Orchid Fertilizer: Learning To Feed Your Plants
Author: Rex Henson
Adding orchid fertilizer can be tricky, as overfeeding your plants, can be harmful. In orchid growing, you need to learn the basics of fertilizing orchids, so you can feed your plants correctly.
N-P-K
Most orchid fertilizers have three major components, and these are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen is responsible for leaf and stem growth. They are the reason for the vibrant green color of the plant’s leaves. Phosphorus encourages the development of the roots and flowers. Potassium builds orchid tissue and helps produce chlorophyll.
A balanced fertilizer is one that has the same ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. Common N-P-K ratios in orchid fertilizer are 20-20-20, 10-10-10 and 30-10-10. When using fertilizer that has a high concentration of Nitrogen, remember that it lowers the plant’s intake of Potassium. Lack of Potassium leads to plants that have weak roots and stems.
Micronutrients
Micronutrients are other essential nutrients that your orchids need. This includes calcium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, etc. These nutrients are needed for flower support and new growth. Though some orchid fertilizer have these nutrients, most of them don’t because trace amounts of these are found in commonly used potting media like bark and also in tap water.
When and How Much to Feed
For orchid growers, adding fertilizer is a weekly-weakly task. This means that you feed your plants once a week, and depending on the orchid fertilizer you use, only add half or a quarter of the amount recommended in the label. Since adding fertilizer can cause mineral build up in your potting media, it is good to water your plants thoroughly with clear or distilled water at least once a month to prevent this.
What Orchid Fertilizer to Use
You have two choices of fertilizer to use on your plants, and these are inorganic or synthetic and organic. Advantages of synthetic fertilizer is the fact that they are made specifically for orchids, so they are easy to absorb and highly soluble. They are also less expensive than their organic counterparts, and only a small amount is needed for your plants to bloom beautifully. On the other hand, organic fertilizers need to undergo decomposition before their nutrients are released to the plants. They are more expensive and larger quantities have to be used because they have lower concentrations of nutrients. Samples of organic fertilizers include fish emulsion, cottonseed meal and cow and chicken manure.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/orchid-fertilizer-what-you-should-know-before-feeding-your-plants-4271456.html —- About the Author : Rex is the editor of Orchids & How to Grow Them, a free resource on orchid growing. To know more about adding orchid fertilizer to your plants, visit www.OrchidsHowToGrow.com . Be sure to sign up for our 10-part Orchids & How to Grow Them Mini Course to get started on growing vibrant and beautiful orchids.
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