What is the best fertilizer for orchids
Today's focus is on introducing you to the content about orchids, specifically what is the best fertilizer for orchids, which is a great piece of knowledge and worth collecting!
As the saying goes, everyone has their own way of raising orchids. Regarding the question of what is the best fertilizer for orchids, orchid enthusiasts may want to read this article carefully. In addition to the author's experience in using fertilizers during the orchid-raising process, it also adds the understanding of fertilizers by other orchid enthusiasts.
Fertilizer, simply put, is nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium plus trace elements. According to personal preferences and growing environments, the formula of planting materials also varies, with different proportions of soft, hard, coarse, and fine materials. Here we discuss a formula with a 2:1 ratio of soft to hard, with 1cm particle size, made of peanut shells, pine bark (coconut shell), and river stones (crushed stones). This formula is commonly used for mass orchid cultivation. There are also 1:1 ratios, or all-bark, peanut shells, coconut shells, and even all stones. The common feature of these formulas is that they are light, you can say they have no fertilizer effect. Therefore, the use of fertilizers is relatively controllable and the effect is intuitive.
Currently, the main brands of orchid fertilizers include: slow-release fertilizers: Ogreen, Haokangduo, Magic Fertilizer, Wolida, Pulian; water-soluble fertilizers: Huabao, Huaduo..., and some nutrient fertilizers, such as seaweed extracts and other organic fertilizers. The long-term fertilizers commonly used in the orchid community mainly include high-nitrogen formulas 16-8-12 (Ogreen), balanced 13-13-13, and high phosphorus-potassium types. Water fertilizers are (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) 20-20-20, 10-30-20.
Long-term fertilizers can provide the necessary nutrients for orchid growth for a long time in a quantitative manner, while water fertilizers can appropriately adjust the growth process and supplement trace elements. I use a balanced long-term fertilizer, applying it in the spring for a year, to improve balanced nutrition. Water fertilizer: from the sprouting stage to 7-8 parts wood, use a 20-20-20 formula, a general-purpose growth fertilizer, a balanced formula that promotes plant growth, suitable for summer application, and can be used for foliar spray; from 8 parts wood to before sprouting, use a 10-30-20 formula to increase bulb size, effectively promoting bud differentiation, making flower buds sturdy and increasing the number of flowers, with brighter colors.
Orchid enthusiasts' views: Any approach that is too biased towards heavy fertilization or light fertilization is too extreme, and the fear of fertilizing orchids is a psychological barrier. In the agricultural eight-character constitution, "fertilizer" is the second character, which shows its importance among the eight characters. Fertilizer must be used, the question is what kind of fertilizer, when to use it, what kind of seedling condition and dosage, as well as the methods and approaches, these are the issues that should be discussed and studied.
Orchid enthusiasts' views: Moderate fertilization can promote orchid growth. The plants are strong and disease-resistant, not the result of hormone-induced growth. If excessive fertilization is applied, it can easily damage the roots and the growth may not be vigorous.
The introduction above provides a detailed explanation of the best fertilizer for orchids for your reference.