Vanda fertliser

[Ray]

Agreed! 1/2 of (undefined) is of no value to the discussion.

Despite that, there are a couple of things to remember with the original question:

1) Growing conditions.

A vanda growing outdoors in south Florida is going to be able to use a lot more nutrition than one grown in a New York City apartment. When asking for-, providing-, or using cultural recommendations, you'd better include a lot of details about growing conditions.

2) Timing.

Nutrition does not "force" growth and blooming. Those are aspects of the plant's genetic makeup. What that means is that fertilizers are the "fuel" that allows them to happen. If the plant is in active growth, it can use more "fuel" than at other times. Giving it less-than-optimal nutrition (quantity-wise) may slow it down, but will not harm the plant. Giving it too much can.

I prefer the moderate/constant approach to feeding. With my varied collection, I use 125 ppm (mg/L) N at every watering, year round. Here in a greenhouse in southeast Pennsylvania, my vandaceous plants probably don't need that in the middle of winter, but it appears to do no harm. Likewise, they could probably use more during their mid-summer growth period, but I don't have the time or inclination to give any of my plants special treatment. I get good blooming anyway, so why complain?

[Tindomul]

Those are good insights Ray! thanks for sharing. I didn't realize that conditions played a role in feeding regimes.

[Intruder]

Thank you Ray for your response. I suppose that you are not growing your vandas in S/H but with the roots free in baskets made of wood or plastic.

[Faerygirl]

Oops sorry then I will be more specific as well. I grow my vandaceous orchids bareroot on wires, mounted to totems and driftwood, and in slat baskets in a greenhouse that is kept above 55 degrees year round and gets full sun. It would be impossible for me to go around and water them with anything less than a water hose. Some of them hang up over my head by over 5+ feet.
I don't use any "special" fertilizer, just Peter's 20-20-20 Full Strength and whatever that has in it. I fertilize year round, I try to do it once a week unless life intervenes and prevents me.
Any orchids I have in a closed container have a topdressing of Nutricote for slow release action and occasionally they get a hit of Peter's Excel Cal/Mag 15-5-15 water soluble as a booster.
I agree, defining the conditions the plants are growing in is very important.

[justatypn]

My vanda's and asosc get the same as all my other orchids, half the strength of the manufactors suggestion in a spray bottle and spray/mist away...growing them in a wooden basket to free their feet/toes.

[Intruder]

Sorry but full strength means nothing for me. How many grams of fertiliser are you dissolving in 1 liter of water to prepare your fertiliser solution?

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Intruder

Sorry but full strength means nothing for me. How many grams of fertiliser are you dissolving in 1 liter of water to prepare your fertiliser solution?

It's different for each fertiliser. Full strength means the solution made accordingly to instruction on the given bottle. Half stregth - read how many grams of fertiliser you need to prepare the solution and then divide it on two.

[Intruder]

Sorry, but I buy and use pulverulent fertiliser (in powder form) and I prepare myself the fertiliser solution. This is definitely less expensive than commercial prepared solutions.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Intruder

Sorry, but I buy and use pulverulent fertiliser (in powder form) and I prepare myself the fertiliser solution. This is definitely less expensive than commercial prepared solutions.

No instructions? How do you know how to mix it correctly?

[Intruder]

The growers characterize usually the concentration in fertiliser of their solution by his nitrogen content. So, taking into account the composition (NPK) of a fertiliser, I weight the quantity of fertiliser to reach the wished concentration in nitrogen in my solution. I use fully water soluble fertiliser.