What do you use to fertilize orchids
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While you can definitely buy a reputable orchid fertilizer and follow the instructions on the packaging, I also want to flag that you don’t necessarily *have* to. Orchids don’t require that much, and their roots are biologically designed to be really good at pulling trace amounts of nutrients from their environment (from the air, from the water they soak up, and from what is produced by the symbiotic fungi/organisms that live in the moss/bark mediums that are best for growing orchids in your home). I’ve had prolific bloomers that I only fertilized once a year or less, and I’ve had the tips of leaves turn black and burn from diluted fertilizer every few weeks.
So if you have one grocery store orchid and never fertilize it, it will likely be happy as a clam in relative perpetuity with nothing more than appropriate light and water (unless you’re watering it with distilled water, which is going to be devoid of any minerals the orchid would normally trap in its roots). I say this because it can be a hassle to keep around a specialty fertilizer for one plant that is likely to continue thriving without any fertilization.
That said, the primary potting medium I use for my 20+ orchids is sphagnum moss; when I use bark, it’s usually not more than 20% of the medium. Moss is going to be much better at staying chock full of nutrients for your orchid to snap up; if your orchid is purely in bark, you can get away with fertilizing more frequently because a lot of it is going down the drain and the population of symbiotic organisms living in your medium that help feed the orchid is also likely to be much smaller.
So do whatever you feel comfortable with, but if you only have the one orchid and do want to fertilize it, you may want to get a time release orchid fertilizer because normally you have to mix a gallon worth of fertilizer and you can’t keep it for very long after it’s mixed because liquid fertilizer is a prime environment for growing mold/algae/bacteria.
So if you have one grocery store orchid and never fertilize it, it will likely be happy as a clam in relative perpetuity with nothing more than appropriate light and water (unless you’re watering it with distilled water, which is going to be devoid of any minerals the orchid would normally trap in its roots). I say this because it can be a hassle to keep around a specialty fertilizer for one plant that is likely to continue thriving without any fertilization.
That said, the primary potting medium I use for my 20+ orchids is sphagnum moss; when I use bark, it’s usually not more than 20% of the medium. Moss is going to be much better at staying chock full of nutrients for your orchid to snap up; if your orchid is purely in bark, you can get away with fertilizing more frequently because a lot of it is going down the drain and the population of symbiotic organisms living in your medium that help feed the orchid is also likely to be much smaller.
So do whatever you feel comfortable with, but if you only have the one orchid and do want to fertilize it, you may want to get a time release orchid fertilizer because normally you have to mix a gallon worth of fertilizer and you can’t keep it for very long after it’s mixed because liquid fertilizer is a prime environment for growing mold/algae/bacteria.
@ZippyVetiver70 just remember that it’s better to underwater than overwater; it takes a lot more time/effort to recover from rot than it does from being thirsty for a little too long. They often thrive more on neglect than love :)
