To get off overheated personalities, could I ask about people's experience with fertilisers? I have been trying a regime of sharply restricted nutrients and I have to say that I am impressed by the results. Mind you, this is a trial that is only in its second year, so one cannot generalise. However - for example - Grammatophyllums that had one-two spikes in previous years now have around a dozen, and this is far from unusual. In addition, there is less growth but it is woody and firm, with no rot in evidence. Roots growth seems much enhanced. Compost seems to be more stable.
The previous regime was a weekly light dose during all of the growing season. Now, they get fertiliser once every two weeks, starting from when the growth is firmly under way and ceasing before the Autumn slowdown. I could not recommend this to a commercial grower, as the rate of development is slow and the number of plants that you can poush out is correspondingly less, but where you are looking for solid plants and flowers, it seems a winner. I have also been exposing some plants - Cymbidiums in particular - to much brighter sun than hitherto, insofar as the UK can generate this. Leaf leangth has halved, but width and thickness are increased - particularly thickness - and pseudobulb size has also increased. They look much more like field plants. Thoughts? _____________________________________ Oliver Sparrow Tel: UK (0)20 7736 9716 www.chforum.org www.treknepal.org www.datafreeze.com
_______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
