Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information you need to process on commercial orchid fertilizer labels? What do all those letters and numbers mean? This hubpage will help answer some of your orchid fertilizer questions and help with your orchid home garden.

Orchid fertilizer? Orchid food? Is there a difference or are they the same thing? Orchid plants make their own food using carbon dioxide, water and sunlight, so orchid food/fertilizer actually refers to orchid nutrients. Like most other plants, orchids need the macro elements (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and a range of micro elements, such as calcium and zinc. There are many orchid fertilizer recipes, so which ones do you use and when? With orchids, you really are wanting flower blooms for as long as possible. Giving high nitrogen concentrations to your orchid plant will only encourage foliage growth and not flowering. High nitrogen is fine when the new shoots are emerging but the other two macro elements are more important for flowering. Potassium is the element that is responsible for flower development and phosphorus for flower production. Commercial orchid fertilizers list the N:P:K ratio as numbers, for example 30-10-10 has three times the nitrogen concentration as potassium and phosphorus. Because these ratio numbers are merely percentages, the gardener needs to work out the actual concentration of nutrients that the plant requires. For example, 150 to 200 parts per million (PPM) of nitrogen (N) is fine for periodic feeding of orchids.

Most orchids are grown in soil-less potting mixes and so micronutrients need to be fed to the plant. It is very important that you check the orchid fertilizer label to se if they have these listed. Micro elements are needed by the orchid plant for new growth and support for the flowers. The orchid fertilizer formula that you use needs to match your potting mix. Orchids that are grown in bark medium will require more nitrogen as bacteria present in the bark utilize nitrogen for themselves. If you are wanting to use organic fertilizers, that is fine but you'll need to use larger quantities as they contain relatively low nutrient concentrations. Slow-release fertilizers are not that effective in orchid potting mixes as the granules tend to be washed out through the medium before the nutrients are released. Water-soluble orchid fertilizers work well. When orchid growing, a rule of thumb here is to "fertilize weekly, weakly". When in doubt, too little is better than too much.

What fertilizer to use on your orchid plants can be challenging to the hobby gardener. If you want more advice on orchid fertilizer and orchid care in general, I recommend The Orchid Expert for this in-depth guide is used by many orchid gardeners worldwide.

Learn How To Care For and Grow Amazing Orchids Using Easy To Follow, Step-By-Step Techniques

• Find out how much light your type of orchid needs.
• Does your Cattleya need to be watered at different intervals to your Epidendrum? It certainly does...
• Follow the 7 step procedure for producing hybrids.
• Find out how the use of bamboo skewers can solve your watering problems.
• Are you using fertilizer on your orchids? Learn to use it in the correct frequency.
• Find out how to care for your orchid throughout the year with the Taking Care of Your Orchids For Every Season chapter.
• Hot tips for buying the right orchid.
• Learn about growing orchids in a hydroponic garden.
• Recommendations on which orchids are suitable for experts or which can be grown by beginners.
• Hot tips for growing virus free orchids.

For more information on this unique orchid care guide, visit the Orchid Care Expert.

For the newbie orchid grower, starting off with younger orchid plants is a great way to learn how to care for them as you watch them grow and blossom. When getting a young orchid plant for the first time, try and find out as much about it as possible. Knowing what species it is is very important, as is the sort of environment it is found in the wild. From here you'll have a better idea what watering, temperature, light and humidity requirements it needs.

Make a list of supplies you may need for your young orchid plant. This should include the correct potting mix and a specialized orchid fertilizer. Keep a plant pesticide and fungicide handy in case your plant suddenly gets attacked by something. Orchids generally need repotting once a year so there is no hurry to get another pot just yet. A water sprayer is handy as it is easier to control the quantity of water you give your plant.

It is essential that you get the potting mix right. Most orchids do not grow in the standard garden soil or garden plant potting mixes. There are species of orchid that prefer a bark potting mix and others that prefer a sand mix. Always leave the young orchid plant in the potting mix that you received it in. Don't repot the plant until it has grown to a size where it has overgrown the existing pot. When you do repot, select a pot size slightly bigger as orchids do not like being transferred to containers that are much larger then the one they are in.

Often young orchid plants are kept in potting media that appears quite dry. This is done on purpose to prevent fungal infections. Orchid roots rot very easily if they are over watered. It is much better to gradually water the plant over time, rather than do a sudden soak if the potting medium is very dry. Because young orchid plants are not yet flowering, they require different light intensities to those needed by mature orchids. If the lighting is too low, the leaves will start to turn a dark green color. Gradually increase the light by changing the plant's position and when the leaves appear a healthy light green color then that should be fine.