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Orchid tank

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by rollinkansas, May 23, 2013.

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  1. Sep 25, 2013 #21
    ZWUM

    ZWUM Bulbophiliac Staff Member

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    That's fantastic. I think I may have over thought some of my previous tanks I might have to test out your method!
     
  2. Sep 25, 2013 #22
    rollinkansas

    rollinkansas Active Member

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    Haha the KISS method.. I just ordered fertilizer from MSU which I have never used before.. I'm hoping it will do some good for growth rates of plants since up till this point I have only used just water.
     
  3. Oct 18, 2013 #23
    LJeziorska

    LJeziorska New Member

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    Very nice space ! :) I love it I wish I could have something like that and if you don't have space I am open to donations hehe! :D

    Good luck !
    Looking forward to see the new space
     
  4. Nov 10, 2013 #24
    Neo

    Neo New Member

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    impressive
     
  5. Nov 10, 2013 #25
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    [quote="rollinkansas, post: 90579, member: 442"I just ordered fertilizer from MSU which I have never used before.. I'm hoping it will do some good for growth rates of plants since up till this point I have only used just water.[/quote]
    How has the MSU worked out?
     
  6. Nov 10, 2013 #26
    rollinkansas

    rollinkansas Active Member

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    How has the MSU worked out?[/quote]

    I think I screwed up since I keep a couple of other non orchid plants in there like begonias and peperomias, and after the first dose, they almost all melted and died and I lost some very hard to find species, so I stopped using it, since I am scared now. I think I burned off almost my entire piece of calodictylon too which was growing great before using the fertilizer. So for now, I dont have enough experience to say how it works...Im not sure how much more I can dilute it before it doesnt even have an effect on the plants.
     
  7. Nov 10, 2013 #27
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    I use it on everything in my collection at 1/4 tsp per gallon. That includes a few begonia species. Are you using RO water? If you are using only pure or low TDS water you can starve your plants.
     
  8. Nov 10, 2013 #28
    rollinkansas

    rollinkansas Active Member

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    I use distilled water from the supermarket . I was told to use about a tablespoon per gallon...so maybe I was using way too much?
     
  9. Nov 10, 2013 #29
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Who told you that? I'm amazed anything is still green! The label on the bulk bag recommends 10.3 ounces per 100 gallons of water to give 100 ppm. I've used up to 200 ppm in the summer for constant feed, but usually use about 150 ppm. I think you used about 1/2 ounce per gallon. That is a toxic amount.
     
  10. Nov 10, 2013 #30
    rollinkansas

    rollinkansas Active Member

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    Well that would explain a lot...I will wait a few weeks for plants to get back to normal then try it again at a teaspoon/gallon or slightly less to start off.
     
  11. Nov 11, 2013 #31
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    If you cannot measure the electrical conductivity, you really should think in terms of mass, not volume. The Greencare company is used to dealing with large-scale nurseries that make stock solutions using full bags at a time, and their raw materials sources change from time to time, making volume measurement - "teaspoons" - be of variable mass and potentially not representative of the overall formula.

    If you dissolve one pound of MSU RO in a gallon of water to make your concentrated stock solution, then use one ounce (2 tablespoons) of that liquid per gallon of final solution, you'll have a uniform, representative solution of 125 ppm N, which was their recommended strength.

    I feed at every watering, so 125 ppm N is simply overdoing it. I have been using the K-Lite formula for just about 2 years now - it is a low-P/low-K derivative of the MSURO formula - but have reduced my dosing to about 30-35 ppm N.
     
  12. Nov 11, 2013 #32
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    For what you are growing, a quarter tsp per gallon would be a good place to start.
     
  13. Sep 14, 2021 #33
    Jill m

    Jill m New Member

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    Where do you get the white plastic piece for hanging the orchids?
     
  14. Sep 14, 2021 #34
    KellyW

    KellyW Orchid wonk Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Hi Jill, welcome to the forum.
    Rollinkansas hasn’t been on the forum in a long time so I’ll try to answer for him.

    The white plastic grids are (I believe) the “egg crate” diffusers used with overhead fluorescent lighting. It is usually available at big box stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot.
     
    J E likes this.
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