What is Orchid Food
Forgive us for stating the obvious! Orchid food is quite simply food for orchid plants! However, it is not quite as simple as that - because there are a wide range of orchid foods to choose between.
Orchids are unique and beautiful plants that have specific needs. As a result, orchid foods are specifically formulated products that have been designed to meet these unique care needs.
Feeding your orchids is an important part of caring for your plants. Orchid feed is packed full of nutrients. These are formulated to help promote the health and growth of your orchid.
As your orchid plant goes through different stages, it makes sense that their are lots of different foods. These foods are tailored to the different stages that your orchid moves through in its lifecycle. They can typically be split into 3 categories - sprays, general foods and targeted foods. Let's explore the different types of food.
What is Orchid Feed?
1) Orchid Myst Spray. Orchid sprays tend to be be tonics. The nutrients are more targeted towards the leaves of the plant. Sprays also tend to be focussed on increasing the humidity around your orchid plant.
2) Orchid Drip Feeders. Drip feeders are a ready to use general feed. These feeds are packed full of the core nutrients orchid plants needs. As they are ready to use, these small feeders can be placed into your potting mix. Where they release a small amount of fertiliser each day (they typically last for one month).
3) Targeted Orchid Feeds. Targeted foods tend to be concentrated feeds. Concentrated orchid foods tend to be target supporting your orchid plant at a particular point in it's lifecycle. Several specialist orchid foods focus on flowering, while others focus on growth. In fact concentrated foods are easy to use. Simply add them to water and apply to your plant.
4) Pest Control Solutions. Some plant foods also aim to eliminate pests. As well as eliminating pests, they contain nutrients to enrich your plant. This is important because these nutrients support the recovery of your plant while these pests or diseases are being removed.
What is the best fertiliser for orchids?
The best food for you will depend on the stage of it's lifecycle that your plant is in. If your plant is flowering then a floweing feed is a great choice. If your plant has finished flowering, then a growth product is ideal.
Our blog, What to Feed Orchids has a range of helpful tips and points to help you decide what to feed your orchids.
Benefits of Using Orchid Food
The benefits of using the right orchid food are clear. Orchid foods provide the essential nutrients that your plant needs. Orchids cannot feed themselves and as they cannot move, they are not able to collect their own food. In the wild the weather and environment bring the nutrients orchids need to them. As plant owners, we need to add the right food to replicate this process.
The benefits of using the right food are quite surprising:
- it helps to promote healthy plant growth
- it encourages the development of strong roots and stem
- it supports the continued flowering of your orchids.
- it helps your plant stay strong
The right food als help your orchids to resist pests and diseases ensuring. This ensure your plants remain beautiful and healthy.
Understanding what food is important. However, as we outline in our blog, knowing When to Feed an Orchid is vital too. The blog has a great range of helpful tips to help you know when is best to feed your orchids.
Final Thoughts on Orchid Food
There is a huge range of orchid food types. These types of food are great to support your plants in the various stages it go through in its life. It is easy to ensure you use the right orchid food as part of your orchid care routine. Using orchid food will help to promote the health and wellbeing of your orchid plant.
Unsure about how to feed your orchids? Our blog, How do you Feed an Orchid will help you know how to. It includes a range of helpful tips and advice on how to feed your plants.
