I actually did my own experiment with Kelpak (used to be Kelmax) for a year and ordered 4 Paph Villosum all the same size. I repotted all of them and took pictures before and after and weighed all 4 of them. 2 kept as control (#1 154g and #2 147g) with monthly fertilizer and weekly watering and 2 (#3 162g and #4 149g) with monthly Kelpak w/ fertilizer and weekly watering. At the end of the year I repotted them all to see if Kelpak works. Now, people need to understand that my orchids are kept in an indoor greenhouse under optimal conditions. 12hr light, 12 hr off. 67% to 70% humidity. 72F (lights off) to 84F (Lights on), 130ppfd to 170ppfd. I repotted them all, rinsed, shake off water and weighted them all. Control #1 was 201g , #2 was 197g. Test #3 is 212g Test #4 is 202g. By weight gain a lone, the ones with monthly kelpak w/ fertilizer and weekly watering had the most weigh gain. Now to look at root growth, was difficult, because the roots were starting to wrap around the pot and there were new growths. Control #1 - Old growth 10 active roots with decent amount of branching, new growth 2, and 1 just emerging. Control #2 - 8 active roots with some branching, new growth 2 emerging. Test #3 - old growth 11 active roots with lots of branching, new growth 4. Test #4 - old growth 13 active roots with lots of branching, new growth 3 and 1 new just emerging. In my opinion - Kelpak root hormones works. there is definitely more growth and weight gain in plants that receives it, it seems to activate old roots to create new roots and create more branching. More branching means more nutrients, more nutrients absorbed means more growth. So after a year... it works. But how healthy is it for the plant? I am not sure. I did this experiment about 2 years ago, and I decreased the usage of root hormones for those 4 plants because and here is the thing. The control group bloomed and has new spikes. The ones that had root hormone their flower bloom about 2 to 3 months after the control AFTER I stopped using root hormone. So I think the root hormones does create stronger roots systems for plants, but because the hormone is telling to plant to keep growing roots and leaves, it delayed flowering
I have been using kelp along with calmag and my fertilizer for a few months now. I use about 20 drops of calmag and 20 of the kelp per gallon of water. One week my orchids gets just kelp and calmag and the next week they get fertilizer with calmag and kelp. I have seen quite a bit of growth both in roots and in leaves. Especially my phals and oncidium orchids. I think it needs to be used weakly weekly to really have an affect.
I must appreciate this because in India people make videos only for the products that do well, not for which don't do much well...magic! So it's good to see the genuine review video by you.🙏
Hi Dani, I have had good results with KelpMax from First Rays (Ray Barkalow). One of the most important things with these seaweed products is the freshness. Ray guarantees his product to be fresh. He also says that because of the cycle of hormones, it should be used no more than once a month.
I use Organic Sea Weed, 20 drops per gallon, as well as 20 drops of CalMag for 2 years. Results beautiful, blooms, new roots. Every plant blooms for 5-7 month. Plants very healthy
Hi, actually Phalaenopsis are pretty much the most productive orchids root wise from all orchids we grow. If you ever feel like seaweed is too much of an expense, don't worry about the Phals, they grow like weeds by default if they are healthy and have correct culture 😉
@@MissOrchidGirl Thanks for replying, merci foarte multe. Actually, I experimented. 5 phals soaked with 30-10-10 + extract and 5 phals only 30-10-10. Both soaked 10 min every 2 weeks. The diff was surprising. My girls, the loved the extract. Much more root activity. Btw I really enjoy your videos, I learned a lot.
Great video! Earlier this year I tried Kelpmax for the first time because some of my vigorous orchids suddenly stalled root production and I wanted to see if I could give them a boost, also to help along new orchids which I was transplanting and always seem to lose old roots in the process. Anyway, the instructions for Kelpmax was to soak the entire orchid (if rootless) or the roots for at least an hour with the solution. I did get some dramatic results on most of my orchids, with a few having no significant impact. Just my two cents that soaking may make the difference. But I only intend to use the seaweed twice a year... I'm with you on being cautious about the hormones.
Hey Danny, Im glad I'm not journeying into kelp alone. I was pretty skeptical about kelp too, but I went and tried Kelpmax (which supposedly has a higher auxin to cytokine ratio unlike other kelp solutions). I've been pretty impressed with it over the past two months. I have a vanda pachara delight in vase culture and it developed ~8 new root tips all over the existing roots and made 2 new ones from the stem. I also have a brassavola hybrid that produced an impressive amount of roots after 2 years of not doing much. I'm not sure if the auxins did it or just a coincidental culture change though. Regardless I'm happy even if it was just a placebo lol
@@lisachutjian2567 I have also had great results with kelpmax. It said to soak it for an hour to help with absorption and then I believe monthly feedings. My roots grew beautifully.
The kelp product alone doesn’t smell bad, it’s the fish part that stinks. I use KelpMax that doesn’t have the fish component. I use it about once a month. Been using it for 2-3 years. Can’t say I’ve seen anything major, but I’ve not seen any harm. I have used KLN in the past for struggling or rootless orchids and NEVER got any positive results. I don’t bother with that anymore at all. Some orchids are weaklings that wont thrive no matter how ideal the conditions, and those need to be culled in favor of more vigorous varieties.
I used kelp max for the first time last month at the strength on the bottle and my orchid roots became SO shriveled and brown!!! I have new root growth from the crown but the roots that were watered did not fair well and I am scared to use it again! Since you had success do you have any tips??? The week before I watered with my regular fertilizer. Then The kelp water I ran water through the pot then applied the kelp mix.
It not a "magic" solution that 1 drop makes ur orchid significantly different. However, if you check the formula of orchid tissue-culture media, you'll find that they still add coconut juice or banana mash into the media. It really not the hormones in the kelp solution make changes but other small molecules like vitamins etc. Personally, I used 1/4 recommended amount with other orchid food weekly and my phal gives me 6 new leaves a whole year, which I never saw on phal that only had fertilizer.
Hi Danny. I spray the diluted seaweed everyday on the foliage and top of medium. It has worked great for me. It just takes time. If you want something more vigorous try super thrive.
Hey although I used this for other cultivation methods hydroponic. Virginia tech did a 10 year study with organic bio nutrients and found that, combined with humic acid and seaweed extract at a ratio of 5 parts humic acid to 2 parts seaweed extract. You would have a 50% better result than using either product by separately .The two combined stimulated more lateral root growth and root mass. I think its the theory but the product may not have npk/non-plant values needed.
The seaweed has a higher cyto to aux in ratio. KelpMax has much more auxins and has been phenomenal for me for producing roots. Only needs to be used once a month too! I'm going to start using neptune kelp only for the period in between my KelpMax treatment to see if it adds to the upper growth
Hi Danny. For seaweed to work you need to put the orchids which have roots. If those orchids didnt have roots you need to do it fairly low amounts repeatedly. Well my experience is like that. It would be interesting to see your progress. Good luck
Hi Danny, at 12:00 the orchid's leaves are turning purple, isn’t that a sign of too much light ? Thanks for this interesting video, I have just started using kelpmax, the seller warns that kelpmax should only be administered once a month at the rate of one tablespoon per gallon of water.
Thank you for this test. I have been wondering about the effects of kelp also. Want to try Kelpmax. Also I saw that the Phal at 21:25 has roots coming through the holes in your pots. When repotting time comes will you have to destroy the pot to get the plant out? I have several making growth surges and are going through my pots. I had hoped repotting to be easier than this.
Love your channel, I havent got up the nerve yet to try to grow and orchid, but may try at least one someday. Thanks for the information for beginners. Keep Up The Good Work
I'm beginner for making from old orchid to a new. I really like everything about this flower. I was doing some experiment to this week orchid. Today i saw it was completely dry. I am very sad.
Why didn’t you use the Neptune’s Harvest with just seaweed instead of with fish extract for added nutrients. I feel like the experiment can’t be fair since it was seaweed/kelp AND fish. Either way thanks for the interesting video
Since hormones are what is supposedly at work with this product, could timing be an issue? Would it makes sense to use it in conjunction with growth cycles? Also, how different is this product from Superthrive (in "hormone" quantity/quality)?
I use Quantum-orchid probiotics for orchids from repotme. I also got the Neptune Harvest, but after opening it I decided not to use it indoors, I have used it on my vegetable garden instead. To me it really stinks. But I think my tomatoes liked it.
What is the tie you use around the stake ? I just got a vanilla plant orchid in the mail, followed your videos and used a coconut coir mixed with orchid bark substrate, the inner pot is very ventilated and my outer pot has many more little decorative holes. For the stake I took spanish moss and used sewing thread to tie it on to the wooden post , and the plant came with a little clip around a chopstick and I reused that clip
Thanks for the video. Important rule of scientific experiments is to use the same plant species/lines under different treatments. You actually have such an option, the first orchid pot you showed seem to have two (related?) orchids, I'd suggest you place them in separate plots, treat one with seaweed extract and the other one you can use as a control. Trying to compare between different orchids species /population and/or plants having different growing history is not normally directly comparable. Also, I suggest you use longer time periods to evaluate the growth differences between treated and untreated orchids, given that orchids are relatively slow growers. To properly compare the difference in growth/establishment, you'll need to do some more exact measurements (for which you would need to examine the entire roots system), not just the roots showing at the pot sides. The most important thing, without knowing exactly what hormones your seaweed extract contains and in what amounts, it's hard to interpret any effects on treated orchids as ones related to hormones. Hormones are known to be major players in regulating plant growth (they regulate animal growth as well, including humans), that's a scientific fact, but of course not all seaweed extract, if any, may contain viable (plant) hormones. Good luck, looking forward to your future results!
Used both on orchid and vegetables. The vegis showed better results with vigorous growth, flowering and fruiting. The results is more visible on fast growing plants i believe.
I have an issue with a keike I'm having a hard time finding info for online. The flower stalk on the mother plant was detached & placed in water, then the keike grew, but the stalk is starting to turn... no roots... what can I do? Can it be saved? It's kind of sentimental, although it sounds silly, I guess. HELP!
You can wrap some moist moss on the stake close to the keiki. Moisten it when it needs. If your keiki has roots, they will grow towards the moisture. I hope it helps. My detached stakes never had keikis. But I have seen videos where people successfully grow keikis on cut-off stakes...hope this helps
I get a large bag at a very low cost on Amazon Prime of crushed oyster shell and coral that is sold to feed to chickens. I soak this in water on top of my big steam radiator and use the cloudy water it produces to mix with aged dechlorinated tap water for my plants.
I appreciate you being honest Danny :) and I agree with you there, when a plant is healthy it can be misleading when using a fertiliser on it and thinking the fertiliser helped when actually the plant would have done as well without if not better :) Personally this type of products are not my thing, not only for the smell but also I'd rather not pour decomposed fish on my plants I'd much rather buy all plant based organic fertilisers. Why not try only an algae based one ? I personnaly seen my vanda roots go crazy after I dunked the plant in some willow branch home made "tea" :) but then again maybe the vanda would have done the same without I don't know. Could be curious to see you try it as well :)
Thank you for this video, I have used Seaweed and fish emulsion on my orchids. Orchids like Cymbidiums, Oncidium Sphacelatum and Epidendrum Radicans types seem to just love it. My Phalaenopsis orchids seem to really enjoy worm tea.
I repotted my orchid earlier this year and it has put out new roots and they look healthy. My question is what to do about it growing sideways. I would really like it to be growing upright. I have been fertilizing her in hopes of blooms this fall. This is my first orchid, I received her in the fall of 2018.
I bought an orchid a few months ago and it came in a solid green plastic pot. I set that inside of a clay pot because I thought it looked nicer. Now some roots have grown out of the pot and attached to the outside of clay pot. So, now I know I should be able to see the roots and I can't and I don't know how I can repot it with the roots attached to the outside of the clay pot.
It mainly help plants with iron deficiency...I don't see reason it will help boost the roots as its npk ratio P value is lower... Miracle go 15 30 15...try foliar spray n see the results in your experiment
My seaweed soln stresses it's not a nutrient. It needs regular fertiliser too so I use it weakly weekly with my other. Be careful not too give too much seaweed as it causes strange things to happen genetically. It seems to work well otherwise.
Thanks MOG for another interesting video. I am relatively new to growing orchids so I have a question. I have several varieties of phalaenopsis and when they flower, they get attacked by a caterpillar that is very hard to see as it blends in and hugs the flower spike. What would you recommend for this problem?
Isopropyl alcohol is harmless for orchid spikes and flowers. Emaan from Emaan's garden has a video on mealy-bugs and how to use isopropyl alcohols to kill them. I don't know if it's going to help against caterpillars though
I get what you are saying at the end of your video. If the plant is already vigorous why use this product. In the control experiment there was little change. Only thing I see is to use the product in the recommended use whether that be every week or two weeks. Then perhaps " the miracle" will happen.
Danni I've been using seaweed for 2-3 years also give some to friends with very good reviews etc it takes time to build up the extra benifits with seaweed one application won't show much
Hi, sadly one single application (on the rest of my collection) was enough to distort flowers on a lot of my orchids. So I disagree, one application definitely shows and I am personally better off without these hormone boosters 😊 I'm sure others swear by them and that's ok too, I am uncomfortable promoting something that failed for me though, so on my platform there will be no such thing, until a more suited product comes along.
Hi Danny I have a phalonapsis orchid that has a lot of roots and 6 leaves and when it started growing a leaf after some time it started growing another leaf when the first leaf was still half the size of the other leaves on the orchid is there something wrong with my orchid ?
It's absolutely normal. I have the same thing happening with 3 of my orchids. If the first leaf doesn't grow to normal size later on, it could be an issue with the roots.
I live in the Florida Keys, and I've made my own seaweed fertilizer! Its easy, but stinky...but it really works!!! But it really needs to be used on orchids with roots..or atleast some....and when u make it at home you have to rinse all the salt out of it before making the final product.
Hi Danny , I use Kelpmax , that claims to be a physiological activator of metabolic processes in plants. The content has aminiacids, macro and micro nutrients, carbohydrates and vitamins from algae. Maybe the composition is different from the product you are using so I do mix a small amount of my Feedme fertiliser from RePot me. Overall my max ppm is 230 for cats and pandas. Less for my miltoniopsis and paphilopendilums. My problem is that the PH of Kelpmax is 4,6 so I have to bring it up. The amount ppm is also high (even following the rules) I dilute it more than recommended.(by the way the smell is terrible!) Nevertheless, I see that after 2 or 3 applications I see the plant starting to do something (wishful thinking?) I like the results I am having mostly with room and growth of the plants . With this being said, is this a miracle product? : NO . I also have a Cat luddemanianna that is doing nothing for a long time (even with seaweed treatment ) :) I treat with the following regularity: : weekly (2 weeks) 1 week flush Destiled water
While I appreciate your video, I feel that looking on the outside of a largish (compared to the plant and root system) pot is not enough information to draw a conclusion. I have some orchids that grow more in the center and take up to 6 months before they venture towards the edges, also the roots may have branched ect but without unpotting them you can't know. I don't have any opinion on seaweed and how effective it is, more that I personally can't draw any conclusions from this video. But thank you for trying.
Combining two products (fish emulsion and seaweed extract) will make separating effects from each quite difficult. I used to use fish emulsion on my Laeliinae a few times (ever couple of weeks) during their fast growing season (growing outdoors), supplementing my usual complete (with micronutrients) inorganic fertilizer. I used the fish emulsion for the slow-acting nitrogen and minerals. It's a long term strategy. My orchids seemed to like it. Hormones are a different thing. I never felt the need to use it. Note that in professional labs and commercial phal factories that the dosing is probably higher than what you did. Looking at how you dosed, it would appear as if the plants may have received almost no hormones. Note that the label you have on your product doesn't give you a % value for hormones. Commercial phal factories use hormones for other purposes (not just forcing roots.) For example, hormones can be used in-vitro to let orchid seedlings bloom (the addition of particular hormones stops the natural suppression of flowering, something all flowering plants must do until a plant is big enough to support seed production). Flowering plants so young informs one if various breeding goals have been achieved. There are companies out there that can supply you with hormone products which are probably better controlled as far as actual chemical content, in case you want to experiment further. Hormones are typically used on plants other than orchids (or other monocots.) Often cuttings of flowering plants, with herbaceous or woody stems, are treated with hormones to encourage root formation of the cuttings. I wonder if this is the source of people's beliefs that transplanted orchids need a similar treatment. My opinion, and it's just that as I have no data to provide, is that if your orchid is already growing good roots for you then adding hormones is not going to be necessary, but if your orchid is not growing roots or otherwise failing in your environment, then adding hormones cannot make the orchid all of a sudden fit your otherwise-hostile environment.
Hi, yep I agree with you and I really did not wish to overdo it with hormones, due to all the abnormalities which are known to appear in case of missuse. It's hard to know what I dosed in lack of a more detailed lable, combined with grower directions for Orchids in particular. It feels like a lot of hype though, if you look at all those catchphrases, it's a sort of youtube made me buy it :))) but I do believe a more realistic approach will show up in the long run and, as per people's suggestions, I will also trial kelp in a similar way in the future :)
I actually did my own experiment with Kelpak (used to be Kelmax) for a year and ordered 4 Paph Villosum all the same size.
I repotted all of them and took pictures before and after and weighed all 4 of them. 2 kept as control (#1 154g and #2 147g) with monthly fertilizer and weekly watering and 2 (#3 162g and #4 149g) with monthly Kelpak w/ fertilizer and weekly watering. At the end of the year I repotted them all to see if Kelpak works.
Now, people need to understand that my orchids are kept in an indoor greenhouse under optimal conditions. 12hr light, 12 hr off. 67% to 70% humidity. 72F (lights off) to 84F (Lights on), 130ppfd to 170ppfd.
I repotted them all, rinsed, shake off water and weighted them all. Control #1 was 201g , #2 was 197g. Test #3 is 212g Test #4 is 202g. By weight gain a lone, the ones with monthly kelpak w/ fertilizer and weekly watering had the most weigh gain.
Now to look at root growth, was difficult, because the roots were starting to wrap around the pot and there were new growths. Control #1 - Old growth 10 active roots with decent amount of branching, new growth 2, and 1 just emerging. Control #2 - 8 active roots with some branching, new growth 2 emerging. Test #3 - old growth 11 active roots with lots of branching, new growth 4. Test #4 - old growth 13 active roots with lots of branching, new growth 3 and 1 new just emerging.
In my opinion - Kelpak root hormones works. there is definitely more growth and weight gain in plants that receives it, it seems to activate old roots to create new roots and create more branching. More branching means more nutrients, more nutrients absorbed means more growth.
So after a year... it works. But how healthy is it for the plant? I am not sure. I did this experiment about 2 years ago, and I decreased the usage of root hormones for those 4 plants because and here is the thing. The control group bloomed and has new spikes. The ones that had root hormone their flower bloom about 2 to 3 months after the control AFTER I stopped using root hormone.
So I think the root hormones does create stronger roots systems for plants, but because the hormone is telling to plant to keep growing roots and leaves, it delayed flowering
I have been using kelp along with calmag and my fertilizer for a few months now. I use about 20 drops of calmag and 20 of the kelp per gallon of water. One week my orchids gets just kelp and calmag and the next week they get fertilizer with calmag and kelp. I have seen quite a bit of growth both in roots and in leaves. Especially my phals and oncidium orchids. I think it needs to be used weakly weekly to really have an affect.
I must appreciate this because in India people make videos only for the products that do well, not for which don't do much well...magic! So it's good to see the genuine review video by you.🙏
Hi Dani, I have had good results with KelpMax from First Rays (Ray Barkalow). One of the most important things with these seaweed products is the freshness. Ray guarantees his product to be fresh. He also says that because of the cycle of hormones, it should be used no more than once a month.
I use Organic Sea Weed, 20 drops per gallon, as well as 20 drops of CalMag for 2 years. Results beautiful, blooms, new roots. Every plant blooms for 5-7 month. Plants very healthy
Linda Weiss how often are you using Kelp and CalMag? Do you use it with out NKP?
For those with hard water, you may want to cut the CalMag dose in half.
How often do you use the calmag and do you also fertilize?
Hi, I used seaweed extract on my phals...1 Tb per gallon, soaking every 2 weeks....it gave me great results and roots, roots and roots!!
Hi, actually Phalaenopsis are pretty much the most productive orchids root wise from all orchids we grow. If you ever feel like seaweed is too much of an expense, don't worry about the Phals, they grow like weeds by default if they are healthy and have correct culture 😉
@@MissOrchidGirl Thanks for replying, merci foarte multe. Actually, I experimented. 5 phals soaked with 30-10-10 + extract and 5 phals only 30-10-10. Both soaked 10 min every 2 weeks. The diff was surprising. My girls, the loved the extract. Much more root activity. Btw I really enjoy your videos, I learned a lot.
Oh forgot to mention, I took your advise and used only 1/4 tsp 30-10-10 per gal...slow and easy.
@@jerrygruia785 did you check the tds of both solutions before applying? Just curious
Sorry did not but , plants doing very well
3 minute into the video, I realized I have to subscribe to your channel. Greate information and excellent presentation skill!
Great video! Earlier this year I tried Kelpmax for the first time because some of my vigorous orchids suddenly stalled root production and I wanted to see if I could give them a boost, also to help along new orchids which I was transplanting and always seem to lose old roots in the process. Anyway, the instructions for Kelpmax was to soak the entire orchid (if rootless) or the roots for at least an hour with the solution. I did get some dramatic results on most of my orchids, with a few having no significant impact. Just my two cents that soaking may make the difference. But I only intend to use the seaweed twice a year... I'm with you on being cautious about the hormones.
Hey Danny, Im glad I'm not journeying into kelp alone. I was pretty skeptical about kelp too, but I went and tried Kelpmax (which supposedly has a higher auxin to cytokine ratio unlike other kelp solutions). I've been pretty impressed with it over the past two months. I have a vanda pachara delight in vase culture and it developed ~8 new root tips all over the existing roots and made 2 new ones from the stem. I also have a brassavola hybrid that produced an impressive amount of roots after 2 years of not doing much. I'm not sure if the auxins did it or just a coincidental culture change though. Regardless I'm happy even if it was just a placebo lol
Same experience with KelpMax. The ratio matters
@@lisachutjian2567 I have also had great results with kelpmax. It said to soak it for an hour to help with absorption and then I believe monthly feedings. My roots grew beautifully.
Hey I was just searching TH-cam for this info! I have mine soaking in this, MSU fertilizer and Quantum probiotics right now :)
The kelp product alone doesn’t smell bad, it’s the fish part that stinks. I use KelpMax that doesn’t have the fish component. I use it about once a month. Been using it for 2-3 years. Can’t say I’ve seen anything major, but I’ve not seen any harm. I have used KLN in the past for struggling or rootless orchids and NEVER got any positive results. I don’t bother with that anymore at all. Some orchids are weaklings that wont thrive no matter how ideal the conditions, and those need to be culled in favor of more vigorous varieties.
I used kelp max for the first time last month at the strength on the bottle and my orchid roots became SO shriveled and brown!!! I have new root growth from the crown but the roots that were watered did not fair well and I am scared to use it again! Since you had success do you have any tips??? The week before I watered with my regular fertilizer. Then The kelp water I ran water through the pot then applied the kelp mix.
Love these experiments to see of products truly work
It not a "magic" solution that 1 drop makes ur orchid significantly different. However, if you check the formula of orchid tissue-culture media, you'll find that they still add coconut juice or banana mash into the media. It really not the hormones in the kelp solution make changes but other small molecules like vitamins etc. Personally, I used 1/4 recommended amount with other orchid food weekly and my phal gives me 6 new leaves a whole year, which I never saw on phal that only had fertilizer.
I made liquid seaweed feed from eelgrass and I have been using it daily on my plants. Results are very nice and fast.
Yes, you are right.Seaweed extract is one kind excellent Biostimulant
Can I use a diluted version of seaweed feed to my cilantro hydroponic?
@@thehopeisreal Sure.
Hi Danny. I spray the diluted seaweed everyday on the foliage and top of medium. It has worked great for me. It just takes time. If you want something more vigorous try super thrive.
Which brand do you use?
Hey although I used this for other cultivation methods hydroponic. Virginia tech did a 10 year study with organic bio nutrients and found that, combined with humic acid and seaweed extract at a ratio of 5 parts humic acid to 2 parts seaweed extract. You would have a 50% better result than using either product by separately .The two combined stimulated more lateral root growth and root mass. I think its the theory but the product may not have npk/non-plant values needed.
The seaweed has a higher cyto to aux in ratio. KelpMax has much more auxins and has been phenomenal for me for producing roots. Only needs to be used once a month too! I'm going to start using neptune kelp only for the period in between my KelpMax treatment to see if it adds to the upper growth
Hi Danny,
How is your asprin experiment going?
Do you still treat asprin on orchids?I would love to see a video on it.Thanks
hey, dont you have to repeat the fertilizer or seaweek every 20 days, not just once in 2 months ?
Hi Danny. For seaweed to work you need to put the orchids which have roots. If those orchids didnt have roots you need to do it fairly low amounts repeatedly. Well my experience is like that.
It would be interesting to see your progress. Good luck
Hi Danny, at 12:00 the orchid's leaves are turning purple, isn’t that a sign of too much light ? Thanks for this interesting video, I have just started using kelpmax, the seller warns that kelpmax should only be administered once a month at the rate of one tablespoon per gallon of water.
Hi, purple leaves typically have more anthocyanin and it can be a sign of bright light, doesn't mean it's too much necessarily ☺️
Thank you for this test. I have been wondering about the effects of kelp also. Want to try Kelpmax. Also I saw that the Phal at 21:25 has roots coming through the holes in your pots. When repotting time comes will you have to destroy the pot to get the plant out? I have several making growth surges and are going through my pots. I had hoped repotting to be easier than this.
Love your channel, I havent got up the nerve yet to try to grow and orchid, but may try at least one someday. Thanks for the information for beginners. Keep Up The Good Work
I'm beginner for making from old orchid to a new. I really like everything about this flower. I was doing some experiment to this week orchid. Today i saw it was completely dry. I am very sad.
Why didn’t you use the Neptune’s Harvest with just seaweed instead of with fish extract for added nutrients. I feel like the experiment can’t be fair since it was seaweed/kelp AND fish. Either way thanks for the interesting video
Since hormones are what is supposedly at work with this product, could timing be an issue? Would it makes sense to use it in conjunction with growth cycles?
Also, how different is this product from Superthrive (in "hormone" quantity/quality)?
I use Quantum-orchid probiotics for orchids from repotme. I also got the Neptune Harvest, but after opening it I decided not to use it indoors, I have used it on my vegetable garden instead. To me it really stinks. But I think my tomatoes liked it.
Hey how do you like the quantum probiotics? I just applied some tonight. 🤞
I was hoping to see them out of the pots to see if more roots formed.
What is the tie you use around the stake ?
I just got a vanilla plant orchid in the mail, followed your videos and used a coconut coir mixed with orchid bark substrate, the inner pot is very ventilated and my outer pot has many more little decorative holes. For the stake I took spanish moss and used sewing thread to tie it on to the wooden post , and the plant came with a little clip around a chopstick and I reused that clip
Thanks for the video. Important rule of scientific experiments is to use the same plant species/lines under different treatments. You actually have such an option, the first orchid pot you showed seem to have two (related?) orchids, I'd suggest you place them in separate plots, treat one with seaweed extract and the other one you can use as a control. Trying to compare between different orchids species /population and/or plants having different growing history is not normally directly comparable. Also, I suggest you use longer time periods to evaluate the growth differences between treated and untreated orchids, given that orchids are relatively slow growers. To properly compare the difference in growth/establishment, you'll need to do some more exact measurements (for which you would need to examine the entire roots system), not just the roots showing at the pot sides. The most important thing, without knowing exactly what hormones your seaweed extract contains and in what amounts, it's hard to interpret any effects on treated orchids as ones related to hormones. Hormones are known to be major players in regulating plant growth (they regulate animal growth as well, including humans), that's a scientific fact, but of course not all seaweed extract, if any, may contain viable (plant) hormones. Good luck, looking forward to your future results!
Used both on orchid and vegetables. The vegis showed better results with vigorous growth, flowering and fruiting. The results is more visible on fast growing plants i believe.
I have an issue with a keike I'm having a hard time finding info for online. The flower stalk on the mother plant was detached & placed in water, then the keike grew, but the stalk is starting to turn... no roots... what can I do? Can it be saved? It's kind of sentimental, although it sounds silly, I guess. HELP!
You can wrap some moist moss on the stake close to the keiki. Moisten it when it needs. If your keiki has roots, they will grow towards the moisture. I hope it helps. My detached stakes never had keikis. But I have seen videos where people successfully grow keikis on cut-off stakes...hope this helps
It should probably be mixed with other compounds or fertilizers. They call it 'aggressive feeding'.
I get a large bag at a very low cost on Amazon Prime of crushed oyster shell and coral that is sold to feed to chickens. I soak this in water on top of my big steam radiator and use the cloudy water it produces to mix with aged dechlorinated tap water for my plants.
Is it possible for Bougainville plants?
It's been 2 years now, did you continue the experiment? How are those orchids doing now?
I appreciate you being honest Danny :) and I agree with you there, when a plant is healthy it can be misleading when using a fertiliser on it and thinking the fertiliser helped when actually the plant would have done as well without if not better :)
Personally this type of products are not my thing, not only for the smell but also I'd rather not pour decomposed fish on my plants I'd much rather buy all plant based organic fertilisers. Why not try only an algae based one ?
I personnaly seen my vanda roots go crazy after I dunked the plant in some willow branch home made "tea" :) but then again maybe the vanda would have done the same without I don't know.
Could be curious to see you try it as well :)
Thank you for this video, I have used Seaweed and fish emulsion on my orchids. Orchids like Cymbidiums, Oncidium Sphacelatum and Epidendrum Radicans types seem to just love it. My Phalaenopsis orchids seem to really enjoy worm tea.
What is worm tea?
@@medusa1448 Its earthworm urine it is a by-product of worm castings :)
I repotted my orchid earlier this year and it has put out new roots and they look healthy. My question is what to do about it growing sideways. I would really like it to be growing upright. I have been fertilizing her in hopes of blooms this fall. This is my first orchid, I received her in the fall of 2018.
Hi do you have a Update from this experimentieren?
I bought an orchid a few months ago and it came in a solid green plastic pot. I set that inside of a clay pot because I thought it looked nicer. Now some roots have grown out of the pot and attached to the outside of clay pot. So, now I know I should be able to see the roots and I can't and I don't know how I can repot it with the roots attached to the outside of the clay pot.
Thank you for the info
It mainly help plants with iron deficiency...I don't see reason it will help boost the roots as its npk ratio P value is lower...
Miracle go 15 30 15...try foliar spray n see the results in your experiment
what about much cleaner agaragar, which does have some research indicating root growth promoting
Excellent - Well produced & Honest video. - Love it!
Where do you get your support rings from? I can seem to find them anywhere.
I bought from amazon. You can find them there
eBay has them
Next time buy the Kelp Seaweed, you made the mistake of buying with fish, the one with, no fish is great!
I purchased orchid pots from REPOT ME but the roots are growing through the holes. What do you do for that when it comes time to repot them?
Pull them out or cut them off or cut up the pot to free them.
My seaweed soln stresses it's not a nutrient. It needs regular fertiliser too so I use it weakly weekly with my other. Be careful not too give too much seaweed as it causes strange things to happen genetically. It seems to work well otherwise.
You are no longer using leca beads anymore?
Thanks MOG for another interesting video. I am relatively new to growing orchids so I have a question. I have several varieties of phalaenopsis and when they flower, they get attacked by a caterpillar that is very hard to see as it blends in and hugs the flower spike. What would you recommend for this problem?
I'm sorry honey she wont answer you . please try Other you tuber
Isopropyl alcohol is harmless for orchid spikes and flowers. Emaan from Emaan's garden has a video on mealy-bugs and how to use isopropyl alcohols to kill them. I don't know if it's going to help against caterpillars though
I get what you are saying at the end of your video. If the plant is already vigorous why use this product. In the control experiment there was little change. Only thing I see is to use the product in the recommended use whether that be every week or two weeks. Then perhaps " the miracle" will happen.
Danni I've been using seaweed for 2-3 years also give some to friends with very good reviews etc it takes time to build up the extra benifits with seaweed one application won't show much
Hi, sadly one single application (on the rest of my collection) was enough to distort flowers on a lot of my orchids. So I disagree, one application definitely shows and I am personally better off without these hormone boosters 😊 I'm sure others swear by them and that's ok too, I am uncomfortable promoting something that failed for me though, so on my platform there will be no such thing, until a more suited product comes along.
@@MissOrchidGirl it's well documented that seaweed distorts orchids flowers in high doeses did you does to high?
@@MissOrchidGirl Danni I love your channel hope your staying safe through the pandemic :)
Hi Danny I have a phalonapsis orchid that has a lot of roots and 6 leaves and when it started growing a leaf after some time it started growing another leaf when the first leaf was still half the size of the other leaves on the orchid is there something wrong with my orchid ?
It's absolutely normal. I have the same thing happening with 3 of my orchids. If the first leaf doesn't grow to normal size later on, it could be an issue with the roots.
Hi Danny, good day, Great video!
I live on the beach. What if I rinsed some seaweed and made my own concoction with distilled water vs corporate fertilizer?
I live in the Florida Keys, and I've made my own seaweed fertilizer! Its easy, but stinky...but it really works!!! But it really needs to be used on orchids with roots..or atleast some....and when u make it at home you have to rinse all the salt out of it before making the final product.
@@cristinarnold Awesome I am in Galveston Texas . Thank you for your reply I will do.
Hi Danny , I use Kelpmax , that claims to be a physiological activator of metabolic processes in plants.
The content has aminiacids, macro and micro nutrients, carbohydrates and vitamins from algae. Maybe the composition is different from the product you are using so I do mix a small amount of my Feedme fertiliser from RePot me. Overall my max ppm is 230 for cats and pandas. Less for my miltoniopsis and paphilopendilums.
My problem is that the PH of Kelpmax is 4,6 so I have to bring it up. The amount ppm is also high (even following the rules) I dilute it more than recommended.(by the way the smell is terrible!)
Nevertheless, I see that after 2 or 3 applications I see the plant starting to do something (wishful thinking?) I like the results I am having mostly with room and growth of the plants .
With this being said, is this a miracle product? : NO . I also have a Cat luddemanianna that is doing nothing for a long time (even with seaweed treatment ) :)
I treat with the following regularity: : weekly (2 weeks) 1 week flush Destiled water
You didn't use it enough. Once a week.
Or people who use this method, had never used any fertiliser before
While I appreciate your video, I feel that looking on the outside of a largish (compared to the plant and root system) pot is not enough information to draw a conclusion. I have some orchids that grow more in the center and take up to 6 months before they venture towards the edges, also the roots may have branched ect but without unpotting them you can't know. I don't have any opinion on seaweed and how effective it is, more that I personally can't draw any conclusions from this video. But thank you for trying.
Hi, yes true that's why we also checked root production at the base of new growths and psb ofcourse :)
Thank you for taking the time to do this. Your results already say a lot... To me at least 🙄
Combining two products (fish emulsion and seaweed extract) will make separating effects from each quite difficult.
I used to use fish emulsion on my Laeliinae a few times (ever couple of weeks) during their fast growing season (growing outdoors), supplementing my usual complete (with micronutrients) inorganic fertilizer. I used the fish emulsion for the slow-acting nitrogen and minerals. It's a long term strategy. My orchids seemed to like it.
Hormones are a different thing. I never felt the need to use it.
Note that in professional labs and commercial phal factories that the dosing is probably higher than what you did. Looking at how you dosed, it would appear as if the plants may have received almost no hormones. Note that the label you have on your product doesn't give you a % value for hormones.
Commercial phal factories use hormones for other purposes (not just forcing roots.) For example, hormones can be used in-vitro to let orchid seedlings bloom (the addition of particular hormones stops the natural suppression of flowering, something all flowering plants must do until a plant is big enough to support seed production). Flowering plants so young informs one if various breeding goals have been achieved.
There are companies out there that can supply you with hormone products which are probably better controlled as far as actual chemical content, in case you want to experiment further.
Hormones are typically used on plants other than orchids (or other monocots.) Often cuttings of flowering plants, with herbaceous or woody stems, are treated with hormones to encourage root formation of the cuttings. I wonder if this is the source of people's beliefs that transplanted orchids need a similar treatment.
My opinion, and it's just that as I have no data to provide, is that if your orchid is already growing good roots for you then adding hormones is not going to be necessary, but if your orchid is not growing roots or otherwise failing in your environment, then adding hormones cannot make the orchid all of a sudden fit your otherwise-hostile environment.
Hi, yep I agree with you and I really did not wish to overdo it with hormones, due to all the abnormalities which are known to appear in case of missuse. It's hard to know what I dosed in lack of a more detailed lable, combined with grower directions for Orchids in particular. It feels like a lot of hype though, if you look at all those catchphrases, it's a sort of youtube made me buy it :))) but I do believe a more realistic approach will show up in the long run and, as per people's suggestions, I will also trial kelp in a similar way in the future :)