Was gifted this Vanda - not much roots
 

Hello! Hope you all are doing great and staying safe and healthy!
I was gifter this Vanda from a friend and it has three spikes coming but the bad thing is that she has pretty small amount of roots. There are a few roots coming like branchings and one thick root coming from the main stem. Will this plant be okey? Also I ordered some Kelpak (EU version of KelpMax) to give it a little boost. What else could you guys recomend?
Thank You in advance!

It looks good. Use the Kelpak once a month at the concentration on the label. Water Vandas at least once a day - completely soak the roots so they turn dark green.

Thank You so much! You think the roots are enough to sustain thia plant? My biggest fears are lossing it because when my friend showed me the photos of blooms I imediatelly fell in love!

Yes, plenty of roots if you water enough.

Thanks so much! You really calmed me down! Also KelPak will help with the new roots I think?

:hello I have found KelpMax to be a superior product after using it for about 1 year. My small growing space houses 7 Vandas but enough water and KelpMax have encouraged many roots. Send us photos of blooms when you can.

Very nice to hear! Will update with flower pictures! :)

There is no dosage for orchids indicated on the label of Kelpak. Use 4ml/liter, and you can let the roots soak in it for a couple of hours.

When I started using it last year, I started seeing tons of new root growth about 3-5 weeks after first application, depending on the orchids.

Word of warning 4 ml/l is very strong.

I will not speculate but a seedling died after using 4ml/l

It is such a strong dose that one can only use it once a month.

If one waters a mounted orchid every day, only being able to feed it once a month makes little sense to me but kelpmax is ridiculously strong (take a whiff)

so to use it more reguarly it needs to be diluted at least 30x times but I like to dilute it even further. So I go 100x diluted.

I would say anything bwtwen 50-100 times weaker than the recommended dose is a good dose and I am converted on the stuff after using so little.

The first thing I always do with any fertilizer is work out the safe amount my orchids respond to well and that is 50 times less than the recommended dose - but at every watering, not just once a month. This should be roughly 1 small drop per liter

If it helps, that can also be done. It does not need to be all in one go.

You're only supposed to use the kelp once a month.

I get told I can't do a lot of things ES.

edit: I'm sure Ray will weigh in on this too but I won't speak on his behalf since I did seek his advice about it.

If one researched the stuff one will find out that it is marketed to farmers on a big scale. It is mainly a farming booster which is great for us orchid growers too of course.

So if I was a potato farmer, I wouldn't want to know the dose orchids want, I'd want a monthly dose to spray on my field of potatoes. Job done.

If you know me, you might know I analyse (and probably overanalyse) everything which I'd like to think is what makes me a good orchid grower.

Why only feed once a month is what I would have to say.

Do orchids get the same dose potatoes would get?

All important questions to ask imo.

Don't think of the kelp as "fertilizer" - it is a root stimulant. So once a month is reasonable - that's the instruction with Kelpmax as well. (And the concentration fits with that regimen as well) Fertilizer is completely another story. Vandas need lots - fertilizing a Vanda once a week, or more dilute, even every watering, is beneficial.

What Roberta says ^^ Kelpmax isn't a fertilizer. I wouldn't think using it as diluted as Shadeflower is doing is harmful. Likely not necessary, but if it works for him why not?

I "try" to use Kelpmax once a month. Sometimes it doesn't happen. For what it's worth, I use one Tablespoon per gallon, because that's how we measure stuff here in my neck of the woods. Have no idea whether that's equivalent to what Camille said about milliliter to liter, and would hate to try converting and screw it up. So if of interest, please do your own math...it makes my head hurt too much. :biggrin:

Ray gives instructions for using Kelpmax on his website, and they are printed on the bottle. To read more about Kelpmax, how it works, and how to use it, go to KelpMax Kelp Extract › First Rays LLC
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