Miracle Grow Garden Feeder???

[VandaPanda]

Hey Folks,

I'm new to Orchid Board and posted about my other vanda and thank you for the replies that I recieved. Im curious to know about the Miracle Grow Garden Feeder. Its a feeder that you connect to your hose and distributes fertilizer while hosing my vandas. I (of course) emptied out the miracle grow fertilizer and just add 2 tablespoons of 20-20-20 and fill it with water. Im wondering if anybody else uses this device or knows about it.
It gives the measurements on the side: IE; (When starting with a jarful (1-1/4 pounds of Miracle-Gro) you will have 50 gallons of plant food. 1 jarful will cover 500 square feet of garden area or 1000 square feet of lawn. Recommended water pressure is 40 - 80 PSI. The feeder dispenses at 4 gallons per minute (1 gallon every 15 seconds).

I tried to do the math but I have no idea if this is good or bad for my orchids. I wanted to ask for some help so I dont get stuck in a bad routine. Also will I see any symptons if Im over feeding??? Thanks for any and all replies. Everyone on here seems cool and I appreciate it!

[PaphMadMan]

This device uses a concentrated fertilizer solution and automatically dilutes and applies it as you water, correct? The information you have given does not supply all of the information needed to figure out if what you're doing is correct, but I assume it came with instructions for measuring out water soluble Miracle-Gro to make the concentrated solution for a single application. The same instructions and amount should work for any water soluble fertlizer and be approximately correct. If you are using it with every watering it should be at no more than 1/4 the recommended strength though. And there is really no reason not to use up the Miracle-Gro fertilizer. Using it for every third or fourth fertilizer application can't possibly have a negative effect on your orchids.

[VandaPanda]

Hey Thanks!! It gave me instructions on the box but again I couldn't figure it out. Maybe another good question is how people feed their vandas. I tried using a watering can but feel that its not proficient enough. I thought this device would be good b/c im supplying plenty of water while adding the fertilizer. Yes to your question. It does dilute while distributing. I put the two tablespoons in and try and soak them for about 10-15 minutes. When Im done it still shows color in the container so I dont know if Im using enough or not.

P.S. I supplement 20-20-20 with Bloombooster every third feeding. I heard that is a good method. Thanks again for your and anyone else who gives me a heads up!

[Gage]

Sounds like that should work. Bloom booster is not necessary for Vandas. They don't have a rest period, so pulling back on nitrogen won't benefit. They grow year round, including while blooming. Bloom booster can be beneficial for orchids that bloom during their rest period when they are not growing. My 2 cents.

As far as method, I'm kinda cheap, so I use a spray bottle to soak my Vandas once a week with fert. I hate to pour gallons of fert on the ground. I use a hose wand to water daily, and the fert spray bottle once a week. It takes a little bit of time to fertilize my small collection (50 or so orchids) this way, but I enjoy it.

[PaphMadMan]

On a mature vanda I'd probably lean toward using the bloom booster all the time, though I don't think it makes much difference. The higher nitrogen fertilizer can promote vegetative growth over flowering in any plant.

As long as you are watering well with plain water between fertilizations I don't think there is much chance to having to much fertilizer. The first sign would probably be burned root tips long before any more serious damage occurs.

[Ray]

Do the instructions have you add 1.25# powder to the container, then fill with water?

What is the volume of the container?

[Vanda lover]

I try to soak mine in a tub of water when ever it is possible, but when it isn't, I just pour the water over the roots and soak it well. I wonder if in some cases using the water strait from the hose might be too cold? I suppose it depends where your water comes from.