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NPK ratio is just explaining how much nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are in that chemical formula
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orchid will grow attached to trees. They're called epithites. When it comes to fertilization
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what you need to know is that in the rainforest, these orchids are going to be exposed to nutrients
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24 hours a day, seven days a week. The nutrients that they get are in tiny, tiny, tiny quantities
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So they're going to get fed all the time. They get fed both through the air currents because the
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aerial roots are going to absorb them and through the water that's going to drip down on the
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overhead canopy of leaves. This water is going to bring a high concentration of tannins. So these
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bare-rooted orchids which are attached to trees are going to be fed constantly in tiny, tiny
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tiny doses. Well, when we bring them indoors and try to recreate that same environment indoors
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You need to also feed your orchid in tiny doses almost every time you water
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Except for one watering, just because of the potting media, you need to water without a fertilizer
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to really rinse that pot out of all the excess fertilizer. Because too much fertilizer will kill your orchid
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Too much fertilizer is actually more harmful than not enough. A good company will tell you what the NPK ratio is
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For example, this one is 301010. Some of them you actually have to get in there and read the fine print
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Others will tell you right on the top of the bag, 2014-13
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Some you have to ask the company directly and in this case it is 0 which is very low Others 141212
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And some companies you just have no idea. What's the best fertilizer for your orchid
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There's no simple answer to that because it will depend on what life cycle is your orchid
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And if you want to see a video about life cycles, this video up here
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It also will depend on the season. Is it winter? Is it summer
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It will depend if the orchid goes dormant or not. It will depend on so many things
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If it's in flower or if it isn't, my cat is coming over. I'm getting nervous
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She's going to jump on the table and ruin another video. In three, two, get off my..
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One. Oh, midnight. I've learned a long time ago she stays. I've lost this battle
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When the orchid is blossoming, the best fertilizer for it is one with high phosphorus
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When the orchid is in vegetative growth where it's growing active roots, it will need phosphorus and potassium
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And when the orchid is producing new leaves and a flower spike, it will want more nitrogen in there
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So depending on the cycle of your orchid, you need to use the right first
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fertilizer appropriately. Your tail's getting in my way. An overall mistake that we usually think of when it comes to fertilizer is to use it like a
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band-aid. Oh, the bottom leaf of my orchid is turning yellow. What do I do to save it? What
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fertilizer do I use? You don't. You cannot use fertilizer like this. Orchids are extremely
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slow growers. So they're going to adapt over a slow period of
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time. The only thing they actually do fast is when you put them in the wrong temperature and all their
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buds fall off and wilt causing bud blast. So let's look at the first one, nitrogen. What's going to
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happen is nitrogen is going to focus on healthy leaves So if you want nice green firmly so if you provide too much nitrogen the orchid is going to hinder all the other parts concerned about the flower the pollination the seed production and the flower spike
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So, and also roots. So too much nitrogen is a problem. Nitrogen is what you might think naturally is a gas
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We breathe in nitrogen also. Nitrogen is especially important inside the potting media
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We only think of oxygen inside the potting media. nitrogen is extremely important. If you overwatered, there's going to be a concentration of bacteria
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and maybe fungus in there if it's really bad. So then bacteria are also going to want nitrogen
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So if you have root rot or the roots are starting to decay and there's a lot of bacteria in your pot
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the nitrogen is going to be lacking because the bacteria are going to be consuming that and not the
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root. If you have a fertilizer brand that does not have specifically what's on there, as in a
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easy ratio to read, sometimes you can come in here in the ingredients on the back, ingredients like a
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recipe, the elements on the back, you can either find it as nitrate or ammonical nitrogen
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If there is a concentration of urea, urea, I've heard it both ways, urea or urea, nitrogen, stay away
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from that. That is only good for household plants. Orchids do not take very well to it. Phosphorus is the second
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element in your orchid concentration, which is the P, or it can be found written as phosphate, which is found as
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P205. Phosphorus is going to work on the propagation of this orchid. So everything that the
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orc is going to induce a new generation of orchids, that's what it's going to focus on. So if your
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orchid is in flower, you want a high phosphorus because that's going to work on the development
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of the seeds, the development of the anther, the stigma, and the development of the pollen
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and how that flower spike, a nice, healthy flower, has lots of phosphorus in it. When you're
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starting to see that flower spike form upgrade your phosphorus and downgrade your nitrogen If you have a lack of phosphorus your orchid can start to turn a little purply It not going to have the purple spots Like if you put in too high of a light it going to have less spots but it going to turn
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a purply color all over it. The green, nice green color to the leaves aren't going to be as green
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They're going to be a little less. And that's just because the chlorophyll is dying off
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the phosphorus can help this chlorophyll build up that nice green color
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The phosphorus tends to cling to the bark. And this is a problem because a high phosphorus count inside your potting media is not easily
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released later. So when you have an orchid that you do not rinse out, that phosphorus count is going to be
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extremely high inside your potting media. Unlike nitrogen, you can leach the pot and the nitrogen will wash away
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phosphorus does not. The third ingredient in the NPK ratio is the K, which is potassium
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or also called potash, helps the overall well-being of the plant. So if the plant is exposed to a
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colder weather than it likes, feel that cold as much. Now nothing is going to save an orchid
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that you put out in the frost and nothing is going to revive that orchid that you put out in
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full sun and it just got sunburned. But the Potassium inside will help care for that sunburned part
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So potassium also helps fight against pest and insects because it builds that cell structure
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A healthy orchid can resist disease and pest better than a weak orchid can
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If it's already struggling in life, it's going to have a harder time
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When you first start your orchid care, try to start with what we call a balanced fertilizer, either 20, 2020
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10, 10, 10, 10, anything that has, or even 0.2.2.2. So when you start out as a balanced
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fertilizer, you want to start out getting into the habit of using fertilizer for your orchids
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Then you can start changing that, those proportions, little by little, until you get the hang
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of it. Thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating
