K-Lite Trial Observations

[Stone]

I'm not as tied into specific fertilizer mixes as singular black boxes of unknown magic ingredients.

I just love the sound of this sentance but

 

[jtrmd]

I haven't noticed much of anything,besides some ''greening'' up of some plants that usually like to stay a pale green color.It's also been a dreary winter here,with only a day or two of sunny days per week.I cant remember off hand,but I only started the K-lite for what seems like about a month ago(im too lazy to go check the calender I'm keeping track on).

 

[Ozpaph]

I just love the sound of this sentance but

He's been communicating with Peter Brock (........for the Oz car nuts).

 

[Stone]

He's been communicating with Peter Brock (........for the Oz car nuts).

Ah yes, poor old peter, the stars just weren't with him

 

[Ray]

OK, snapping this back on-topic for a moment.

I may be over-interpreting my observations, but in the back of my mind I have this tickle suggesting that the flower spikes on some phals are budding-up more densely on shorter spikes than ever before - i.e., reduced inter-node spacing.

Maybe this is how we get "hyacinth" phals. I'll keep you posted.

 

[abax]

I really don't know if this is a valid observation since

I've only used K-Lite three times, but my species Phals. seem to be blooming earlier and more profusely than previously. I've also seen a lot of new leaves popping up
rather earlier than expected. I have buds beginning on an
Iwan. that usually doesn't bloom until early summer. Something is stimulating this unusual growth, especially
since we've had practically no sun and an enormous amount of rain.

TN Rick, you're the closest neighbor I have and I assume
similar weather. Are you seeing lots of early new growth
and blooming?

 

[Marc]

I'm so looking forward to my package arriving

 

[Rick]

I've only used K-Lite three times, but my species Phals. seem to be blooming earlier and more profusely than previously. I've also seen a lot of new leaves popping up
rather earlier than expected. I have buds beginning on an
Iwan. that usually doesn't bloom until early summer. Something is stimulating this unusual growth, especially
since we've had practically no sun and an enormous amount of rain.

I've been getting a huge amount of winter growth (new leaves, roots). And leaves are larger and very shiny. Almost as if using one of those leaf shine products. Flowering has been if anything slightly delayed (I thought since its been so cloudy). But flower quality seems as good as ever. It seems like flowers are lasting a bit longer than usual. For instance I have a little Phal equestris var. roseae (or is it rosacea?). It got down to 2 little purple leaves, but turned around over the past year. Up to about 5 leaves, green, and much bigger than before. It has a little spike too, and rather than sequentially trickling a few open flowers at a time (like the first time it bloomed for me), its holding about 6-8 flowers open at a time.

 

[abax]

Hmmmm...I've noticed shinier leaves as well, but hadn't
considered the K-Lite as the reason. I have many equestris/primary crosses and they seem to like mounting and my gh conditions. They are soooo trustworthy bloomers. My surprises have been modesta,
two or three violaceas and a venosa that have been pouting until the last week or so. Interesting, eh?

 

[Rick]

Hmmmm...I've noticed shinier leaves as well, but hadn't
considered the K-Lite as the reason. I have many equestris/primary crosses and they seem to like mounting and my gh conditions. They are soooo trustworthy bloomers. My surprises have been modesta,
two or three violaceas and a venosa that have been pouting until the last week or so. Interesting, eh?

Yes. I have a straight equestris that just keeps getting bigger and more floriferous with each small/incremental change I was making towards this final low-k conclusion. But just about all my phals have been improving. I've killed whole flasks of mannii and fasciata, but have turned around a couple of small mannii, and just got one to rebloom! My deliciousa is putting on new huge shiny leaves, my mounted belina put on a huge new growth of roots, and the new leaves are thick and tough. My little parrishii which I thought had just about "bloomed itself into torpor" last year has put on a big flush of roots and leaves. The list just keeps getting longer.

 

[Rick]

I've made an observation from comparing both literature and growing conditions of some local growers that hybrids (especially hybrid phals and catts) seem to be more tolerant of high K fertilizers. Given the intense pressures of production growing it wouldn't surprise me that you could breed out a physiological intolerance for high K or breed in a mutation to expel excess K.

I'm guessing this is essentially how corn was "created". No one has discovered a "wild" corn, but it seems to have just appeared about the same time humanity colonized the new world, and started leaving piles of ashes from their fires around the edges of the villages.

If you recall wood ashes were humanities first form of agricultural potassium fertilizer (potash).

But I would also note that the handful of hybrid orchids I have are also doing much better than before!

 

[gonewild]

I've made an observation from comparing both literature and growing conditions of some local growers that hybrids (especially hybrid phals and catts) seem to be more tolerant of high K fertilizers. Given the intense pressures of production growing it wouldn't surprise me that you could breed out a physiological intolerance for high K or breed in a mutation to expel excess K.

The K tolerance that hybrids develop could come from the sowing media and replate media used in the flasks. If the media contains "high" levels of K then only seedlings that tolerate high K levels would survive past germination. That would set up a K tolerance genetic selection.

 

[Ray]

...and it might simply be that the physiologies of those specific genera handle things differently than do some others.

 

[Rick]

Yup all of the above.

But note my last sentence that even the hybrids in my collection are doing better (at least vegetatively) than before.

I expect given the diversity of folks collections that we will see a wide range of results. In general we get most excited about the extremes of death to CCE performance, but I expect we'll see more of a host of more nuanced positive results in the short term.

 

[Rick]

The K tolerance that hybrids develop could come from the sowing media and replate media used in the flasks. If the media contains "high" levels of K then only seedlings that tolerate high K levels would survive past germination. That would set up a K tolerance genetic selection.

Yes it would, but it must not be so absolute or acute, since I've gone through flasks worth of seedlings that made it through flasking in the first place.

 

[abax]

Do you have a nice fasciata now? I have a huge one with
several nice keiki...one with a nice spike of it's own. Would you like one of the keiki?

 

[Rick]

Do you have a nice fasciata now? I have a huge one with
several nice keiki...one with a nice spike of it's own. Would you like one of the keiki?

Mine is pretty big too since I've been growing it since 2002. The original mother plant is gone, but it has a good basal keiki coming up and a couple dozen aerial keikies. Some of which I bent back up to attach to the mount. Here it is in 2007. It's only a little bigger now, since it did the high-K boom and bust thing and went downhill for a few years after this thread.

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4217

Have you ever noticed a fragrance from yours? The flowers from mine produces a smell of tangerines on warm sunny days.

 

[abax]

Hells bells, who's had any sunny days to tell! I've never
noticed a fragrance, but then again I have to climb a small
ladder to get up to it on the mounting rack to smell it. My
lovely modesta has a really nice fragrance though.

 

[Marc]

I allready informed Ray but yesterday my package arrived from the US. All in all shipping took exactly 7 days which I find very fast for a package coming from the U.S.

Looking forward to joining the trail and share my experiences.

 

[abax]

About K-Lite dosage, 1/2 tsp. is too much fertilizer

in my conditions. I found two leaves, one on a Iwan. and
one on a species Phal. with leaf tip burn. I got carried away apparently. 1/4 tsp. weekly is plenty of fertilizer for
my mixed collection.