Viewing post #752137 by dyzzypyxxy

You are viewing a single post made by dyzzypyxxy in the thread called What kind of orchid is this?.
Image
Dec 21, 2014 10:05 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
You probably shouldn't expect your plant to bloom until spring, Lore Lisa. If it was outside last summer, cooled off a little in the fall before you brought it in and is now only getting weak winter light in your window, it "knows" it's winter now. Be prepared to gradually ramp up the fert and watering as the weather warms up - Days are getting longer already, Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

On the fert question, I'll chime in with my U of Florida story: the co-author of my favorite orchid book 'Orchids to Know and Grow" is Tom Sheehan, a lecturer in Botany at UF. After reading through that book at least twice and not getting much fertilizer info at all, I e-mailed him directly and got an answer almost immediately. He and I had a nice exchange in fact. He said he's been growing orchids for nearly 70 years, has a large greenhouse full of big specimen orchids that bloom like crazy, and his fert regime is "spray them down with a hose-end sprayer of Miracle Gro every second week, and every week during the summer".

Yup, plain old "evil" blue Miracle Gro. That story convinced me that the non-urea idea is . . . well let's say poppycock! (my mother would be pleased that I didn't say bull . . . . ) Your Neptune's Harvest would probably be great for orchids too, Lore Lisa. But I'm with Ken, can't stand the smell of it. Plus it would probably attract the raccoons to my garden, the last thing I want.

That being said, I don't have Miracle Gro around, so I buy a little 1lb. bag of Better-Gro Orchid Plus and add a teaspoon of Epsom Salts to the mix in my 2gal. sprayer at least once a month especially in winter. The bag lasts me over a year, at the weak rate I mix. Yes, by all means spray the fert mix on your plants! Pretty sure that's what most of us do.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill

« Return to the thread "What kind of orchid is this?"
« Return to Orchids forum
« Return to the Garden.org homepage

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )