Michael, your information (2:00 to 2:39) is EXACTLY what I have needed to learn. With great interest, I'm taking notes from your video. Thank you so much for this video. I plan on watching all the videos in your series. If I could hand you an award for excellence, I would! As "The World's Most Novice Orchid Enthusiast," I thank you very much! Date: January 14, 2018
GREA Job Michael. Really enjoyed this highly educational series. Thank you so very much for presenting this material so eloquently, for your time and dedication and for your passion to provide the best for your "Green Babies", I totally relate to that.
Good experiment! thanks very much for doing this video and sharing it with us! This is a very complicated topic which you explained it in a very easy language , thanks again.
I'm doing everything I can to keep the orchids I recently corrected and have watched several videos on how to create a thriving media for them. I live in an arid climate, and that poses its own challenges to keeping them healthy. I think my primary issue is the media pH being too alkaline. I've tried adding Apple Cider Vinegar when I water them but as soon as the media (bark with a small amount of sphagnum moss) dries that pH goes back to 8.0. What can I do to keep them in that 5.5-6.5 range? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you so much.
My Brassia- Eternal Wind is in serious need of repot. Another beauty I found while in NC. I have MANY new growths and wanted to know if you would like a division (this plant is seriously spilling over the edges of the pot). I looked to see if you have a PO Box for mail and surprises set up....sadly you do not. LMK if you are interested and we will get details for shipping figured out. This has a delightful spicy fragrance :)
Hi Amber! You are so sweet, I could just cry! I'll have to say no for now, because I don't have a PO Box set up! I may potentially be moving soon too, so I don't want to set one up then have to leave it. If the opportunity presents itself again, please let me know and hopefully I'll be prepared! Xoxo
Hi Chris! I'm afraid I don't have any experience with gravel mix, so I can't really offer any advice on the topic. But I assume it should be fine as long as they are receiving proper nutrients solution and dry out period!
pH meters are a bit of a pain, they can be real tweaky and need calibration almost constantly. Monitoring of pH in a hydroponic system is important because in most cases we lack mycorhizal fungi and symbiotic bacteria which aid the plants in nutrient availability, although I suspect that in time some of these organisms colonize the media or even the integuman of the roots. I personally use a commercial hydro tomato formula, 2 part, and add epsom salt, kelp extact and fulvic acid to the mix.
BTW, Elaine Ingham, a soil scientist has some great talks about soil biology and the interrelationships between plants and their microbiological allies and enemies, very enlightening and can instantly start a debate with classically trained farmers. Elaine is one of the big/whole picture scientists and worth the time to listen to even if you don't agree with her.
I'm just beginning to understand the intense impact of pH, so a lot of what you just said is completely foreign to me! But I'm looking forward to reading up on some on the fungi and bacteria you've mentioned. Is there a resource you consulted to concoct your solution, or is that a mixture of your own making? Can I read up on that too? It sounds really interesting!
Well I did go to school for botany and have done much with both hydroponics and organics (yeah I know, apparent contradiction, it isn't). It is really just a downscaling of what I did with other plants that were heavy feeders and it started with needing to feed deflasked seedlings I was growing in a perlite based semi-hydro in little plastic bathroom cups (works great for most orchids btw, I did find one that didn't like it but most grew really well). My nutes are a base formula and calcium nitrate designed for hydroponic tomatos. I use less cal nitrate as I don't want such a big nitrogen blast, the epsom salt is required to round out the mix and provides Magnesium and maybe some sulphur, it is a multi part mix because at concentration the chems would react with each other and form insoluble salts, at use strength they are fine. I add the kelp and fulvic acid because I feel that act as growth enhancers and the kelp may provide micronutrients otherwise lacking. I also use such a formula because it is ionic minerals in solution and therefore plant available.
Re; the symbiosis of plants and bacteria fungi. There is a relationship between most plants, maybe all but some are more dependant on it, where the plant bribes the microbes with sugar and they repay with decomposed plant available nutrients. We know that orchids are relient on this from germination as the seeds lack the normal reserves of other species and thus we have to start them on media with sugar and other nutrients under sterile conditions. Certainly this relationship continues through their lives as it does with most other plants. Research has even shown that in soil plants can communicate needs to their symbiont and in some cases nutrients are translocated from other plants or from great distances. The largest organism on earth is a fungal mat they covers parts of several states. Check out Paul Stamets for talks on just how cool fungus are, one of the best mycologists on earth.
What about the ph of media? I ask because I'm using media that is supposedly acidic, I wonder how that would affect the ph in the pot, since the orchid is in contact with the media all day.
Hi Derpi! That's a great question. LECA is pH neutral, so I focuses only on the water. But I'd encourage your to measure the pH of the runoff from watering your plants, which will give you a better snapshot of the acidity of the media
if you can make a 63 year old woman understand water you've accomplished more than what you could imagine!!! I am all into the video and then you stopped because there's a part two what part two better be tomorrow I'm ordering my meters tomorrow. I have hard water and I don't like it but that's not what I use on my orchids I use RO water that I buy but the orchids that I have outside I do give them a flush once a week with the water hose. so I've got to see what I can do. you just made my life more complicated😜😝😛😥😰😒😏👵
This is one of my favorite comments EVER. I'm so happy you found the video useful and educational! And yes, part two (focused on TDS) will go up tomorrow morning. Sorry I've complicated your life, but your plants will thank you for t! ❤️💝🌺🌼🌸☺️
hi Michael, oke can theorize with you ? I'm currently using rain water (I have more then enough of rain in my country😂 ) but what if my roof of my porch is not clean and the tds is of the charts therefore making my rainwater unsuitable. I do not have the funds to get an ro system or buy water.... could I use a seringe and ad a drop of Ciric acid/ apelcider vinegar/ wine vinegar etc etc to my tap water (witch is 7.9 ) to lower the ph and making it suitable to transport the nutrients. btw I would try it out on 2 liters of tap water with halve a tsp of 20-20-20 that's my weekly weakly basic feed for active growing plants (I do have low nitrogen for dendrobiums for aug to Halloween) but i degress I would try to.lower it when it's all mixed and use drop per drop to get to the sweet spot of 6.5 or lower. is that a viable option?
To be honest, I don't know the answer to your question and will have to do more research! I've heard of a lot of pH reducing additive, but I'm pretty sure they'll raise the tds in the process. Let me look into this a bit!
Michael's Orchids sure hun. when and if you find out let me know. I'm getting my tsd meter I hope within 2 weeks (it comes from China lol) I did not get a ph thinking it would not matter because my tab used te be 7 in my aquarium days thats 7 years ago and I just found out last week it's 7.9😐 so not happy and ordered a ph meter but that's gonna take 4 weeks to get here. so I have loads of time to figure it out. ps if I find the awnser I'll let you know. I forgot to say your really getting profesional and your channel and content is almost like infomercial but way way better (lol for my way with words 😂)
Michael, your information (2:00 to 2:39) is EXACTLY what I have needed to learn. With great interest, I'm taking notes from your video. Thank you so much for this video. I plan on watching all the videos in your series. If I could hand you an award for excellence, I would! As "The World's Most Novice Orchid Enthusiast," I thank you very much! Date: January 14, 2018
GREA Job Michael. Really enjoyed this highly educational series. Thank you so very much for presenting this material so eloquently, for your time and dedication and for your passion to provide the best for your "Green Babies", I totally relate to that.
I recently discovered you and I find you're a source of good information! Keep it up! Very educational :)
I'm so glad you find my videos educational, thank you for watching Iv!
Good experiment! thanks very much for doing this video and sharing it with us! This is a very complicated topic which you explained it in a very easy language , thanks again.
I'm so glad you found it helpful, thank you for watching Mary!
This was a lot of help for me...I will have to purchase a PH monitor. Thanks!!!
Hi Terry! I'm so glad you found this helpful! Thank you so much for watching!
This was great info presented. Thank you!
So interesting. Very well resumed. I took notes
Hi Michael, I am glad you started those measuring water video series that I enjoy so much, I sent you a private message.
How often do you flush with tap water verses watering with distilled water? 🤔
"Our little green babies" 🌱 🌱 sweet!!!!
I'm doing everything I can to keep the orchids I recently corrected and have watched several videos on how to create a thriving media for them.
I live in an arid climate, and that poses its own challenges to keeping them healthy.
I think my primary issue is the media pH being too alkaline. I've tried adding Apple Cider Vinegar when I water them but as soon as the media (bark with a small amount of sphagnum moss) dries that pH goes back to 8.0.
What can I do to keep them in that 5.5-6.5 range?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you so much.
I think I'm understanding on a basic level but what if I also want to use calmag and magnesium along with my fertilizer? How do I measure that?
My Brassia- Eternal Wind is in serious need of repot. Another beauty I found while in NC. I have MANY new growths and wanted to know if you would like a division (this plant is seriously spilling over the edges of the pot). I looked to see if you have a PO Box for mail and surprises set up....sadly you do not. LMK if you are interested and we will get details for shipping figured out. This has a delightful spicy fragrance :)
Hi Amber! You are so sweet, I could just cry! I'll have to say no for now, because I don't have a PO Box set up! I may potentially be moving soon too, so I don't want to set one up then have to leave it. If the opportunity presents itself again, please let me know and hopefully I'll be prepared! Xoxo
hi michael.. i just put some phals into a gravel mix from bark mix.. not sure if ok... and some have very few good roots... any advice please...
Hi Chris! I'm afraid I don't have any experience with gravel mix, so I can't really offer any advice on the topic. But I assume it should be fine as long as they are receiving proper nutrients solution and dry out period!
pH meters are a bit of a pain, they can be real tweaky and need calibration almost constantly. Monitoring of pH in a hydroponic system is important because in most cases we lack mycorhizal fungi and symbiotic bacteria which aid the plants in nutrient availability, although I suspect that in time some of these organisms colonize the media or even the integuman of the roots. I personally use a commercial hydro tomato formula, 2 part, and add epsom salt, kelp extact and fulvic acid to the mix.
BTW, Elaine Ingham, a soil scientist has some great talks about soil biology and the interrelationships between plants and their microbiological allies and enemies, very enlightening and can instantly start a debate with classically trained farmers. Elaine is one of the big/whole picture scientists and worth the time to listen to even if you don't agree with her.
I'm just beginning to understand the intense impact of pH, so a lot of what you just said is completely foreign to me! But I'm looking forward to reading up on some on the fungi and bacteria you've mentioned. Is there a resource you consulted to concoct your solution, or is that a mixture of your own making? Can I read up on that too? It sounds really interesting!
I like hearing all perspectives, I look forward to checking out her work!
Well I did go to school for botany and have done much with both hydroponics and organics (yeah I know, apparent contradiction, it isn't). It is really just a downscaling of what I did with other plants that were heavy feeders and it started with needing to feed deflasked seedlings I was growing in a perlite based semi-hydro in little plastic bathroom cups (works great for most orchids btw, I did find one that didn't like it but most grew really well). My nutes are a base formula and calcium nitrate designed for hydroponic tomatos. I use less cal nitrate as I don't want such a big nitrogen blast, the epsom salt is required to round out the mix and provides Magnesium and maybe some sulphur, it is a multi part mix because at concentration the chems would react with each other and form insoluble salts, at use strength they are fine. I add the kelp and fulvic acid because I feel that act as growth enhancers and the kelp may provide micronutrients otherwise lacking. I also use such a formula because it is ionic minerals in solution and therefore plant available.
Re; the symbiosis of plants and bacteria fungi. There is a relationship between most plants, maybe all but some are more dependant on it, where the plant bribes the microbes with sugar and they repay with decomposed plant available nutrients. We know that orchids are relient on this from germination as the seeds lack the normal reserves of other species and thus we have to start them on media with sugar and other nutrients under sterile conditions. Certainly this relationship continues through their lives as it does with most other plants. Research has even shown that in soil plants can communicate needs to their symbiont and in some cases nutrients are translocated from other plants or from great distances. The largest organism on earth is a fungal mat they covers parts of several states. Check out Paul Stamets for talks on just how cool fungus are, one of the best mycologists on earth.
What about the ph of media? I ask because I'm using media that is supposedly acidic, I wonder how that would affect the ph in the pot, since the orchid is in contact with the media all day.
Hi Derpi! That's a great question. LECA is pH neutral, so I focuses only on the water. But I'd encourage your to measure the pH of the runoff from watering your plants, which will give you a better snapshot of the acidity of the media
if you can make a 63 year old woman understand water you've accomplished more than what you could imagine!!! I am all into the video and then you stopped because there's a part two what part two better be tomorrow I'm ordering my meters tomorrow. I have hard water and I don't like it but that's not what I use on my orchids I use RO water that I buy but the orchids that I have outside I do give them a flush once a week with the water hose. so I've got to see what I can do. you just made my life more complicated😜😝😛😥😰😒😏👵
This is one of my favorite comments EVER. I'm so happy you found the video useful and educational! And yes, part two (focused on TDS) will go up tomorrow morning. Sorry I've complicated your life, but your plants will thank you for t! ❤️💝🌺🌼🌸☺️
I didn't all these things, and didn't test the water before, although I just buy distilled water thanks for the education.
Glad you found it educational, sounds like you're already doing the right thing!
hi Michael, oke can theorize with you ?
I'm currently using rain water (I have more then enough of rain in my country😂 ) but what if my roof of my porch is not clean and the tds is of the charts therefore making my rainwater unsuitable.
I do not have the funds to get an ro system or buy water....
could I use a seringe and ad a drop of Ciric acid/ apelcider vinegar/ wine vinegar etc etc to my tap water (witch is 7.9 ) to lower the ph and making it suitable to transport the nutrients. btw I would try it out on 2 liters of tap water with halve a tsp of 20-20-20 that's my weekly weakly basic feed for active growing plants (I do have low nitrogen for dendrobiums for aug to Halloween) but i degress
I would try to.lower it when it's all mixed and use drop per drop to get to the sweet spot of 6.5 or lower.
is that a viable option?
To be honest, I don't know the answer to your question and will have to do more research! I've heard of a lot of pH reducing additive, but I'm pretty sure they'll raise the tds in the process. Let me look into this a bit!
Michael's Orchids sure hun. when and if you find out let me know. I'm getting my tsd meter I hope within 2 weeks (it comes from China lol) I did not get a ph thinking it would not matter because my tab used te be 7 in my aquarium days thats 7 years ago and I just found out last week it's 7.9😐 so not happy and ordered a ph meter but that's gonna take 4 weeks to get here. so I have loads of time to figure it out. ps if I find the awnser I'll let you know.
I forgot to say your really getting profesional and your channel and content is almost like infomercial but way way better (lol for my way with words 😂)
You're so sweet, I'm glad I seem professional, lol! Yes, having both meters is very important and will help guide you!
Wow! Ph Tap water in NYC range is 7.0-7.2 😮