I have the most amazing houseplants and always have my whole life. I just use standard soil-less mixes like Miracle Gro or even the cheaper analogs. I have never needed to give them silica. This is a new fad...companies are always looking for that new product to entice growers to buy.
I thought orchid fertilizer should not have urea in it because only microbes in soil breaks down urea and epiphitic orchids are not in soil. Please explain for me.
My understanding is that ammonia (NH3) needs to be converted to nitrate (NO3) by soil bacteria before it can be used by plants. If the ammonia levels become too high, it becomes toxic to the plant.
@Garden Fundamentals I'm happy with the NPK values and price of the fertiliser I've been using for my houseplants for 2-3 years now, but after fully checking the ingredients, I notice there are absolutely no minerals such as Zinc, Calcium, Iron, Copper etc. My plants can't be getting these things from my compost/perlite potting mix so are we all better off choosing a fertiliser that does include these minerals - they need it right?
i went down the path of shop LED lights and ended up buying proper LED growlights, because the shoplights were never enough. So i would have saved money going straight to growlights, instead of mucking about.
Excellent information !
What are your thoughts on adding worm casts Robert?
What about pine bark as a media component?
Hello, Silicon. Do you think SiO2 is a good additive as a soil drench? Do you find this useful to the house plants? Thank you for your help.
Wollastonite in a water can Mike, just tried it I'll let you know😅
I have the most amazing houseplants and always have my whole life. I just use standard soil-less mixes like Miracle Gro or even the cheaper analogs. I have never needed to give them silica. This is a new fad...companies are always looking for that new product to entice growers to buy.
Just add some clay to your soil mix. Local soil probably has plenty.
@jw4879 Fad? Try reading peer reviewed, primary, and valid research on the matter, or any matter for that matter🤣🤣
I thought orchid fertilizer should not have urea in it because only microbes in soil breaks down urea and epiphitic orchids are not in soil. Please explain for me.
Urea also breaks down in aqueous solution without the presence of urease from bacteria.
My understanding is that ammonia (NH3) needs to be converted to nitrate (NO3) by soil bacteria before it can be used by plants. If the ammonia levels become too high, it becomes toxic to the plant.
What about blurple light? Seems like it should be mostly ok?
What? What is "blurple light?
@Garden Fundamentals I'm happy with the NPK values and price of the fertiliser I've been using for my houseplants for 2-3 years now, but after fully checking the ingredients, I notice there are absolutely no minerals such as Zinc, Calcium, Iron, Copper etc. My plants can't be getting these things from my compost/perlite potting mix so are we all better off choosing a fertiliser that does include these minerals - they need it right?
They need them for sure, but there's a reason these are in a separate group called Micro nutrients.
@@MaybeBecause-m8t Good reply 👍👍
What makes coconut shell so salty that it needs to have the salt washed out of it?
i went down the path of shop LED lights and ended up buying proper LED growlights, because the shoplights were never enough. So i would have saved money going straight to growlights, instead of mucking about.
Vermiculite is basically clay. Not needed.
Am I the only one to get totally itchy if a little bit of Peat Moss touches my skin?
GGWP DP