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Liquid Orchid Fertilizer

17 years ago

I have a hose end sprayer that measures out the water so the fertilizer will dilute exactly as needed. I need a good liquid orchid fertilizer. I'm asking all you forum members to give me advice. My orchids are outdoors in a lattice house and will stay there till late October. Lattice makes the roof also. Please forum members, what's the best liquid fertilizer that works for you.

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Comments (8)

organic_kermit
17 years ago
Age Old Organics!
dragon_kite
17 years ago
This is a topic that comes up again and again. Strange considering most orchids really don't need that much fertilizer.

If you put "fertilizer" in the search feature of this orchid forum you'll get a lot of results from previous discussions...everything from MSU to manure.

Check the condition of your water before you get your fertilizer. It's important that the fertilizer composition can balance what is readily available (or lacking) in your local water.

The water in my neck of the woods has some minerals in it, not a lot so I use a personal mix of Dyna-gro, seaweed emulsion, and K-L-N. I've heard good things about Pro-tekt on this forum and would like to try that out too.
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I do both. Osmo 2 times a year - Spring and then after long hot summer. Throughout the growing season I add water soluable to captan for disease control and systemic insect if needed - If you don't need these controls than it is best (for me anyway) to actually spray the water soluable. I water well the day before the spray day - hydrated orchids are strongest - Put a little squirt of dish soap and tabls (1 per gallon of spray) fertilizer in tank sprayer and saturate away concentrating on bottom surface of leaves as well as top surface and roots. This past year I have also added a small amount of minor elements (Thrive), You use just a small amount. This has worked well for years.
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Just bought Neptune’s Harvest Fish Hydrolysate. I have 25 roses to be fed as follows: 1) 2 rose bushes 20+ years old 2) 2 drifts(Pink), 1 Lavender crush climber , 3 knockouts(Red, Coral, White), 2 carpets(Red, Yellow) planted in May 2019 3) Rest planted on Oct 5 2019.( Grand Dame(1), Dick Clark(1), Julia Child(1), Angel Face(1), Golden Glow(1), Intrigue(1), Tiffany(1), Mister Lincoln (1), All Dressed Up(1), Dream Come True(1), Pretty in Pink Eden (1), America(2), Don Juan(2)) Given the relative ages of these 2 gallon plants in the soil, how many gallons @ 1/8 cup: 1 gallon of water would cover all these? Instructions on the bottle below are not clear. This will be the last fertilizer treatment before Spring 2020. Stated on the bottle: Outdoor Plants: Use 1/8 Cup (1 fl. Oz.- 1:128) per gallon of water. Feed vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs every 1-2 weeks. Apply until soil is saturated or as a foliar feed until leaves are wet, top & bottom. It is best to foliar feed early or late in the day. Thanks much!
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audmer
17 years ago
I agree with the two previous replies. I alternate between the two, since Age Old is organic and Dyna-Gro is inorganic. I use the basic grow formulas for both brands.
lar11833
Original Author
17 years ago
Very good. While one of the Age Old Organics do you use. They sell a variety of fertilizers. Please advise.

Lilly
organic_kermit
17 years ago
I use both the "Bloom" and the "Grow" interchangeably (SP?). Depending on the plants and season etc. Once a month I throw in superthrive and once a month or so I throw in epsom with the fert. I feel kind of lame going on about it due to the organic in my name. But I have a degree in Organic Horticulture, and I used to use a chem fert just on orchids and Age Old on everything else. Then one day I realized how dumb I thought that was and switched. That was many years ago and have seen an actual improvement in growth and blooms. Also, now I have a 19 month old that likes to eat the dirt and bark from my plants. Although I know that the fert no matter what it is shouldn't be in the mouth, I feel better that it is organic matter. Also the numbers are so low that you don't have to worry so much about reducing the amount, ie. no burned roots. Hope this helps.
Shani
organic_kermit
17 years ago
BTW, Lilly is one of my favorite names ever.
lar11833
Original Author
17 years ago
Organic Kermit, what is BTW?

Lilly
richardol
17 years ago
By The Way

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