Weakly-Weekly Fertilizing Orchids

If you are someone who wants an easy, reliable way to fertilize your orchids the weakly-weekly method is a great way to go. With this method you'll feed your orchid once a week at a diluted concentration.

There are different fertilizers you can use for different growth stages. A balanced fertilizer can be used all year round. Something like 10-10-10 or an equivalent to that is good for all stages of orchid growth. These numbers stand for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Nitrogen promotes plant growth above ground with healthy green leaves. Phosphorus promotes growth below ground with strong healthy roots. Potassium helps with overall plant health by making strong plant cells within cell tissues.

Some people don't dilute their fertilizer and only feed once a month. If you go with this way it's suggested to water heavily afterwards to wash excess fertilizer off your plant. Too much can easily burn plant roots and a mineral salt can build up and cause damage to the plant. Over-feeding can also lead to brown, dried up tips on orchid leaves. This is why I'm going with the weakly-weekly method and diluting my fertilizer to 1/4 concentration.

Another good tip when fertilizing is to pre-water your orchid and let it sit so that the medium becomes completely damp. This will help disperse the the fertilizer and prevent build ups that can harm roots. After you're satisfied that your pot is damp enough go ahead and water your orchid with your fertilizer.

This mist is really nice too since it's already diluted to .02-.02-.02 concentration. This is for misting leaves, roots, and bulbs. I used this once a week with my other fertilizer, just make sure not to get any on your flowers. I've found both of these products at Walmart as well as Lowes.

Keep in mind that different orchids have different fertilizer needs. Phaleanopsis orchids will do well on this method (as will most others). Vandaceaous orchids could be fertilized twice a week but pleurothallids don't need as much and could be feed every other week. If you have a different orchid variety and have questions comment below and I'll try to help you out.

~Happy Planting!