"It looks like you switched to the Dyna grow 9-3-6 last year. Do you still use CRF in your soil mix if you are still using this fert?" Actually, I rarely use the CRFs at all. I like the near complete control the soluble fertilizers give me in containers. I'm pretty diligent about fertilizer applications, so I really don't need the CRFs to cover the 'in case I forget' base, or for any minor elements they might supply. I included them in the soil recipes to make it easier for others. As long as you're faithful to your nutrient supplementation program, you can easily do w.o them. If you think you'll be lax at times, I'd include them. 109 ppm alkalinity is nothing to be overly concerned about with fast container soils. It would be interesting to learn how the Ca and Mg levels are though. Alkalinity is related to pH because alkalinity (practically speaking and for our applications) determines your water's resistance to pH changes. If you have water 'A' at a pH of 9.0 with an alkalinity of 75 mg/L CaCO3, and water 'B', with a pH of 8.0 (a full point lower to begin with) and alkalinity of 300 mg/L CaCO3, it will take about 4 times as much 35% H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) to bring the water with the lower pH down to That aside - your water is better than mine, so I really doubt you'll have Fe/Mn issues if you're using either the 9-3-6 or MG. I will say though, that bark/peat soils have a potentially high Fe:Mn ratio, so applying Fe w/o Mn could easily create a deficiency of Mn. If I were in your shoes, I would do nothing until I actually saw evidence of an Fe deficiency. Then, I would acidify. Oh - the other likely cause of an Fe deficiency is too much P, which combines with the Fe to form an insoluble precipitate, so avoid the high P fertilizers - they are useless unless you are using them to supply the exact amount of P needed while intentionally (severely) limiting N. I used this strategy last year: I fertilized with regular dosages of 9-3-6 until the plants were well established. I then cut way back on the dosage and added ProTeKt to the solution. I rather like to envision that I used the added K (and got the benefit of the added silicon) to change the fertilizer ratio to 3:1:3 from a 3:1:2. This allowed me to reduce the dosage of N (reducing vegetative growth) while still having adequate P and K. Take care. Al

What you received in reply is boiler plate - sorry. If you ask her, or better yet, Dave, "What would be the purpose/point of providing almost 10x as much P than the plant can/will use in your 3-6-12, and almost 3.5x as much in the 7-9-5", I bet you'll get an entirely different answer - probably based on their not wanting to forgo filling a market niche. See Dave's email above. Just below is something I wrote about high-P fertilizers. It should help to explain why anyone would be hard-pressed to come up with even an imaginary situation where a high-P fertilizer (one where the middle number [P] is larger than the first number [N]. Even 1:1:1 ratio fertilizers, like 20-20-20 or 14-14-14 have more P than the plant can/will use in relation to the amount of N supplied by about 2.3x. How Much P is Enough?size>color> Let's first look at the role of fertilizers in general. There are 6 factors that affect plant growth and yield; they are: air, water, light, temperature, soil or media, and nutrients. Liebig's Law of Limiting Factors states the most deficient factor limits plant growth and increasing the supply of non-limiting factors will not increase plant growth. Only by increasing most deficient factor will the plant growth increase. There is also an optimum combination of the factors and increasing them, individually or in various combinations, can lead to toxicity for the plant. From the above, we can say that when any nutritional element is deficient in the soil, plant growth slows. We have a term for this occurrence: environmental dormancy. When the deficient element is restored to adequacy levels the environmental constraint caused by the deficient element is eliminated and plant growth can resumes at a normal rate, as long as there are not additional limiting factors. Continuing to increase the element beyond the adequacy range offers no benefits and can deleteriously affect the plant - often in several ways, depending on the element. Somewhere along the way, we curiously began to look at fertilizers as miraculous assemblages of growth drugs, and started interpreting the restorative (of normal growth) effect of fertilizer as stimulation beyond what a normal growth rate would be if all nutrients were adequately present in soils. It's no small wonder that we come away with the idea that there are 'miracle concoctions' out there and often end up placing more hope than is reasonable in them. In couplet with the hope for the 'miracle tonic' is 'more must be better'. I'll use that idea as the lead-in to my thoughts on high phosphorous fertilizer blends. Among container growers you often find common belief that high phosphorus (P) content fertilizers are a requirement for promotion of root growth and/or flowering. Fertilizer blends like 15-30-15, and even 10-52-10 are sold under names that imply that you actually NEED these formulas for plants to bloom well and to produce strong roots. Lets examine that idea in a little more depth. While anecdotal evidence abounds, there is very little scientific evidence to show any need for such products. I've mentioned in other posts that high-P fertilizers are a historical carry-over from when it was most common for plants to be started in outdoor soil beds, the soil in which was usually still quite cold at sowing time. Both the solubility of P and plants' ability to take it up are reduced in cold soils, so it was reasoned that fertilizing with high levels of P insured that at least some would be available during periods of growth in chilled soils. We know that tissue analysis of leaves, roots, flowers - any of the live tissues of healthy plants will reveal that P is present in tissues at an average of 1/6 that of nitrogen (N) and about 1/4 that of potassium (K). Many plants even contain as much calcium (Ca) as P. If we know that we cannot expect P to be found in higher concentrations in the roots and blooms than we find in foliage, how can we justify the belief that massive doses of P are important to their formation? It is well known among experienced growers that withholding N when all other nutrients are available at adequate levels induces bloom production on smaller and younger plants. Even though plants USE nutrients at approximately a 3:.5:2 ratio (note that N is 6 times the level of P, and K is 4 times the level of P), most greenhouse operations purposely fertilize with something very near a 2:1:2 ratio to limit vegetative growth so they can sell a compact plant sporting pretty blooms to tempt you. Simply limiting N limits vegetative growth, but it does nothing to limit photosynthesis. The plant keeps making food, but it cannot use it to grow leaves and extend stems because of the lack of N. To where should we imagine the energy goes? It goes into producing blooms and fruit. What harm might there be in a little extra P in our soils? First consider that the popular 10-52-10 has almost 32 times more P than a huge percentage of plants could ever use. Even 1:1:1 fertilizer formulas like the popular 20-20-20 are already high P formulas because they have 6.25 times more P (in relation to N) than plants require to grow robustly and normally. Evidence of phosphate overfertilizing usually always includes some degree of leaf chlorosis. P competes with iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) ions for attachment sites and causes antagonistic deficiencies of these micronutrients. Unfortunately, the deficiency of these elements causes interveinal chlorosis (yellowing), and the first thing we normally consider as a fix for yellow leaves is more fertilizer, so we give the plants a good dose of our favorite bloom-bomb which causes, no surprise - worsening of the condition. I'll close with an anecdote of how I used to fertilize plants with showy blooms before I had a better understanding of the overall picture. I would fertilize with a "bloom-boosting" fertilizer as long as foliage was bright green. As foliage inevitably yellowed, I would then switch to a high N formula until the color returned & start the cycle over again. I THOUGHT that the P was helping with the blooms and the yellowing was caused by a lack of N, which I quickly jumped to correct at the first evidence of yellow. I now understand that the high levels of P were what were causing the yellowing and it wasn't my returning to a high N formula that greened the plant up again, it was the reduction in the level of P in the soil when I stopped using the high-P formulation.color> Al

Alturm.....sigh.....You are adorable thank you ...First u said 1 or 2 days u lucky guy in 40c imagine always...??? My porch faces south...Here in zone 10 a southern exposure is advised. Iam what is called south Florida about 3 hours from the keyes and 30 miniutes from Palm Beach and Fort lauderdale if that helps ? Right now no direct sunlight hits but the heat..is there morning sun and shade all afternoon small breeze today and in the 80's f. Last nights in the 70's I gave everybody a good shower they look happier and now daily misting except the den..we will see what happens. Vasco in a lovely spike with gorgeous blooms..my cam is not working but cell phone pics I have and plan to post. Sadly, I can't get the great lengths in the fotos of the Vascos root system about 3 feet long hanging out ...The den is over 2 feet high.. Phals simering down from blooming for 3 months or so..They now are inside with a circulating fan.Leaves very very happy..When in bloom one noid unfortunately that is what happens here alot of noids sorry stayed with hardly any watering in bloom for 3 months ..awesome I so wish I had the name as I would buy more .. Oncidiums and the tiny Tolumnia Vaset xRobsans I believe stoped blooming but looking good. They are on a husk and I dip them daily in luke warm water ..later on will mist as well early morning for all. I have Just about a 10 varieties of the Orchids looking to add some paphs not seen so many this year and the rest are two great travelers palms ...many many african violets and my great experimental Ming araelas..Then another type of araelea , and a great blooming fragrant jasmen tree then the very difficult pasiaflora coreulea..Then I bonsai and now intrigued with growing moss and staghorns... So my Porch is a forest but next investments are asocendas and I think another vascostylis the V Zengo Pink remember for original vase experiment did not do well out of vase these past few days so today back in... There is now a sticky something coming off some center leaves..like a new bud makes can't figure this out ...should I wash it off ? not sure anymore .. Looking for some nice ascocendas which are hard to find as they will bloom more often...it is a great expense and it is my first spring/summer in my mom's apartment since she died and I moved in ...Introducing new varieties in summer can be difficult we shall see. I'm watching the Den..salaya fancy which is hugh in a large hanging basket in spagnum moss....Likes to stay some what drier and is threiving now in this heat ...Go figure . This is not easy ...With all you guys makes it all the worth while thank you so much .Have a great weekend ..

Jane and others — The below is by RF Orchids - located in Homestead, FL (Robert Fuchs) on growing Vanda and they grow gorgeous, huge Vanda, mostly on wire only, some with strap basket and not much if any media. Robert Fuch is a leading expert on these plants, a breeder and AOS judge and current president and officer of American Orchid Society. He knows what he is talking about and his plants show it without being overpriced. He has won many awards and has a website RF Orchids. I don’t personally know him but I know what his plants look like. “WATER: Vandaceous orchids in slat baskets should be ­watered daily, preferably early in the morning. Give them a good drink with the hose, or a dunk in a bucket or sink if you only have a few plants, and let them dry. High daytime humidity is essential, especially on sunny days, and additional misting once or twice a day in bright weather will be helpful. On hot, sunny days around 80% humidity is appropriate. Water more sparingly in winter, during long cloudy spells, or after repotting. In any season, avoid watering plants late in the afternoon. Vandaceous plants should be dry before nightfall. FERTILIZING: Vandaceous orchids are heavy feeders. Once a week during the growing season, give the plants a solution of a complete, balanced fertilizer. High-nitrogen fertilizers will inhibit flowering and are not recommended for these ­orchids. All plants should be flushed thoroughly with plain water once a week to remove built-up salts. If you use an automatic proportioner, plants may be fertilized as often as daily with a more dilute solution. Whatever feeding plan you follow, remember, it is important to be faithful to the ­regimen you have ­established. We use Peter’s 20-20-20 (All Purpose with micronutrients; Jack’s Classic All-Purpose is packaged for consumer sales) fertilizer weekly during the growing season. Inside the greenhouse, under a controlled environment, we use the standard, recommended concentration of 1 teaspoon per gallon. During the winter (non-growing season), we apply the same proportions every two weeks rather than weekly. In addition, at every third feeding we substitute Peter’s (or Jack’s Classic) 10-30-20 (Bloom Booster). This substitution ­applies to plants in all seasons of the year. And once a month we add 1/4 teaspoon of ­SUPERthrive, a concentrated vitamin and hormone solution for plants, to each gallon of fertilizer solution. SUPERthrive is a root stimulant, not a fertilizer.” Note: Both of these companies have tabs on their website for how they grow Vanda. And Motes has YT channel with 4-5 hours in 4 videos on growing orchids, mostly Vanda in south Florida. Motes Orchids (Miami Fl) Dr Motes recommends watering each time until the roots turn dark green. He has written a number of books and articles (including for the American Orchid Society) on growing Vanda (their specialty) in South Florida.