times of the year, plus many other variations, and I have observed
better overall growth since moving to constant feeding several years ago.

Then, two things happened that improved things further: I started to learn
more of the science behind plant nutrition from folks who make a living from
it, which has allowed me to find fertilizers that are designed more with the
plants in mind, and less on the marketing, and I increased the concentration
of the nutrient solution even further. I'm still experimenting...

Please understand that when I make comments like "following nature's lead,"
I don't necessarily mean it literally, but may be trying to make a point
that makes the thought easier to remember. One of the adages I've
remembered most clearly was taught to me by the man who gave me my first
orchid, and was related to avoiding repotting while a plant is in bloom:
"Blooming is a plant's expression of its sexuality. How would you like
being
dumped out of bed while expressing yours?" We all know that the advice has
nothing to do with sex or the plant getting its feelings hurt, but
that sure is a more vivid, easy-to-remember description than the details
about root cell functionality in the environment of the new medium and what
physiological stresses may come from changes in that functionality!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Dave Gillingham" wrote in message
...
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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