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Stop Fertilizing Orchids Like This! Use These Other 4 Methods Instead
2K views
Oct 3, 2024
In this video, I've listed some options and the pros and cons of each fertilization method, the top consumer complaints, and arguments for each method, as well as the orchid fertilizer I use. This is a bit different than the normal reviews for products because I don’t want to encourage one brand name over another. Disclaimer: I am NOT selling these products, nor am I sponsored. I'm interested in methods, not brands. The different methods of orchid fertilization are (1) soluble or diluted in water, (2) misting, (3) sticks inserted into the potting medium, (4) slow-release pellets or granules, and (5) slow-release liquids. The objective is to provide you with more information about what is out on the market. Please tell me in the comments if this was valid or not. Have you ever heard the term orchid food? What's the difference between orchid food and fertilizer? Orchid fertilizer is not orchid food, since orchids photosynthesize their food from the interaction of chlorophyll and sunlight. The additional minerals and chemicals in fertilizer aid the orchid in the construction of chlorophyll and other important plant structures, facilitating the strength and health of plant cells. Many producers advertise their fertilizers as food, but what fertilizer does is supply extra minerals that can aid rapid and healthy growth. The fertilizer acts as a supplement to provide additional nutrition to your orchid since in nature it would be receiving much more than we can provide for it in our homes. Even though technically orchid food is not orchid fertilizer, many producers market their fertilizers as orchid food. In the end, it all balances out.
View Video Transcript
0:00
When it comes to fertilizing orchids, we usually think of only one method
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and that is dissolving the orchid fertilizer in water. But actually, there are five different ways to fertilize orchids
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and in this video I'll show you how. Before I go into explaining each one separately, I do want to say loud and clear
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I am not being sponsored by any of these. They don't even know I'm doing a review about their products
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And yes, three of the five that are here are from the same company
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That's just because that's what I found accessible and what is close to me
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So I just had to say that. So let's get into the first one
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The first method is going to be dissolved in water. So in this pot, which is 8 ounces or 226 grams, you're a lot
0:59
going to get the fertilizer and it comes with a little teaspoon. The teaspoon that they give you
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is incredibly large. I mean you wouldn't think that is large but if you're going to fertilize
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for example, this catacetamorchid, you're not going to use this. Believe me, you'll kill it
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You'll probably want to use something like the smallest size. It has two spoons on it
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One is small, one is large. Put it in your water. and you're going to shake that water well
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It can also come in packages which is more common like this
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Is that, for example, this one is 2014-13, the NPK ratio. This one here is not, it's a 301010
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It's going to have a stronger nitrogen component to it. So if you want to know what nitrogen does to your orchid
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go to orchidaria.com and type in five fertilization methods. And before I explain each one on the website
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I go into talking about what nitrogen does, what phosphorus does, and what potassium does
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And for the sake of the video, I don't want to repeat all that. What are the pros of using this kinds of method
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Well, if you only have a few orchids, and you grow them indoors like I do
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this will last you a lifetime. If you buy one bag, it's good
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So it's relatively inexpensive. They do come with great directions. I mean, on both of their labels, they do have good directions
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This one, one thing I forgot to mention, if you buy this one, the little spoon that comes inside does not have the two
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Does not have, and this one is more blue than that one is you can tell
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This one does not have the other blue spoon on the end. So you only get this huge cup, which is way too much for a gallon
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In my opinion. Every time I've used this amount that it says to use on the back
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my orchids will turn yellow, the flower spike will turn yellow, the leaves will turn extremely yellow
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and fall off later, which is root burn, because the roots absorbed that water that was extremely fertilized
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and they couldn't handle it. The cons of this is that the measurements that they give, they say
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to put in a gallon of water. If you are just starting out as a beginner and you only have a few
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orchids, that is a lot of water. So do not, do not get the temptation to use that water until it's all
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used up. Miracle Grow did address this problem. They actually replied and they said
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I love it when they reply. They actually said that you can keep that water up to two weeks, that
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fertilized water up to two weeks in a shady place where it doesn't get sun
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After two weeks, the fertilizer does lose his effect. Better grow did not answer
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That's the con of this method. You will have a lot of fertilized water left over as a beginner
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Of course, once the addiction kicks in, this will not be a problem
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Believe me. One of the biggest complaints against this method is the constant root burn
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The high concentrations of ammonia inside all of these brands will bring a slight smell to your room
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And if used in the wrong proportions the ones that they suggest they all suggest wrong proportions will cause root burn And then the root burn will quickly kill the roots of your orchids so your orchids can absorb water or any kind of nutrients
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and they'll die. So one of the biggest complaints is that, hey
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I use this fertilizer in two weeks my orchids are starting to die. That's because of the root burns
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because of the concentration of the fertilizer was way too high. For the second method, misting
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Now, misting is a completely different idea than to get your water and mix it with fertilizer
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This is water that already has fertilizer in it. Now, the concentration of this is extremely tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny
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You're essentially paying for water with a tad bit of fertilizer. The first temptation we have is when we get a mister like this one and we get an orchid and I am so sorry, orchid
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This is for educational purposes only. You've been a good sport. I appreciate your sacrifice
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It's to do this. Poor little orchid
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It's just... Don't do that. First, because if you have a phalanopsis orchid, the top of the leaves are somewhat hydropelant. So everything that falls on them is going to drip off. And it's made this way because in nature, when it rains, the water is going, well, of course, in nature, they're going to be sideways like that. So, well, this one would be like that. So the water is going to just run off the leaves so it doesn't sit on the leaves and cause crown rot
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or stem rot or wherever the water does stay. So what I did, in essence
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I just misted the top of the leaves and that is going to do not much for the orchid
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When you missed, you want to hit the underside of the leaf
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So you're going to aim from the bottom up and keep the leaf like that
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Just a little bit is going to go a long way. And in this case, there's not much to start with anyway
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Nowhere on here, at least on this brand, on this mister, nowhere on here does it have the concentration of NPK
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I've asked and ask and no answers, so you really don't know what you're putting on your orchid besides water
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If you're wondering what nitrogen does, what phosphorus does, what potassium does, head over to the website because there I explain each one of those on the exact same page where I explained the
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different methods of fertilizations. So for this, it becomes extremely expensive. Because in this
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little tiny bottle, I cannot mist all my orchids with this. I mean, it'd be done in a month
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So the price becomes high, in my opinion, when you're using a mister like this one store�
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If I were to mist my orchids and not use this, what I would do, I would use a
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soluble solution and then I would use a mister and put that water in the mister and then
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mist everything that would go a long way and you still oh no I love you can but we really
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got to talk about this the pros of using a mr is that as a beginner orchid
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grower it's hard to go wrong so you're providing fertilizer but but it is extremely hard to over fertilize
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And over fertilize is worse than not fertilizing at all. The good side is that it does not have any smell
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It is odorless. Now look at this compared to this one, which is 301010. 30.2. 10.2. 10.2
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Look at how little you're actually using, which is good for a new orchid grower
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I recommend as a beginner start with this because it will get you into the habit of fertilizing
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And once you get into the habit, then move on to others. If you have very few orchids like one, two, three as a new grower, don't worry, your addiction will catch on
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Have mercy of us plant collectors. But if you only have like let say for the purpose of this video one orchid this will last about four months So it is kind of expensive for what you paying
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The fourth method is plant spikes. Now, plant spikes, I made a mistake, and I do not have any with me at the point of this video
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They are little bitty sticks. They look like fortified toothpicks, actually. And you're going to stick them in the potting media, and their concentration
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is 10, 10, 10, usually, not all brands are the same, but you will find them in 10, 10, 10
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These little plants, spikes, or sticks, or whatever you want to call them, they will last two
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months only, so every two months you have to be replacing them. The good thing is that you do not
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have to remember to fertilize your orchids. The orchid fertilized stick is already in the pot
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so you don't have to do anything else. The bad thing is
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that you have when you buy them you'll usually buy a pack of 10 if they last
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two months each you have roughly two years of fertilization for one orchid this
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is where I do not like this method because the amount of money you're going to
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spend to fertilize every single orchid and the pros of this method is it is
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extremely effective because you do not have to remember to be fertilizing your orchid just every two months you go in and put a different spike
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in there every time you water the spike is going to dissolve a little bit this is actually the
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most time effective method because i mean how long does it take to insert a little stick
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into your potting media another con of this method is there is not really a way to flush out your orchid
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because every fourth week, like you'll fertilize three weeks and then the fourth week
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if you're using something like this or a mister or anything else, you need to give it a break
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once in a while. Well, as a plant spike inside the potting media, you really can't do that
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So you can't flush your orchid. You can't run running water over it to get rid of that salt
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buildup. That's a problem. Your orchid needs to rest. The fourth method is
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is using slow release pellets, which is kind of like the other example of the slow release spikes
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Now these pellets, and I'll open this bag for you, are good for certain types of orchids and others not
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They usually last six months. Cat, please midnight. Please do not turn these little pellets over
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Stay down, girl. Oh. So these are the palettes. They're very tiny and they release slowly over the potting media
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They will last about six months, which is a lot longer than the spikes will
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And you can put them, usually orchids that like these are catacetum orchids
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So this one is in bloom. And I'll just show you real quick. You just put it on the side
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and it's just a few. And you are done. Turned that way
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Look how beautiful that is. I love a set of orchids. Okay
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And this is just a heads up. The pictures on the website where they show their orchids
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They have huge balls. And it's a beautiful green. They look like little peas
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The ones you actually get, are extremely tiny. I don't think there's really much difference and just because it's going
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to release at the same time. But just beware because the first impression usually stay along
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with us. Be prepared. They're small. But they are good. They are efficient and you can use them
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every time you repot. The NPK concentration of this one is 1410. So it is a good way to start
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if you're a beginner. Just put a few pellets in the pot when you repot
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And see, like the catacetum do so well with it, because they will be active for six months
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And then during the dormancy, you just leave them alone. You do not apply more
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And then when you go to repot, you add these. That's why they're so great with these
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If you have a phalanotosis orchid, you can just put a few pellets on the side of the pot and add more pellets in the next six months There isn really cons with this method unless you really sprinkle your potting
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media and oversaturate your potting media with them. Because once they're in that media, unless you want to hand pick them out, they're staying there
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The fifth method is a slow release liquid fertilizer and all you need to do for this is snip
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open the top. At least this brand comes in five little packets, I guess you could call it
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and you snip the tip and put it inside your orchid pot. Now what could possibly go wrong with this
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Now I'm trying to be honest here. I'm not a physicist, but I do know that gravity pulls liquid down
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at a constant rate. How big a snip you're going to take
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This could seep out in an hour. This could seep out in two minutes
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This could seep out in a week. You have no control over how much fertilizer you're going to give your orchid
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Now, I cannot imagine this lasting two months. And also, this is going to be dripping day and night
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day and night. Gravity does not stop. Gravity is going to be pulling down this fertilizer
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constantly. Your roots are going to be soggy constantly. Don't need to say anymore
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Another con. The price. You are getting five of these. There are 25 milliliters in each one of these
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You only can use one for each orchid, obviously. So if you have five orchids, this will be good for
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A week? The second con. What's in here? I have no idea
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Where on this package? Where does it say what the MPK ratio is
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It doesn't. Easy feeding for up to eight weeks. Eight weeks. Your roots are going to be saggy constantly for eight weeks
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But what? What? It's in here. I mean, is it just pink water? If there are any brave souls out there who really want to actually use this, I have not gotten myself to..
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I mean, even on my guinea pig orchids, I cannot get myself to use this
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I just can't. If you really want to buy it, you can go to my website
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I did put an affiliate link there for all those people who are... Have an orchid they don't like
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So, in my opinion... Stay away from it. There are so many other methods that you can use
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Just start out with a different method. Tell me in the comments below what method you use to fertilize your orchids
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And if you have any other methods that I didn't explain in this video
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in all of your fertilization methods, please, please, please take a break once a month
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so that your orchid can have time to just get fleshed out and receive pure water
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that does not have any chemicals in it. If you have any questions about fertilization, go to the website at Orchidaria.com
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If you subscribe to the website, you'll get a fertilization guide. Inside that fertilization guide, I will explain what nitrogen is, what phosphorus is
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what calcium does, magnesium, how much to add when you should fertilize
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If you should fertilize in bloom or after, should you stop fertilizing
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When go over to the website at orchidaria.com, you can get all this for free
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I hope this video clarified any questions that you had about fertilized
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And if it did, please hit that like button. That is just a confirmation for me to know what videos are doing well and what videos I need to stay away from in the future
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Head over to Orcadaria, type Orcadaria.com. And fertilization, it should be one of the first that come up
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Of course, there are other articles. There are so many articles on there about how to fertilize in pure spagnum moss
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how to fertilize in water culture, how to fertilize with eggshells, how to use tea bags to fertilize
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So there is a wealth of information and head over there. Or if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments because your question
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could be what someone else is asking too. Orchidaria.com, I sure would appreciate it
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