Orchids, like any other plant, require the desirable nutrients to grow and stay healthy; however, unlike other plants, orchids need a specific type and the right amount of fertilizer to do well in a domestic environment. To maintain your orchid’s vibrant health, it’s important to use the proper type of orchid fertilizer, which is different from other fertilizers, along with the proper amount.
Here are some important tips on fertilizing orchids that you may want to consider:
Locate a commercial-grade fertilizer for your orchid that lists the ingredients using three numbers, for example 20-20-20. These three numbers are proportional values of the fundamental nutrients that orchids need to thrive and stay healthy which include: Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. You could test different proportions of the principal nutritional values; however, by contacting your local nursery, you can ask them what they would recommend for the specific type of orchid you are growing.
It’s imperative to understand how orchids get their nutrients in their natural habitat, and this understanding will help you to feed your orchid in your home environment. Orchids are perhaps the most versatile flower in the world where some species live in Arctic regions of the far North and other species live in tropical regions around the world. As a result, wild orchids are in a perpetual search for nutrients which come in potent but small quantities. Feeding extravagant amounts of fertilizer to an orchid is not characteristic of how it obtains its food in the wild. Excessively feeding your orchid can burn its roots, and or retard its flowering.
In addition to how much you feed your orchid, it’s also important to consider how you feed it. In their natural environment, orchids absorb the nutrient fertile rain water. Rain water becomes saturated with pure material from rotting vegetation including leaves, bark, and other plants that orchids thrive on. Roots of the orchid absorb the nutrient rich water and the plant is fed. Accordingly, fertilizer should be mixed with the water and when you water your orchid, you’ll be fertilizing and watering at the same time.
The most favorable time to feed your orchid is before it blooms or while the plant is still growing. Once in bloom, you don’t need to fertilize.
Orchid’s nutritional requirements differ from common houseplants; as a result, don’t use common houseplant fertilizer to feed your orchid.
It’s also a wise idea to measure the amount of fertilizer that you use so you can be consistent. Staff at your local nursery can tell you the right fertilizing mix as well as the appropriate amount to feed your orchid.
The nutritional needs of orchids are different from other plants, but considering, orchids are different than other plants. Special orchid fertilizing, is an important part of orchid care, and one that should not be taken for granted. Make sure you use only orchid fertilizer in the right amount, and dispensed in the proper way.
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