What do you use to fertilize your Neos?

[coffeecup]

I was curious to see what everyone uses to fertilize their Neos. I have used solely worm tea in the past and now I am using Dyna-Gro Gro and Pro-Tek fertilizers with the occasional seaweed extract and liquid CaMg supplements. I'm not sure if I've noticed a difference yet, but wanted to hear what other people use.

[Leafmite]

I only use my MSU fertilizer from February until late October. I use lava rock and the MSU seems to be geared toward moss or bark, then those summer rains flush the pots, so I have found the orchids do better if I add a little Ironite to the bottom of the watering can in June to slowly dissolve during the summer. In addition, I add a bit of powdered milk and Epsom salts. Eggshells are always mixed in with the lava rock. I do this with all my orchids, including the neos.

[WhiteRabbit]

I've been using Grow More urea free, or Better Gro (same as my other orchids)

[coffeecup]

Thanks you two. Anyone else? I am trying to see what people are having success with. I am debating on changing up what I use to see if it makes a difference.

[jeremiah.chua]

I just started fertilizing with Grow More 20-20-20 (not urea free). 1/4 dose, twice a month. I didn't fertilize in the winter but now that I am seeing new root growth in some of my neos, I started fertilizing very lightly.

Quite honestly, I don't know if they're picky with fertilizer. They started growing new roots without the help of it and I only started dosing AFTER seeing root growth. I did a bunch of browsing through the forums about fertilizer and the general consensus was to just use whatever you can get for orchids. Any is better than none. And since I already bought the 20-20-20 before doing any research about using urea free products, I'm just gonna stick with it till it runs out. (Gonna be a while...)

I fertilize the day after I water my neos (and other orchids for that matter).
I can't really tell if it helps or not. Root growth is root growth to me

[Bud]

I use Algoflash weekly with seaweed mix....alternated weekly with worm tea mix....and once a month water soluble 9-45-15 fertilizer to trigger blooms

I stop fertilizer in winter from Dec. 15th to Feb. 15th....water every week instead of every other day

[LinhT]

I've been using Biogold and HB-101 the last few years. Since I grow in moss, I find that there is less burning of the root tips with the Biogold and HB-101. When I used MSU, I had burnt root tips often, even at low amounts of fertilizer. Different things work for different growing media and conditions. These 2 just happen to work better for me, probably because I usually don't have time to thoroughly flush the moss with RO water on a regular basis.

[coffeecup]

Originally Posted by Bud

I use Algoflash weekly with seaweed mix....alternated weekly with worm tea mix....and once a month water soluble 9-45-15 fertilizer to trigger blooms

I stop fertilizer in winter from Dec. 15th to Feb. 15th....water every week instead of every other day

How do you like the results from alternating with the worm tea mix? I'm thinking of doing something very similar.

Originally Posted by LinhT

I've been using Biogold and HB-101 the last few years. Since I grow in moss, I find that there is less burning of the root tips with the Biogold and HB-101. When I used MSU, I had burnt root tips often, even at low amounts of fertilizer. Different things work for different growing media and conditions. These 2 just happen to work better for me, probably because I usually don't have time to thoroughly flush the moss with RO water on a regular basis.

I hadn't even thought about burnt root tips. Now that you mention it, some of my Neos have been doing this and I thought it was just a weak root or something. Time to change up my mixture! Thanks everyone!

[Bud]

Just like Tracy, I have no problems with root tip burns....I also did the traditional samurai moss culture on most of my Neos except one in seedling mix in net pot....

seaweed and wormtea are still being doubted by many....but I dont find anything wrong with them....plant food is essential and it may be snake oil to some but I need to feed my babies and provide nutrients for them

[coffeecup]

To Bud & Tracy, where do you purchase your fertilizers from?