Let's Talk : Orchid Nutrients! Fertilizing, pH, TDS and more!
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- Hi everyone, I'm Annabel, and welcome to my channel! :-)
WARNING- This gets nerdy B-) Main Nerd content is toward the end but it’s a bit interspersed, sorry, couldn’t hold it in…. I hope it’s still interesting :-) And I apologise for the long video!
Today we’re going to go through my current fertilizing routine, and discussing the reasoning behind it. I’m often updating my routine and trying new things, but these are the products that are working for me at the moment, and the rainmix / seaweed extract are the constants :-) I’m going to explain TDS and pH, and how pH affects nutrient availability to the orchid, as well as showing you how I mix up my solution and pH it.
Worth bearing in mind that TDS measures solutes in a solution, not just fertiliser salts. So while seaweed adds to the TDS, this is by no means the same as if I was going to feed at 300ppm pure fertiliser. TDS provides a rough guide but it isn’t a perfect measure of nutrients :-) Also very important if you pH, to check how your media is affecting the pH in the pot, and adjust how you pH to that to get an optimal inner pot pH :-)
Current nutrient solution:
RainMix fertiliser
Maxicrop Seaweed extract
Silicon - 6% potassium silicate, Growth technology
Occasional flushes with pure water to prevent mineral salt accumulation in the pots
Water filter units:
zerowater jug: amzn.to/2Qbw1p1
I’m also currently experimenting with foliar feeding Magnesium, check back for more results later!
Sources for more information
pH and Orchid Nutrient Absorption
herebutnot.com/watering-orchid...
staugorchidsociety.org/PDF/IP...
General Orchid Biology and Nutrient Absorption
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Benefits of Silicon
Research papers
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0043381/00001
www.scielo.br/scielo.php?scrip...
From Manufacturers info
• Helps build cell walls for stronger stems and roots
• Reduces water loss through leaves
• Increases nutrient uptake and absorption of CO2
• Can be used in any grow-medium
• Can be used in any type of grow-system
• Can be used as a pH UP additive
Semi Hydroponics for Orchids
firstrays.com/semi-hydroponic...
My Orchid Room
Temps- 15-25C (sometimes more toward 30!) Humidity 60-75%.
Wire shelving, Hartleys direct: www.hartleysdirect.com/hartle...
Metal shelving IKEA: www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/s...
Artificial lighting supplemented with natural light.
Cool white '6000K' under cabinet lighting- Screwfix
GEMMA LED grow lights: www.gemma-led.com/cob-grow-li...
GEMMA have kindly provided a 10% off discount code for anyone who is interested in purchasing any of their lights! This is valid until 01/01/21. Just pop OrchidRoom in at the checkout :-)
DIY Self watering pots, DIY Semi hydro pots
DIY Self watering pots made with IKEA Nekjon outer mask www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/d... and various 15cm clear internal orchid pot
Wick for self watering pots www.amazon.co.uk/watering-Sel...
DIY semi hydro pots, various brands. Square pots used from www.oasishomeandhobby.co.uk/s... with semi hydro holes drilled in for reservoir.
Self watering pots with water level gauge: Lechuza mini deltini www.amazon.co.uk/Lechuza-Prem...
or other brand: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Mini USB fans from Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
LECA Canna Aqua Brand or IKEA www.amazon.co.uk/Hydrogarden-...
Sphagnum moss by Besgrow
Vanda baskets purchased from Peter White Orchid accessories and Rollke-orchideen
Find me on Instagram / annabel.minton
Be sure to look out for more care tutorials to follow! Please post suggestions and questions in the comments! I'm really happy to chat to fellow orchid lovers and hope you've enjoyed this video!
Thanks for watching! :-)
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It's an involved regiment you have. but really the process is something I wouldn't do myself. I don't have anything negative to say at all, it's just too much. I'm not lazy I find it just intimidating. Maybe if I could attend a class and learn bit by bit but in this condensed form of video learning I will continue to find information that I can reasonably absorb. Seems like all people here though have found it really useful though.
Lighting, getting the right media, potting size, watering schedule are all things that are elements I've found to help my orchids growing well. Some orchids just will not grow in my environment so it's ridiculous to fight it unless I want to get into a more professional grow room.
thank you for sharing this informative watering session. no wonder your orchids look great!
This was a fantastic video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! And by all means, please nerd on! ;)
Just to add, I checked my seaweed extract on a TDS meter- as up until now I've been following the guidelines for the lowest dose recommended by the manufacturer. TDS of the Maxicrop seaweed used in regular feeds is equivalent to around 30ppm 😄 different seaweed brands will have different strength, potency and purity of the key growth hormones though so I'd recommend reading around the brand you are using 😀
I got my rain mix in yesterday,, yah!!
I took the chance of ordering it from the same place as you and was a little worried since I'm in the US... so it took a few days less than two months but I think it'll be worth it. For the MSU fertilizer that I was buying was so much more expensive. Thanks for posting everything like you do, it's a big help to us.
Great just what I was looking for... Thank You
Great work and informations of quality. Thanks
Thankyou 🙂 I'm glad if you found it useful!
You are the best thank you for tutorials
Thankyou 💗🙂
Hi Annabel, I've just recently subscribed to your channel. I love all your videos they are all super informative :) I just want to know how often do you fertilise your orchids. Thanks
The Rain Mix has changed it's formula quite a bit since I used it. Much more Calcium and Magnesium (good) and even lower Phosphorus than before. I'm still not sure on the high SO3 content though? I would say this has now moved far enough 'away' from the original MSU formula to be called their own mix - still looks good though. I would suggest that, when you feed at the higher Ph, you don't go so high - perhaps around 6.6 - 6.8, maybe 7.0 as, in the wild, the rain water would most likely be less than 7.0. Some elements are absorbed ok across the Ph range. If you look at the chart, virtually everything is ok at 6.5 so I aim for that most of the time but on occasions drop down to 6.0. I don't go any lower as I know the Ph will drop in the pot to cater for those few elements that are better absorbed at the lower end of the range. An acid media will do far more harm than one that is heading up towards neutral. (Also, with organic media, being acidic breaks it down faster.)
Good video.
Thanks for the feedback and helpful suggestions! I'm always looking to improve what I'm doing so that's great advice! I never managed to get hold of the actual MSU formula, rain mix are still claiming that as the basis so maybe I should have actually checked comparative composition! I will look into the SO3 point more! I've measured the pH in the pot for the moss and it hovers between 5.5-6 usually after I've added the nutrient solution, but I've just done the annual repot so it's pretty much all brand new stuff. Before the repot I was trying to buffer the pH up a bit to control the moss acidity as it was around pH 5 on its own! 😮 It definitely changes alot over time so thats a great point to reiterate. Thanks for the help Roger 😀
I’ve had pretty good success growing my small collection of orchids in central Florida using MSU. Occasionally, I use Cal/Mag once a month. Now that I’ve seen your wonderful channel I’m very curious about the PH and TDS meters. I haven’t ever heard of them..Could you recommend sources where I could learn more about them and what the numbers represent. Thank you so much!😊
Annabel....I totally embrace your nerdy geekyness 👍! Love it!!!▪︎In your newest repotting vid, you mention doing a nutrient soak to help minimize shock. Is this the same solution that you used in the video? ▪︎ To add, I truly appreciate that you take so much time to respond to questions posed to you via your various social media channels. 💕😊
Hi! Yes pretty much the same solution! Same amount of seaweed, I skipped the silicone but no reason to do so, just that I feed in self watering so they'll get a continual dose of silicone in the subsequent feeds anyway. I only used a small amount of rain mix in the initial milt soak though, about 100ppm, as miltoniopsis can have quite sensitive roots and I only feel safe feeding them higher when I know they're growing lots and therefore using lots of nutrients 😄 otherwise root burn could be an issue, so for new and unknown orchids I play it safe with lower fertiliser 😄
And Thankyou! I'm really enjoying talking to everyone about orchids 😁
This is a good video Ihave been using Rainmix with seeaweed and silicon and I am like you test he PH (like my PH between 5.8 and 6.2) and TDS ( like mine between150 anf 200 ppm) feeding the orchids(watched Rick's and Roger's video).Previously I was using Orchid focus and I can see the difference . This is a great video and very interesting. Thank You so much for sharing.
Thankyou! It's good to hear you are also having success with this combination! 😀 When I watched Ricks video it was a massive YES moment as I had started using seaweed extract after reading about it on Ray Barkalows semi hydro forum. I had been using it at this low dose regularly and knew some people were very cynical about it so it was so great to hear Ricks take on it! Made me more comfortable recommending to others not just for myself 😀 I'm glad you enjoyed the video also 😄
I like to keep the ppm lower (300 is rather high) orchids seem to respond faster and look happier - pH around 6.4-6.6, always after wetting/quick soak
My orchids are responding well to much higher than this but lower is safer. Results speak for themselves and everyone's will be different using different fert mixes anyway. Ppm is relative, there will be different nutrient percentages depending on your feed. My general rule is I feed high when they're growing (as in, higher than 300 often) and low when they're not 😄 glad you've found a way that works in your setup 😄 requirements are very different for different groups of orchids also so impossible to generalise a ppm figure, in fact, I believe good growing is recognising this and adjusting as the orchids requirements change 😄
Also I don't know what you're growing in so can't comment, but the rules of inorganic constantly wet systems are totally different to say growing in bark. Particularly nutrient availability and pH buffering since you don't have an acidic media to contend with (bark and moss are both acidic). Inorganic materials are neutral to alkaline therefore I pH buffer lower to maintain the solution in the pot within optimal ranges.
Hi, Annabel! I loved the video!!♥️ You really are a great teacher. After seeing your Phalaenopsis care video I came to this one and decided I needed everything.♥️😍 I have never seen such healthy orchids on RUclips as yours. I really am amazed. I was also wondering, apart from the flushes, do you water with this solution all the time? Even with your Orchids in moss that you have to water maybe more than once a week?
Hi Gabriela, thanks so much for the complement, I think the orchids deserve all the credit 🙂 And I am glad you enjoyed this video! I was going to make an update at some point, because going along you learn so much, that looking back there is always stuff you wish you had added in to these videos!
To answer your question, when I grew my oncis in self-watering with sphagnum mixes I would water with this mix, but I would keep the pH of the solution a bit higher as moss is naturally acidic, and as it breaks down over the course of a year it becomes very acidic. I tended to keep the pH of the moss nutrient mixes about 7. What's in the pot would have actually been lower, it's difficult to measure without taking the moss out and squeezing the water it is holding out though, flush through testing doesn't seem to be that accurate for me.
So I actually don't keep any orchids in moss any more, but I do absolutely love moss. The reason was because I started trialling out other inorganic media apart from LECA, to see if I could find inorganic media that I could keep oncidiums and miltoniopsis in, the ones that struggled with dry top layers of LECA. I found a few products, pumice, seramis, and synthic, that made me want to change my moss orchids over. The main reason for this is the cost of moss and the yearly repotting, even 1 year seems a bit too long for some orchids in self watering with moss. I left a few too long sometimes and lost some roots, which was frustrating. By the time they needed repotting again the moss was quite broken down, so I started on 9 month repottings, but it was a bit much.
If you keep orchids in moss in a standard setup (not self watering) it won't break down as fast though. If you are having to water more than once a week (I didn't, because self-watering systems) then I would water with the nutrient solution at each watering, and maybe every 4 waterings flush through with pure water. You can start at weaker nutrient levels and work your way up if that's easier, as the orchids are growing they will want more building blocks, when they're growing slower they won't need as much.
Sorry for the long message! Hope that all helps 🙂
@@TheOrchidRoom You deserve ALL the credit! I love moss too, and I dont keep them in Self watering, but I did have some problems with root burn, specially with Oncidiums and Cattleyas with thinner roots. But now I bought almost all of the products (Exact brands and everything), I'm just missing a Ph adjuster, and I hope it works for me as well as its working for you.
So useful, thank you 😊
Thanks! 😀 Sorry it was quite long! 😅 I find it super interesting and got a bit carried away...
I’m on Amazon buying stuff already!
I have been using Rainmix for the past 2 years or so but in the meantime I've heard from some other RUclipsrs that it might burn roots especially the ones on mounts however I have not yet had such problem. Anyway, hearing so much of the higher qualities of MSU I am going to try it ( a friend just brought it to me from the States ). I am not expecting a big differance but since I have this opportunuty I will go for it. Nice video, thanks.
I would love to give the MSU formula a go also!😀 Definitely an opportunity not to pass up! I'm happy with the results I'm getting with RainMix but there's nothing to say they wouldn't be doing better with MSU, I'm of the opinion there's always something that can be improved!... I would have thought RainMix could only burn roots if it's accumulating in the pot and not being absorbed by the plants? With LECA in SH you can tell this visibly by accumulation of salts on top of the LECA, since I don't get this or root tip burn I would say it's being absorbed by the plant and shouldn't be an issue.... I used to get the effluorescence to a much greater extent with other orchid fertilisers indicating an excess of fertiliser.... Obviously the main indicator is TDS when you flush the pot but again I don't seem to get build up so....😄 Not sure! I'd be interested to hear how you get on with MSU! 😀
@@TheOrchidRoom I will certainly talk about it in one of my vídeos, but I suppose results, if any, will take sometime to show.
I had to give up semihydro because althought doing very well in the summer, plants did not like it in winter. The reason beeing my temperatures in my house are too low, between 16 and 18 C. Too bad !!! But I only heat the house after sunset, the door to the garden beeing open all day, winter or summer. But, when I was using Lecca I never had salt accumulations either from Rainmix.
@@FernandaNascimentoOrchids I agree SH has to be used with caution in alot of climates! It's super convenient but even in my environment it doesn't work for about half of the types of orchids I keep 😅 And the hot growers that do like it need to be put on heat mats in our winter....which is a bit of hassle but also easier than heating the whole room...I look forward to seeing your video update on the MSU! 😀
I just want to apologise for the length of the video and if it gets too science-ey for orchid growing. To explain a bit.... I'm a Biologist so I just find this super interesting and just wanted to offer my take on this issue 😀 There's loads more videos and orchid growing articles on this that don't deal as much with the reasoning behind pH adjusting so I wanted to add in my take. I hope other people also find this interesting, but if you find this too much let me know and I'll make a shortened version with key points only! Feedback appreciated. Thanks everyone, you're all great 😀
No wonder you're so knowledgeable! I'm majoring in Plant Science, so you're speaking my language 😆
Is it possible, feasible, and safe to pH adjust with vinegar?
Amazing! Glad you are interested! I'm doing a PhD in Cancer Immunology so my obsessive science mode has fully activated with the orchid hobby 😂 playing catch up with plant science though (sometimes I sit at work looking at research papers and the odd orchid research paper slips into the tabs on my laptop 😁). So I know some people pH up with sodium bicarbonate and down with vinegar. In theory no problems, it's just a mild acid compared to the stronger acids you buy for pHing? But there must be other organic components? Not sure if I know enough about it to give you a full answer, will look into it 😀
@@TheOrchidRoom wow, the best of luck to you! Yeah, seems safe. Should probably get a pH meter first though 😂 I've been procrastinating on that since I already have a TDS meter
Please don't apologise at all! You talked about a lot of stuff I was actually curious about. Can you teach a class? hehe
Sorry pardon my ignorance but I just wanted to ask when you say you water your orchids I noted that you use self watering pots, is this mixture something you just flush through the orchids once a week and then use normal filtered water in the bottom of your self watering pots? Thank you the video has been really informative, I'm in the UK and have just over the past year gotten into orchid keeping. I keep tropical fish so I already know a little about PH, nitrates etc. Interesting what you said about the breaking down of the nitrogen I have been using my tank water at times, when I run out of rain water, to water my orchids which I buffer down the PH to around 7 (tap water around 7.7) and is full of nitrates from the fish waste. Maybe a more balanced watering method might be better for the orchids rather than using a bit of this and a bit of that. I have never tested my TDS before watering so I will have to pick up a monitor.
I noticed that you aren’t using any cal mag as several of the other you tubers are doing. Is this because your fertilizer has a high amount? Wondering what the best amount is recommended for orchids.
Hi 😀 Yes cal mag is only needed if you're using a fertiliser that doesn't have sufficient quantities of calcium or magnesium in. Because the Rain mix has high quantities of both I wouldn't need to to add any. I do have Cal Mag from when I was using an orchid focus fertiliser and wanted to top up what was in there. But because it had nitrogen in for the one I was using also it said to just feed the Cal Mag on it's own in one watering a month so you didn't feed too much excess nitrogen. In terms of quantity thats a difficult one. You want the calcium to be slightly in excess of the nitrogen you are feeding from what I have read for Orchids, because calcium isn't mobile in the plant and it's essential for new growth development . So the plant isnt actually able to pull calcium from older leaves as reserves like it can with other nutrients, so there has to be plenty available. Magnesium I'm not as sure on but the amount in the Rain mix is definitely sufficient. Cal Mag I believe is 5% Ca 2% Mg. Magnesium is required in the production of chlorophyll in the leaves but it can be moved around the plant more easily so you want a steady supply of it but it doesn't need to be as high as Ca2. I hope this answers some of the questions 😀
the water filter manufacturers recommend you change filter as soon as you can hand over more money. my tapwater is about 60ppm TDS according to their figures, so i just use that. when i can remember, which is less often than desired, i use aquarium water conditioner to neutralize the chloramines etc. in tapwater.
dont bother supplementing with silica, there's more than enough of it in water etc. for plants that want lots of it, which is bog growing plants like horsetail. extensive testing shows there's no difference in growth whatsoever for plants supplemented with silica. but since it's completely inert and doesnt harm plants, they'll take your money for it if you believe their hype.
everyone will tell you not to mix all sorts of nutrient solutions together, unless you really know your chemistry, as it's actually quite easy to make nutrients fall out of solution (precipitate) by mixing ones that are incompatible, and then they become non dissolving solids.
Good information! I appreciate the science, but I have a question, are you using this for all species in your collection? I've recently acquired several miltoniopsis, and I know they are very delicate and fussy, so I'm afraid to feed them. Should they get the seaweed? Should you use a lower dose of fertilizer? I'm in the US so I'll have have to make some substitutions to your "recipe", but I would love your input.
Hi Kimberly! So yes, I do use this mix for all my species, but I sometimes adjust due to seasonal requirement. So at the moment all my orchids are getting the same mix as at the moment my Miltoniopsis are all putting out 2-4 new growths each and using alot of water and energy/nutrients to achieve this. However, as you say they have very sensitive roots due to their adaptations to cloud forests with very pure water available. This means that any nutrient salt build up in the pot can be an issue and cause root burn, where the water actually moves out of the root due to the high salt concentration outside the root in the pot. So when the orchid is rapidly taking up these nutrients, this isnt an issue with feeding at my current level. However if they are going through periods of slow growth, or no growth, or if you are noticing salt build up, I would lower the nutrient level of the miltoniopsis feed and increase flushing of the pots. If the orchid is stressed and doesn't have good roots, again lower or completely stop fertilizing until a good root system is present 😀 This way you are never damaging growing roots. I use the same seaweed level on all my orchids at the moment during active growth, which is equivalent to about 30ppm seaweed extract per feed. During less active growth I reduce to every other feed. If you are in the US I would really recommend trying to get hold of MSU fertiliser if you can! This is pretty much the gold standard fertiliser 😀 I just can't get it in the UK! I hope this helps, thanks for watching the video! 😀
@@TheOrchidRoom Thank you! I bought 12 miltoniopsis orchids at a fantastic price, $2.50 per plant. I don't know what that works out to in pounds or euros, but it was a bargain. However, it was a risky bargain as some of the plants have AWFUL root loss, but some are in very good shape, so thank you for the warning not to fertilize the ones with root loss. I don''t know if two of these are salvageable, but at that price, it is worth a try. :)
Where do you purchase the rain mix in the uk, I can’t find it in stock anywhere?
Hi Abi,
So my first batch I bought from a UK orchid supply shop in a 400g tub, the second lot I bought a 1kg tub directly from akerne who are the developers. They also sell lovely orchids and package excellently, so if you're buying from them worth ordering an orchid or two 🙂😉
Here are the links:
Rain Mix: www.akerne-orchids.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=40
Or UK Seller: orchidsupplies.co.uk/Akernes-rain-mix-orchid-food-fertiliser
The Orchid Room thank you that’s very helpful :)
Whats the water filtration unit that you are using ?
Hi, it's a water filer called zero water 😄 zerowater.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5KXbi7bi4wIVQbDtCh1KvAtFEAAYASAAEgI5nfD_BwE
Hi Annabel 😊
Remembered you had this video so watched again re the TDS of liquid silicon. Here you have approximately 80 ppm with 1 mL in 0,5L water, and I have 93 ppm with 1ml in 1L water (15 ppm from the water).
I wonder if it's my TDS meter or something else...
Could potentially be settling of the mixture if I didn't shake the bottle before use? I just got home from work, will check again 🙂
Ok so my zero water is currently reading 6ppm. Added 0.5ml of silicone to 0.5L of water (1ml/L). Reading 96ppm. So I routinely add around 90ppm of silicon, sometimes less, sometimes more if I'm pH adjusting with it.
@@TheOrchidRoom thanks a lot Annabel! That is fairly close to my reading (when I don't add double the amount 🙈).
@@smallshebear Maybe I was scraping an old bottle for this video or something, I'm on a new bottle now and shook it up before testing so it's probably a more reliable reading 🙂
Great video, thank you 😊
Thanks! 😀
Ph under 6.5 is bad for absorbtion of phosphorus
Thanks 🙂 I alternate feeding at a higher pH once a month and it seems to work, no apparent signs of phosphorus, calcium or magnesium deficiency 🙂 bear in mind the pH in my pots is going to be around 6 at a standard feed, and around 7.5 at a higher feed with the inorganic materials- I explain this in my first nutrient video, but you're right, I should have mentioned this here, will pin a comment.