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Originally Posted by Itr_hybrid
Thank you for the input everyone. Lots of good ideas here. Anyone else have a perspective on the potassium levels and possibly switching to the non K-lite MSU formula with more potassium?
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If you look at the chemical makeup of an orchid, it is about 90% water.
If you look only at the dry material, about 90% of that is nitrogen, about 9% is P+K+Ca+Mg, and 1% is everything else, combined.
The nutrient content of a plant is more of an indication of "what it has been getting", rather than "what it needs", but considering that orchids have evolved to thrive under such conditions strongly suggests the two are at least relatively close.
Phosphorus is rather unique, because a plant will take up every smidgen of phosphorus it can find, whether it needs it or not (and it's apparently not in huge demand, but as been stated, orchids are pretty undemanding of fertilizer at all), and socks it away in cell vacuoles. Unfortunately, it has been shown that if a plant has accumulated too much, it can actually preclude the uptake of calcium, which can be quite detrimental.
The base concepts behind the K-Lite formula were to more closely mimic what the plants see in nature, and to provide enough P & K to meet the plants' needs without accelerating the accumulation issue.
I was the first user of the product. My plants grow and bloom quite well, having received no other formula since December of 2011, although they have been regularly supplemented with KelpMax that does contain a minuscule amount of P & K since it's a plant extract, and a plant probiotic which naturally enhances nutrient uptake.
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