K-Lite Trial Observations

[Rick]

I must apologizes If I got anyone overly excited. I re-read my earlier post and I may have stretch the wording (yellow) a bit much.

HaHa Rick, it sure started the speculation!!

Do you have access/tools to conduct a few pH or alkalinity checks?

The random checks I conducted on stuff in the baskets generally indicated pH values in the typical pH sweet spot, and drainage alkalinity values <20 mg/L as CaCO3.

But it would be interesting to see what fresh Orchiata mix is like since the K-lite mix is geared towards low alkalinity users.

 

[SlipperKing]

I have no tools like that and since the dept shut down my side of the lab, I don't even have a pH meter anymore

 

[Rick]

Bummer

Maybe you can set up an alkalinity testing station/service for your local society.

It's a simple/cheap titration so all you need is a graduated burret, weak sulfuric acid (of known normality) and some bromecrsol green indicator packets (from HACH).


$16 per pack of 100 pillows (HACH Cat.#943-99)

 

[Stone]

For the K-liters, I was reading through one of my gardening books and came across this: Quote- Potassium deficiency leads to the accumulations of sugars and nitrate in plant tissues and it is these that provide much of the food for attacking organisms-Unquote. So maybe keep a look out for infections?

Rick, I've been playing around with fermented organic fertilizers, and would like to be able to test for nitrate and ammonium levels in a simple and cheap? way. What kind of equipment do I need to get?

Mike

 

[keithrs]

Stone,
Rick and others report that infection have gone down since they started the k lite regimen.

I have been thinking about using fertilizer teas on top of my beneficial brews. I make fertilizer teas for my gardens and I think I may pull a few plants and see how they do.

 

[SlipperKing]

Keith,
Explain your teas please

 

[Stone]

As I've metioned a few times I grow lots of other plants besides orchids and for the last few years I have been making slow release fertilizer cakes based on 70-30 soyabean meal and blood/bone.

The results in plant health and appearence outstrips any other ferts. that I've tried. this may have something to do with the slow release nature (4-6 weeks) supplying a steady trickle of nutrients. but plants look greener and glossier than with osmocote. (Clivias, which grow in leafmold in Sth. African rainforest very similar to many paphs, really do well with it) Or it might be that it contains other compounds not found in maufactured fertilizers?

Japanese growers use it on everything including paphs but it's definately not for city dwellers--while the cakes are fermenting you can't go anywhere near them--especially in summer--very funky:evil:
What I woud like to try is to use it in liquid form. and how do they deodorize liquid organics??

 

[Rick]

For the K-liters, I was reading through one of my gardening books and came across this: Quote- Potassium deficiency leads to the accumulations of sugars and nitrate in plant tissues and it is these that provide much of the food for attacking organisms-Unquote. So maybe keep a look out for infections?

Rick, I've been playing around with fermented organic fertilizers, and would like to be able to test for nitrate and ammonium levels in a simple and cheap? way. What kind of equipment do I need to get?

Mike

I think you'll need to hit up on an aquarium store for this Mike. The equipment we use in our lab for these tests is pretty expensive. The nesslers test we run (for ammonia) uses some pretty nasty reagents. I think the cadmium reduction method we use for nitrate is not as toxic/noxious, and the reagent pillows are cheap, but the spectrophotometer to read the results is expensive. I think there is a salasilic acid test for ammonia which is safe to use, and may be usable with a handheld reader available from fish stores. Unfortunately the accuracy is not as good with a hand reader.

Given that K lite still has 1% K it's going to be real tough to generate a K deficiency. As you 've noted with several of your own (very awesome) plants can skip fertilizing for months (or years?) on end, and they don't become K deficient.

However, I also have a study from the agri/food crop areana that when K exceeds Ca in the leaf tissues of even K loving crops like beans and potatoes, they become sensitive to some of our favorite diseases (Botrytus and Erwinia). As Keiters, myself and a few others have noted, the incidence and virulence of disease in our plants has declined since reducing K.

 

[Stone]

I think you'll need to hit up on an aquarium store for this Mike. The equipment we use in our lab for these tests is pretty expensive. The nesslers test we run (for ammonia) uses some pretty nasty reagents. I think the cadmium reduction method we use for nitrate is not as toxic/noxious, and the reagent pillows are cheap, but the spectrophotometer to read the results is expensive. I think there is a salasilic acid test for ammonia which is safe to use, and may be usable with a handheld reader available from fish stores. Unfortunately the accuracy is not as good with a hand reader.

Given that K lite still has 1% K it's going to be real tough to generate a K deficiency. As you 've noted with several of your own (very awesome) plants can skip fertilizing for months (or years?) on end, and they don't become K deficient.

However, I also have a study from the agri/food crop areana that when K exceeds Ca in the leaf tissues of even K loving crops like beans and potatoes, they become sensitive to some of our favorite diseases (Botrytus and Erwinia). As Keiters, myself and a few others have noted, the incidence and virulence of disease in our plants has declined since reducing K.

Rats!, I've always wanted a spectrophotometer:rollhappy: Ok I'll check my aquarium store.

 

[keithrs]

Which teas Rick? Fertilizer or the beneficial?

 

[SlipperKing]

I'm guessing the fertilizer type?

 

[keithrs]

I'm guessing the fertilizer type?

I don't really want to get to far off the topic.... but I use Foxfarms acid fertilizer, worm castings, and guano(mix of guano depending on stage of growth) mixture... 1/2 cup per gal of filtered water in a paint strainer. Added to that is kelp, organic molasses, fulvic acid mixture @ 15 ml per gal. Then I use plant success soluble @ 1/2 oz per 6 gals. Brew in a aerated container @ 72 deg for 24 hrs. I also top dress with the fertilizer mixture. Again I use this for my garden as of now but I may pull a few plant to test it on.

 

[SlipperKing]

Man, that's a lot of crap in can if I can say that!

 

[keithrs]

Pretty much any organic dry fertilizer has the beneficials in it if you wanted to try top dressing in a organic mix via bark or CHC. CHC is a better choose because the beneficials are "held" on to better.

The beneficial teas are alot simpler....

Also I only fertilize my garden once every 2 weeks.... I rely on organic matter(compost) to do most the feeding.

 

[terryros]

A brief report back to the beginning topic:

I am making a 10% solution of K-Lite (in my case 50 grams into 450 mL RO water so my solution is usually pretty fresh. I then add 25 mL of this stock solution per gallon RO water for the final working solution. To this I am adding 10 mL per gallon Kalpac.

This final solution has an EC of about 0.82 and a pH of 4.7.

I am repotting everything into fresh New Zealand sphagnum and top dressing with a small amount of dolomitic limestone to target the pot medium to have a pH in the 5s.

Any one see an issue?

 

[abax]

How can any of us trust our observations and

results of the K-Lite when the fertilizing program is altered
with additions to the low K regimen? I'm asking those
growers who are actually participating in the test.

 

[Ray]

Picking up on Lance's comments a while back - if the fertilizer formula is all that is changed, and other additives are used just as they were before, an observant grower may be able to discern changes.

 

[terryros]

Understood. I had better stay out with two variables changed.

 

[Rick]

results of the K-Lite when the fertilizing program is altered
with additions to the low K regimen? I'm asking those
growers who are actually participating in the test.

Nobody ever just uses unaltered stuff anyway. I've never used regular MSU by itself, so my own personal use of additives or potting amendments is a constant with the only change being the switch to a low K fert. This trial is basically a "ground-proofing" exercise under real field conditions, which generally includes a lot of tinkering around the edges.

I'm not as tied into specific fertilizer mixes as singular black boxes of unknown magic ingredients. The main point was to reduce the total amount of K going to the plants, and increasing the amount of Ca/Mg. Remember I started my "work around" diluting regular MSU with CaNO3 and MgSO4 several months before K-lite was assembled. The K lite formulation is a singular method to go about that end.

So with regard to other additives, it would be good to know about their NPK CaMg content to determine whether the basic premise of a low K regime is making a difference.

 

[terryros]

I think the addition of the kelp extract from Ray is probably a variable that could be confusing. If I saw enhanced growth, we wouldn't know what to credit. I wanted to stay pure with the k-Lite as the only variable switch, but the Kelpac was too tempting and as an aging grower, I decided I needed to be practical and try and get to the better solution as soon as I could. I will just watch the rest of you. If I get something really amazing in 6 months, I may report.