Most is probably the key word here. Even Xaviar would agree that MOST of the billions of orchids either brought into culture or seedlings started from flask are in that great compost bin in the sky. Not monster specimen plants like in your GH.
True but nothing to do with K
We all have our handful of individual successes, but collectively they represent a tiny fraction of all the attempts that are either dead or look like crap.
I beg to differ! Yes I do loose the occasional orchid but I would say that the LOSSES are the tiny fraction. So I can't put the loss down to improper feeding before improper temps or watering or air movement or whatever.
Did you miss Xavier's comments about how much bigger and better wild plants look than cultivated plants? Did you miss all his other posts about how many millions of collected plants and captive propagated plants crap out before reaching blooming size (let alone the stray specimen)?
Again nothing to do with K. Plants brought in from the wild 9 times out of 10 die because of the trauma of having their roots destroyed and brought into cultivation without the critical reestablishment procedures.
Did you miss the "tombstones" thread that showed everyone's handfuls of old plant tags from lost specimens. Or have you missed the random comments like "your a newbie until you've killed your ____ (fill in age, weight, ...huge number) of orchids.
There are so many reasons why people lose orchids and I'm all for trying to find the reasons. But I'm afraid that historically its always been the wrong environment coupled with improper day to day care that leads to the loss not the fertilizer. And thats a fact not a theory.
I'm proposing that a good place to see "all that antagonism" is the 99% of orchids that never made it to specimen status.
Recently I purchased 2 identical Cattleya seedlings. Both treated the same. Same pot, same p/mix, same watering, same fert. After a few days, 1 developed an infection and was about to die (luckily I think I saved it by soaking in Banrot)
The other is still fine. The reason I believe was that the infection started in the mix and quickly moved through the roots and into the plant. Its just one of those things that happens from time to time and nothing can really be done about it. Most losses come like this and have nothing to do with nutrients.