To start at the beginning, I rescued a phaleanopsis hybrid from a
relative. I don't know exactly what caused the problems with the
plant, probably a nasty combination of watering with cold softened
water and being on a drafty windowsill. The leaves were limp with a
leathery appearance. I brought the plant home and leached it with
warmed filtered water at my sink. It still lost the lowest leaf, but
the other three have firmed up considerably, and there is a new leaf
growing. A few days ago I found an aquarium test kit with water
amendment treatments at an outlet store I scrounge around in
occasionally. It got me thinking and I have done some research on the
subject of water since, and bought a packet of "Jungle" test strips
that test for nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, hardness, and PH.

For my orchids I use a fertilizer mix that involves 1 lb. of 20-20-20
dissolved into a 64 oz container and 3 tsp. Super Thrive. I use
roughly 1 tsp per gallon of water from this mix when I feed the orchids
(if my calculations are correct it is 50% of the recommended strength).
I also mix into a 2 gallon sprayer or 5 gallon bucket and let the
water sit overnight or a few days to achieve room temperature. BTW,
the water is filtered in my plant room (a recent addition). The PH is
still high between 7.2 and 7.5. Is it better to lower the PH with
cider vinegar or distilled white (5% acid)?

I have a varied collection. Most of the phals are still in bark, but
need repotting. Haven't decided yet what mix to repot them into,
most have bloom spikes and think I will wait until May of June. Most
of the cattleyas are in CHC, Paphs and Phrags are mainly in CHC and
coir (some in Aussie Gold). I also have a few misc. in baskets,
mounted, and S/H as a test. I am trying reduce stress during the
winter, and amending the water quality seems to be the best way. Too
many different orchids, I know, but am still learning.

Previously I moved the orchids outside in the summer and inside during
the winter. They hate the winter. It's probably a combination of
missing the rain, harder water, too high PH, and difficulty in properly
leaching. My main objective was to keep them alive until I could move
them out again. This year I am considering keeping them in my growing
room for the summer.

Thanks,

Nancy G.

Hi, Nancy G: First of all, congrats for "listening" to your plants. They
will communicate, if you are receptive, and it seems that you are.

I have never tried vinegar for pH adjustment, but I suspect the white would
be a better choice [probably less additives]. I'm more than willing to be
corrected on that by someone with firsthand experience.

If you can get really GOOD sphagnum, that would be the best thing for your
Phals. Otherwise, I think CHC would be your best choice, and they will
probably need to be watered more often than the Catts you have in that
medium.

Good growing, Kenni

"Nancy G." wrote in message
oups.com...
To start at the beginning, I rescued a phaleanopsis hybrid from a
relative. I don't know exactly what caused the problems with the
plant, probably a nasty combination of watering with cold softened
water and being on a drafty windowsill. The leaves were limp with a
leathery appearance. I brought the plant home and leached it with
warmed filtered water at my sink. It still lost the lowest leaf, but
the other three have firmed up considerably, and there is a new leaf
growing. A few days ago I found an aquarium test kit with water
amendment treatments at an outlet store I scrounge around in
occasionally. It got me thinking and I have done some research on the
subject of water since, and bought a packet of "Jungle" test strips
that test for nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, hardness, and PH.

For my orchids I use a fertilizer mix that involves 1 lb. of 20-20-20
dissolved into a 64 oz container and 3 tsp. Super Thrive. I use
roughly 1 tsp per gallon of water from this mix when I feed the orchids
(if my calculations are correct it is 50% of the recommended strength).
I also mix into a 2 gallon sprayer or 5 gallon bucket and let the
water sit overnight or a few days to achieve room temperature. BTW,
the water is filtered in my plant room (a recent addition). The PH is
still high between 7.2 and 7.5. Is it better to lower the PH with
cider vinegar or distilled white (5% acid)?

I have a varied collection. Most of the phals are still in bark, but
need repotting. Haven't decided yet what mix to repot them into,
most have bloom spikes and think I will wait until May of June. Most
of the cattleyas are in CHC, Paphs and Phrags are mainly in CHC and
coir (some in Aussie Gold). I also have a few misc. in baskets,
mounted, and S/H as a test. I am trying reduce stress during the
winter, and amending the water quality seems to be the best way. Too
many different orchids, I know, but am still learning.

Previously I moved the orchids outside in the summer and inside during
the winter. They hate the winter. It's probably a combination of
missing the rain, harder water, too high PH, and difficulty in properly
leaching. My main objective was to keep them alive until I could move
them out again. This year I am considering keeping them in my growing
room for the summer.

Thanks,

Nancy G.

Kenni Judd wrote:
I have never tried vinegar for pH adjustment, but I suspect the white would
be a better choice [probably less additives]....


What additives? Distilled (white) vinegar is made from distilled
alcohol. That's the big difference between it and other vinegars, and
it's what accounts white vinegar's lack of any flavor other than
acetic acid.

Good old cider vinegar will do just as well. There's nothing "added"
to it, except by the apples.

Most vinegar sold in the US is 5% acetic acid, so any pH calculations
need to take that into account Some specialty vinegars are weaker; the
bottle will give the concentration.

Somebody might want to try diluting more concentrated or, god knows
why, glacial acetic acid, but I don't recommend it. They can cause
serious burns to the skin and eyes, especailly glacial acetic.

J. Del Col

I have my phals in S/H and they seem to love it, yes I know that growth
medium is just one of many factor ( that I haven't killed an orchid yet
I fully admit is more luck than knowledge, I'll bow to the experts)
BUT for me with haveing to be gone alot I found that having a resevore
in the pot helped alot and that I could vary the moisture of the S/H
medium by mixing hydro corals with Grodan rock wool, for my phals I
have a central wick of grodan up to just below where the roots reach
keeping the mixure a bit more mosit.

and as for flushing / leaching it is easier but you have to watch for
ph and fertilizer concentrations in the container - or just flush it
out every month.

Jack

p.s. I transferred 2 of my phal while in spike over to s/h, and lost
the formed buds, but they put more out since then and are still in
bloom ( I was staying with my cousin who 12 mo old baby and was
fighting a loosing battle with fungas gnat using only insecticidal
soap, and their larval in my bark medium)

and as for flushing / leaching it is easier but you have to watch for
ph and fertilizer concentrations in the container - or just flush it
out every month.

Jack

We had 3 days of glorious weather. Sunny, temps in the 60's F. and
above 40 at night. Who would believe it in January and February in
Missouri?

I actually carried the plants outside to flush out their mix and drench
the mounts and baskets. I used 1 tsp epsom salts per gallon and 5
gallons would do 4-6 pots.

It gave me an opportunity to inspect for hitchhikers and spray some
likely suspects. In particular an Epi and a phaius. If there are two
pests in the growing room, those two are the bus they ride. Fortunately
no sigh of the mealies that I was fighting last year on the phals.

Irritating thing is, I checked the formula of the fertilizer. Why it
uses such a high % of nitrogen from urea is beyond me, and it said it
was for orchids! Everything I've read suggests using urea free
fertilizer for orchids for better utilization. That just added insult
to injury. Will be changing that ASAP, actully I haven't fed for a
couple of weeks now, just watering with the filtered water and they've
started looking better. Probably should just stop feeding during the
winter in the future (it's too late now, but next year maybe). Will be
looking for another brand/formula at a real garden center or ordering
some fertilizer on line.

Nancy G.

The explaination that I got was that is that urea breaks down slower in
soil, but potting medium in most orchid culture is aseptic (clean or
inorganic) medium than lacks the microbes to break down the urea, which
is why I was told to buy urea free fertilizer, as the urea still forms
salts that affect the plant.

Also, how do you like SuperThrive, I bought some the other month and
have been using it since then (9weeks) I din't loose any plants to
transplant shock, but haven't seen any "Super" results other than that.

Jack

If you see a lot of change during the winter from a fertilizer, it's not
always a good thing. Your plants should be resting or blooming this time of
year, not growing. So the fertilizer should not be forcing them to grow.
If anyone more experienced than myself dissagrees, please jump in.
Murri
"Jack" wrote in message
oups.com...
The explaination that I got was that is that urea breaks down slower in
soil, but potting medium in most orchid culture is aseptic (clean or
inorganic) medium than lacks the microbes to break down the urea, which
is why I was told to buy urea free fertilizer, as the urea still forms
salts that affect the plant.

Also, how do you like SuperThrive, I bought some the other month and
have been using it since then (9weeks) I din't loose any plants to
transplant shock, but haven't seen any "Super" results other than that.

Jack

IMHO, both water and fertilizer need to be reduced in winter for almost all
orchids. "Winter" of course varies by location, and sometimes yearly even
at the same location, and the degree of reduction varies by the type of
plant. Some need a serious fast, others just to "cut back."

On the formulation of fertilizer, there is tons of conflicting research
floating around, esp. on whether urea nitrogen is useful for orchids. I
have not studied hard enough to come to a firm opinion on that one, but tend
to lean toward the "non-urea is better" school of thought. [Although I can
see that this might also be dependent in part on the potting mix.] On the
"numbers," e.g., high nitrogen (30-10-10) vs. a more balanced formula, there
appears to be a pretty good concensus that you need the former if growing
mostly in bark, and the latter if growing mostly in other media.

The few things I am willing to stick my neck out on:

1. There is NO perfect fertilizer for ALL orchids in ALL situations.

2. It is FAR better to underfeed than to overfeed.

3. Weaker, more frequent applications, are better than less frequent,
stronger feedings.

For us, in our conditions and our potting mixes, we like the Dyna-Grow
"Grow" formula, but we still have to add extra magnesium in the hottest
months of summer.

Good growing,
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids



"Lady Blacksword" wrote in message
...
If you see a lot of change during the winter from a fertilizer, it's not
always a good thing. Your plants should be resting or blooming this time
of year, not growing. So the fertilizer should not be forcing them to
grow.
If anyone more experienced than myself dissagrees, please jump in.
Murri
"Jack" wrote in message
oups.com...
The explaination that I got was that is that urea breaks down slower in
soil, but potting medium in most orchid culture is aseptic (clean or
inorganic) medium than lacks the microbes to break down the urea, which
is why I was told to buy urea free fertilizer, as the urea still forms
salts that affect the plant.

Also, how do you like SuperThrive, I bought some the other month and
have been using it since then (9weeks) I din't loose any plants to
transplant shock, but haven't seen any "Super" results other than that.

Jack

I think it helps during the transplant and active growing. I tried it
at first on about half of the orchids, and the ones with it seemed to
do better. Fresh it smelled like liquid baby vitamins (Polyvisol), now
it smells a little more sour, vinegarish (started with 16 oz). It may
be getting old. I don't use much, about 2 drops per gallon.

BTW, the catts and dens are starting their new growth and canes. My
cyms have nearly all finished blooming. Phaius is spiking. I have
some catt blooms and buds developing. Now if that darned Den
lodigessii will ever get off dead center and bloom I'd be a happy
camper.

This will make all of you cringe, but 10 years ago (with my first few
orchids) I'd water with the water from my bird bath. Occasionally
after fishing I'd give them a minnow. Remember, they were outside for
the summer. The roots would make a U-turn for the minnow. Not very
scientific or approved by anyone that knew what they were doing, but
the orchids seemed to do better. Since then I have moved from Alabama
to Missouri, water and climate are different, and acquired more orchids
and researched, you know the drill. I am taking it more seriously, but
secretly, I think they still want water drained from the outside
birdbath, minnows, and are yearning for a return to the good old days
when I wasn't trying so hard.

Nancy G.