?..However I am uncertain about the effect of overdoing kelp additions, crippled flowers have been suggested as one result. Someone that wants to test?:evil:
However I am uncertain about the effect of overdoing kelp additions, crippled flowers have been suggested as one result. Someone that wants to test?:evil:
I think he has a point. Less is sometimes more.
For an advanced grower with experience it might not be that interesting, the point often being the search for the optimal nutrition and light levels- to make the plant shine the best it can.
But its an important thing for beginners to see. You dont need much to get a plant to stay alive and be somewhat happy.
I read threads all over the place with people starting with plants, and needing advice for all sorts of stuff to give it. And if there is issues with other things in the environment it can easily start a circle of issues. Plant doesnt look happy- I need more chemicals., or nutrition or desinfecting stuff.
Sometimes less is more, and for beginners maybe its better to spend time reading on the natural environment of the plant. Make sure you can make an environment the plant is somewhat happy in- and then make it thrive even better- with the correct amount of nutrition. And for those really advanced- that might even be making their own nutrition, different for different plants. And again- a happy and healthy plant that has its "own environment" going on in the rootsystem, will probably have a better uptake of the micronutrition aswell. No need to feed a plant that cant make any use of it.
I didnt have much to give my plants before, so I started reading instead. And since I dont have physan and stuff like that- I washed my seedlings with water, I let them dry a bit. I add a tiny amount of a bio nutrition that seems to make good environment in the roots. And I try to keep it simple, let them do their thing, just trying to compensate for nature- and givinf them a chance to grow strong.
And yeah- now I do use fertilizer, but I like to keep it really low, and more often.
I do try to keep the environment in the pots, though. Mostly because I dont have a greenhouse, and I think my hubby wouldnt appreciate if our living-room started growing algae or moss
Bjørn: lol, you have made your greenhouse into a big terrarium it sounds like
Kelp- hmm, maybe a walk on the beach some day. But it smells awful when cooking in the sun, smelly tea.
Well, my best advice: do whatever works for you
Mike, I am not following you here, are you indicating that some of us have perfect conditions?
Sorry Bjorn, I didn't mean to single you out but we were talking about you at the time: evil:
What I mean is that almost no one has perfect conditions. I have ''very good'' conditions for maybe 10% of my orchid species. The rest just have to make do the best they can....
Just to put it straight; In my perception, fertiliser and most of those other remedies people use like physan, fungicide etc. etc. interfere with the microbial life in the pots and the environment of the growth area. Loss of these micro-organisms is one important vector for decease.
Which particular microbes do you refer to? Certainly mycorrhizae (which is not really a microbe) is negatively affected by too much NPK. If you mean decomposes which compete with (and eat) some pathogens, they are not affected by the kind of fertilizer rates used in horticulture. In fact they benefit from it (N) Blue-green algae? It may be reduced by too much N?
No takers here Myxodex. I think you scared them with those amount of K and P you mentioned. LOL. It just a discussion.
Not scared. It's a lot of info that needs thought before comment.
But my first thought is you cant really come up with a valid set of numbers because of all the variables possible in the growing environment. And you cant use data from soil growing plants on epiphytic orchids... At least I dont think so.
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