Fertilizer
 

Hey All,

I just noticed that Ray no longer has fertilizer on his site. Can someone point me of where I can order some good fertilizer online or buy locally in Los Angeles? I had been using the MSU mix and I think my plan has been doing pretty well on it.

Any tips appreciated. Thank you.

You can get it here.

FEED ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer - RO/Rain/Tap Water Version

Kelley's Korner Orchid Supplies (kkorchid.com) in New Hampshire, or Chula Orchids (chulaorchids.com) in Oregon are excellent vendors. I've done business with both for years.

I strongly advise folks to stay away from RepotMe.com, due to their labeling practices, pricing, and exorbitant shipping costs.

Good to know.

Thanks. Are you familiar with Jim's Orchid Supplies? I believe they're based out of Florida. They have stores on Amazon and eBay, would making buying from them very simple and they offer MSU fertilizer.

in my opinion, Jim's prices at Amazon are way out of line, as are RepotMe's.

Ray, if you don't mind explaining to a novice, what do you mean by "labeling practices"? This site does not sell plants, and that's what I think of when I hear labels.

I have purchased supplies from this vendor, and I'm reluctant to invite negative comments, but since the door has already been opened.....

If it's not appropriate to post publicly, maybe you would send me a PM?

I buy Dyna Grow for orchids liquid concentration formula on eBay. They are the same price (lowest you can find) as some others and often free shipping.

I highly recommend eBay for a small number of fertilizer. Just surf through and see if there are anything you like.

I just ran out of my second bottle and will order a bunch soon.

Also, if there is Home Depot nearby, you can pick up Miracle Gro orchid fertilizer, which is only around $5.
It gives me more for the bucks when compared to the liquid concentrate product, but I just don't like shaking the bottle to dissolve all the fertilizer granules.

I hand water at home rather than making a big barrel of solution, so this really is a big hassle for me.
So, most of the time, I pay more and buy liquid formula.

By law (and, in my opinion, as a matter of honesty), fertilizer labels must give the concentration of the ingredients contained.

In the case of MSU RO formula, the powder is 13-5-15, meaning 13% nitrogen by weight, 5% Phosphorus as P2O5, and 15% potassium as K2O.

My understanding is that the folks at RepotMe dissolve one pound of that powder in water to make up a gallon of solution for their liquids, but they still label it as being a 13-5-15 formula. In reality, what your getting from them is only roughly 10% of that, making it a 1.3-0.5-1.5 formula.

They are convenient because you can log in through Amazon and pay with that account. I agree, their shipping is too high. I limit what I buy from them to dry fertilizer and potting mix. I also use Dyna Gro cal mag from Amazon. I will be switching to KK as I wanted to try K-Lite. In my area, there is not a good, consistent seller of supplies.