K-Lite Testers: What do you grow, and have you made any observations?

[Rick]

I really need to make a big orchiata and sponge bark order....

I've never used orchiata, and since K-lite I'm getting good results (with barbata types!!) going back to CHC. This is especially the case since tracking pot TDS.

Also still getting great results in baskets with mixtures of gravel sand and sphagnum.

I know some folks are getting good results with the orchiata, but I don't think its neccesary if you cut feed way back and monitor pot conductivity.

 

[Rick]

So what does tap water have in it, that doesn't get removed, that RO water can not supply the plant. Hence, why add tap water?

Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chloride, silicates.


It depends what part of the country you are in. The composition can vary a lot on a very local basis. In general though potassium higher than 4ppm is very rare compared to the other consitituents. Silicates can also be rare.

That's why at a minimum I like to get a Hardness, alkalinity, and conductivity value for the water to be used, to adjust how much to blend in to RO.

 

[keithrs]

So what does tap water have in it, that doesn't get removed, that RO water can not supply the plant. Hence, why add tap water?

That would depend on the source of your tap water.... But in general you'll have some K,Ca,Mg,Fe, and other trace elements like aluminum and boron.

The idea behind adding tap is mainly to...
1) Aid the plants with Ca/Mg and minor amount of other elements.
2) Add alkalinity to the water so your pH doesn't fluctuate as much when you add fertilizer.

 

[keithrs]

I know some folks are getting good results with the orchiata, but I don't think its neccesary if you cut feed way back and monitor pot conductivity.

I think the reason that folks are seeing good growth in orchiata is because the amounts of Ca/Mg in the bark makes it hard for those bacteria that cause problem to set up shop. And you get the benefits of slow release Ca/Mg.

I do think orchiata is a great product just for its repot cycles. I love CHC also.

 

[Rick]

And you get the benefits of slow release Ca/Mg.

I think this was especially true when folks were getting improved results before low K came out.

There were 2 directions for this to work.

1) Slow release Ca/Mg to offset fertilizer K going into the plant
2) High divalent cation content of the bark matrix preventing build up of monovalents (K and Na) in the bark. (i.e. inhibiting unfavorable cation exchange).

If one was a strict RO user, the only monovalent added would be K, which in unsupported bark matrices, a high buildup of monovalent salt ions is not only directly toxic to plants, but shifts soil pathogens into unfavorable populations.

 

[Ray]

Just a quick note to advise that K-lite is back in stock.

 

[Stone]

I have been toying with the idea of adding tap water to my RO water. What kind of chemicals and additive do you need to worry about in tap water? I know you can sit tap water out for a day or two in the sun and gas-off some of them.

I am going to get the water test from the city. Ray, do you have anything on your website to help me understand the meanings of these test numbers?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with straight rain or RO water as long as you provide for the plants' needs with fertilizer and keep tabs on pH of your media. (which is all pretty easy) Adding a dash of 50/50 lime/dolomite (1-3 grams/Lt of mix) every six months should make up for any carbonate shortfall.
And even that probably won't be needed if you use Calcium nitrate as you principle N source. All other elements will be provided for with your fertilizer progam. For all the ''unknowns'', use kelp occasionally. Iron seems to be the only one to really keep an eye on unless you add it as Ferrous sulphate to your bark berore potting in which case it will last for years.
I also like to add a sourse of silica (diatomite) I don't think there's much in the way of amorphous silica in most waters?

 

[Rick]

All true, but you can do all the same by just adding some tap water and with every watering. To varying amounts (depending on local) everything you can add in solid form to the potting mix can be added from tap water already in soluble form from the tap.

Soluble silicates are present in varying amounts in tap water too, but varies drastically according to local.

If you consider orchids as epiphytes and orchids on the sides of cliffs, they rarely see anything as pure as collected rain water off of roofs and water out of RO machines.

I've got to look at lots of rainforest "throughfall" chemistry lately, and it's weak in ionic strength/makeup, but not 0 like RO.

And if you have a lot of mounted plants you have nowhere to add potting amendments.:wink:

 

[wjs2nd]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Rick, how would I know how much tap water to add? I'm going to goto my city hall and get the water readings/measurements.

It is much easier for me to just add tap water. I'm going to switch from worm tea (which I do like) to kelp.

 

[keithrs]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Rick, how would I know how much tap water to add? I'm going to goto my city hall and get the water readings/measurements.

It is much easier for me to just add tap water. I'm going to switch from worm tea (which I do like) to kelp.

Kelp and worm teas are to different animals. You should add kelp to your worm tea!

 

[Stone]

All true, but you can do all the same by just adding some tap water and with every watering. To varying amounts (depending on local) everything you can add in solid form to the potting mix can be added from tap water already in soluble form from the tap.

Soluble silicates are present in varying amounts in tap water too, but varies drastically according to local.

If you consider orchids as epiphytes and orchids on the sides of cliffs, they rarely see anything as pure as collected rain water off of roofs and water out of RO machines.

I've got to look at lots of rainforest "throughfall" chemistry lately, and it's weak in ionic strength/makeup, but not 0 like RO.

And if you have a lot of mounted plants you have nowhere to add potting amendments.:wink:

Also all true but beleive it or not, my rain water has a higher ec than my tap water. Probably from bird poop, dust and decomposed leaves falling into the tank. So I sometimes use tap water to dilute the rain water! (although its probably unnecessary) I've never used RO water but I did once use a carbon filter which removed the chlorine and flouride but left the carbonates.

 

[Rick]

yes leaves have lots of nutrients in them.

Sounds like your rainwater is compost tea!

 

[The Orchid Boy]

How much K-lite (teaspoons) per gallon?

This is a nice thread, I scanned through it all a few times. Sorry if this is a repeat. If it is maybe you could direct ne to the right page.

I know a lot or maybe everyone in this thread described how much fertlilizer they use by ppm. I justed ordered some K-lite from Ray and was wondering how much K-lite per gallon to use? Like measurement in teaspoons or something? I used my other 30-10-10 Grow-More at 1/4 stength. The package called for 1 tsp. per gallon, I used 1/4 tsp. per gallon. Not sure if this was enough, too much, or just right. I've always fertlized everything, paphs, phals, catts, ect. that are planted in different pots/mounts and mediums the same. Should I change my fertlizing 'plan'? I did water the phals in moss with more clear water and less fertilizer water though.

 

[abax]

Since I'd rather under-fertilize a bit, I use 1/4 tsp. per gallon of K-Lite .
My orchids seem quite happy at that strength.

 

[Ray]

This is a nice thread, I scanned through it all a few times. Sorry if this is a repeat. If it is maybe you could direct ne to the right page.

I know a lot or maybe everyone in this thread described how much fertlilizer they use by ppm. I justed ordered some K-lite from Ray and was wondering how much K-lite per gallon to use? Like measurement in teaspoons or something? I used my other 30-10-10 Grow-More at 1/4 stength. The package called for 1 tsp. per gallon, I used 1/4 tsp. per gallon. Not sure if this was enough, too much, or just right. I've always fertlized everything, paphs, phals, catts, ect. that are planted in different pots/mounts and mediums the same. Should I change my fertlizing 'plan'? I did water the phals in moss with more clear water and less fertilizer water though.

With ANY fertilizer, 8 divided by the %N on the label will give you the teaspoons per gallon for 100 ppm N. if you're shooting for 50 ppm N, as many of us are, divide 4 by the %N.

8/30 = 0.26667, so your quarter-teaspoon was close to 100 ppm N. K-Lite is a 12.9%N product, so for 50 ppm N, you'll need 4/12.9, or roughly 1/3 tsp/gal.

 

[Ozpaph]

Also all true but beleive it or not, my rain water has a higher ec than my tap water. Probably from bird poop, dust and decomposed leaves falling into the tank. So I sometimes use tap water to dilute the rain water! (although its probably unnecessary) I've never used RO water but I did once use a carbon filter which removed the chlorine and flouride but left the carbonates.

That's really odd. Is it a metallic tank or concrete? My rainwater (in the city straight of the roof. Mesh filter to keep the leaves out. Plastic tank.) has a tds of <30 but my tap water is about 300.

 

[terryros]

If you like to work from a liquid stock solution, with a little help from Ray, I learned to make a 10% stock solution by weighing out 50 gm of K-Lite and adding RO into the flask to go to 500 gm. I use a nice, compact weighing device that wasn't overly expensive and comes in handy to weight other thing. This stock solution keeps very well for at least 2 weeks and probably longer. You use 15 mL per gallon of RO to create a final 50 ppm N solution.


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[Rick]

That's really odd. Is it a metallic tank or concrete? My rainwater (in the city straight of the roof. Mesh filter to keep the leaves out. Plastic tank.) has a tds of <30 but my tap water is about 300.

That's probably about what 90% of the rest of us experience.

I only know of a handful of places in the US that has tap water with tds as low as rain water.

 

[Ray]

Rick asked me for an update on how the distribution of K-Lite fertilizer was going, so I thought I'd share it here, as well:

To-date, I have shipped a total of 484 lbs (including my own consumption) to 95 people.

Distribution includes 30 US states (CA, CT, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI), 4 Canadian provinces (AB, BC, ON, QC), France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, & Ukraine.

 

[gonewild]

All the other locations already grow perfect orchids. :wink: