# Rick's K-Lite in 'Orchids'



## mormodes (Feb 27, 2013)

Huzzah! Rick's article on K-Lite fertilizer regimen is now published in the March edition of 'Orchids'. All the data and research that went into the program is now in one place.

Thank you Rick for writing the article. So much food for thought.


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## cnycharles (Feb 27, 2013)

cool! may have to find an issue and buy it


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## SlipperKing (Feb 27, 2013)

Dang! I let my subscription expire but only for about two weeks. I hope I still get the March issue. It would be a bummer to miss the one and only most import issue of the whole year!


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## mormodes (Feb 27, 2013)

Took a while, didn't it Rick? I was about to ask you if you knew which issue it'd appear in.


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## limuhead (Feb 27, 2013)

Can somebody with too much time on thier hands post it? :rollhappy:


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## JeanLux (Feb 28, 2013)

I would be interested in reading it, too, but am no more a member of the AOS  !! Jean


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## Ray (Feb 28, 2013)

Haven't got my issue yet....


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## keithrs (Feb 28, 2013)

Congrats Rick. I didn't subscribe, but I'm sure it will be an eye opener for all that don't follow this board!


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## Rick (Feb 28, 2013)

mormodes said:


> Took a while, didn't it Rick? I was about to ask you if you knew which issue it'd appear in.



I've been working with the editorial crew for the last couple of months, and I gave a small heads up on ST when we had a working draft, so I knew it was coming up in March issue.

I submitted the article last summer, but I was notified that there was a good lineup of articles ahead of it. So had to update some of the dates/times when we got into the final cleanup stage.

It wasn't the longest I've had to wait to see an article go to print, and very happy with the way it came out.:wink:


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## Rick (Feb 28, 2013)

Ray said:


> Haven't got my issue yet....



As of today I haven't either, but I think the folks that have fast mail delivery have already got theirs.


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## Marc (Feb 28, 2013)

If would be interested in reading this article as well, unfortunately not an AOS member......


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## Ray (Feb 28, 2013)

By the way Rick, if you ask, the AOS will send you a PDF of the final article, and I'd love to post that on my website.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Feb 28, 2013)

Of course, now that I'm not a member, they have good articles. I gave up on the AOS because I got tired of spending so much money on a magazine I glanced through and then set aside...and had so few paph articles. Too bad...in the 80's, I got so much info from the AOS Bulletin...the info I learned about caring for paphs from Ned Nash's articles are still the basis of the care I give now...and those articles are as valid now as they were then.


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## chrismende (Feb 28, 2013)

Good article, Rick! I'm thinking a trial of a group of plants on K-lite will soon be in order. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rick (Feb 28, 2013)

chrismende said:


> Good article, Rick! I'm thinking a trial of a group of plants on K-lite will soon be in order.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanks Chris.


Go for it!


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## Orchid-fever (Mar 1, 2013)

Congratulation Rick!


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## SlipperKing (Mar 1, 2013)

Haven't gotten mine as of today. Curious, is there a picture of you in there Rick?:wink:


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## NYEric (Mar 1, 2013)

Me either.


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## papheteer (Mar 1, 2013)

Can't wait to read it!! Well done Rick!


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## Rick (Mar 1, 2013)

SlipperKing said:


> Haven't gotten mine as of today. Curious, is there a picture of you in there Rick?:wink:



Me neither, and my wife made be buy 7 additional copies!! No photo of me (they don't want to loose subscriptions)


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## emydura (Mar 1, 2013)

Congratulations Rick. Look forward to reading it one day. I can't remember if our orchid society subscribes to this one or not. I will find out next week.


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## The Orchid Boy (Mar 1, 2013)

Sounds like I joined the AOS just in time! Can't wait to read the article once I get my magazine!


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## Carper (Mar 1, 2013)

Congratulations Rick. I'm very sure it will be a very informative read and help a lot of growers in their search for orchid growing success!! Would like to have read myself at some point.

Gary
UK


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## orcoholic (Mar 1, 2013)

Got it a couple days ago. Great article.


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## SlipperFan (Mar 1, 2013)

Hasn't made it here yet, but when it does, I have several people I will share it with (when I finish reading the whole magazine -- I think it's improving from years past).

Congrats, Rick. It will be interesting to see how your research affects the orchid community as a whole.


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## Ray (Mar 2, 2013)

I can see that it is already having some impact, based upon orders from previously-unknown folks.

Granted, such quick purchasers are often "jump on the bandwagon" types, but I have had a couple comment that "this connects well with my own (thoughts or reading)".


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## Scooby5757 (Mar 2, 2013)

Very good article, been through it twice now to get a deeper understanding and will read it again.

Thanks for organizing and sharing your research!


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## eggshells (Mar 2, 2013)

Congratulation on the article publication.


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## Ray (Mar 2, 2013)

Still didn't get my copy....


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## tomkalina (Mar 2, 2013)

Just got mine today.


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## Clark (Mar 2, 2013)

Congratulations Rick!
Have not been member for long time.
Can one buy just a single copy?


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## Rick (Mar 2, 2013)

Clark said:


> Congratulations Rick!
> Have not been member for long time.
> Can one buy just a single copy?


Thank you!!
You might try
[email protected]

She's in charge of subscriptions and missing issues, and is the one I placed my order for extra copies.


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## Rick (Mar 2, 2013)

Ray said:


> By the way Rick, if you ask, the AOS will send you a PDF of the final article, and I'd love to post that on my website.



I just forwarded a pdf Ray.


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## Ray (Mar 3, 2013)

The article is available via the "Free Info" page on my website, but for you impatient folks: CLICK HERE


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## fibre (Mar 3, 2013)

Ray said:


> The article is available via the "Free Info" page on my website, but for you impatient folks: CLICK HERE



What a service! Thanks a lot!


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## Secundino (Mar 3, 2013)

Thanks!


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## Marc (Mar 3, 2013)

Ray said:


> The article is available via the "Free Info" page on my website, but for you impatient folks: CLICK HERE



Thank you very much


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## tomkalina (Mar 3, 2013)

Just read it for the third time, and it's excellent! It's interesting how high pottasium levels inhibit the absorption of other necessary nutrients.


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## dodidoki (Mar 3, 2013)

Great article! Many thanks! Your mastersianums tell everything.


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## jblanford (Mar 3, 2013)

I read it yesterday and have already contacted First Rays, Thanks... Jim.


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## The Orchid Boy (Mar 3, 2013)

I'll wait for my magazine. But that's good to know it will be easily available on your site Ray.


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## get (Mar 3, 2013)

Thanks Ray for sharing it with us!!


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## Ray (Mar 3, 2013)

Thank Rick!


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## Hera (Mar 3, 2013)

Just read the article. It was presented well and easy enough to follow. The conclusions are completely logical, well thought out.


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## couscous74 (Mar 3, 2013)

Fantastic article Rick. I look forward to trying out K-Lite.


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## Rick (Mar 3, 2013)

Hera said:


> Just read the article. It was presented well and easy enough to follow. The conclusions are completely logical, well thought out.



Thanks Hera.

I really anguished on how to present a lot of interconnected, almost circular, data in a logical flow that we could all follow.


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## abax (Mar 4, 2013)

Rick, you accomplished your goal...even for me. Of course, you were
preaching to the converted to me. It's nice to have solid scientific information
to reach the doubters.


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## Stone (Mar 4, 2013)

Congatulations Rick, Thats a well presented article:clap:


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## JeanLux (Mar 4, 2013)

Thanks Rick :clap:, and Ray  !!!! Jean


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## DavidCampen (Mar 4, 2013)

In the article, top of page 168, it says:
"... several articles in the [Antec] reading room ... of the main points to take home ... [is] the ion exchange capacity of coconut husk favoring the monovalent cations (sodium and potassium) in favor of the divalent cations (magnesium and calcium)"

I don't see in the Antec articles where this is said. In fact the article says that it is easy to replace the sodium and potassium with calcium and magnesium by soaking in water with a small amout of calcium and magnesium salts. In fact the article goes on to say that even if you don't pretreat with Ca and Mg salts: "What then happens is that you cation exchange calcium and magnesium for sodium and potassium in your *early fertilized irrigations ... [but]* If you irrigate heavily as we recommend, *the problem is quite temporary and limited.*"

Emphasis added is mine.


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## Rick (Mar 4, 2013)

Stone said:


> Congatulations Rick, Thats a well presented article:clap:



Thanks you Mike.

You should get some special credit on this forum since you supplied the Zotz article that Table 1 is based on.


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## papheteer (Mar 7, 2013)

Great article, Rick! Congrats! Been using k lite since October last year and all of the new growths and leaves have been bigger and greener. Especially evident in the new parvi leaves. The mottling is more pronounced.


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## Brabantia (Mar 7, 2013)

Congratulations for your excellent article published in Orchid. I read it and read it again, it synthesizes very well the whole discussions we had on this forum. 
But ... I am very curious to know if the excellent results mentioned by those who use K-lite are obtained using this one at a concentration of 40 to 50 ppm of Nitrogen and with a once per week frequency for Paphs as you use it.


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## Rick (Mar 7, 2013)

Brabantia said:


> But ... I am very curious to know if the excellent results mentioned by those who use K-lite are obtained using this one at a concentration of 40 to 50 ppm of Nitrogen and with a once per week frequency for Paphs as you use it.



Thanks Brabantia

I've been kind of curious why many coments have come back that this was only done for Paphs when at least 1/2 of the pictures in the article are on non paph species, and I mention that I have many other things besides Paphs.

With only a few plants (Gongoras) everything in my GH has been getting the same fert regime.

But with regard to feeding rate, I saw universal good results in the first several months (pre K lite, but still reduced K) at 100ppm N I tapered off to 50ppm primarily for pot TDS reduction, and saw more good results. Some folks are still at 100ppm N and still seeing good results. Also going into winter mode, most people would cut down on either frequency or concentration anyway. So when we get back into summer mode, I will reassess (especially the big specimen plants) to see if I want to use 100ppm N again.


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## NYEric (Mar 7, 2013)

Where's my AOS magazine!?


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## Rick (Mar 7, 2013)

NYEric said:


> Where's my AOS magazine!?



You better call Eric. I think even the slowboaters have got theirs.


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## NYEric (Mar 7, 2013)

_ renewed my membership! That probably ruined everything. _


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## wjs2nd (Mar 7, 2013)

Rick, your article is really good! Thanks for writing it.


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## SlipperFan (Mar 7, 2013)

NYEric said:


> Where's my AOS magazine!?





Rick said:


> You better call Eric. I think even the slowboaters have got theirs.





NYEric said:


> _ renewed my membership! That probably ruined everything. _


I still haven't gotten my mag -- and I renewed before the deadline.


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## Rick (Mar 7, 2013)

wjs2nd said:


> Rick, your article is really good! Thanks for writing it.



Thankyou, and thanks for reading it!


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Mar 8, 2013)

...I'll be sure to read it when my copy of Orchids reaches the great white north...
Seriously!?! I'm in Southern Ontario. Where. Is. My. Mag!?

Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9900 using Tapatalk


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## SlipperFan (Mar 8, 2013)

I don't have mine yet, either.


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## Ray (Mar 9, 2013)

Nor I. Of course, we still get mail on Saturdays, so there's some hope.


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## Erythrone (Mar 9, 2013)

Nor I....


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## SlipperFan (Mar 9, 2013)

Still not here...


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## Rick (Mar 10, 2013)

SlipperFan said:


> Still not here...



I was just down in Atlanta today at the judging center, and several (but not all) of the judges also had not received their copy yet.

Some of the Atlanta OS members I ran into had received theirs. So I couldn't figure out a pattern of no distribution.


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## gonewild (Mar 10, 2013)

Rick said:


> I was just down in Atlanta today at the judging center, and several (but not all) of the judges also had not received their copy yet.
> 
> Some of the Atlanta OS members I ran into had received theirs. So I couldn't figure out a pattern of no distribution.



It rained, it snowed, it sleeted, it hailed, it shined......how the Hell is the USPS supposed to know what to do?


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## SlipperFan (Mar 10, 2013)

To be fair, is it USPS or AOS?????


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## gonewild (Mar 10, 2013)

SlipperFan said:


> To be fair, is it USPS or AOS?????



They function equally.


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## The Orchid Boy (Mar 11, 2013)

Paph_LdyMacBeth said:


> ...I'll be sure to read it when my copy of Orchids reaches the great white north...
> Seriously!?! I'm in Southern Ontario. Where. Is. My. Mag!?
> 
> Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9900 using Tapatalk



Mine still hasn't arrived. I'm waiting...


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## mormodes (Mar 11, 2013)

Y'all can log in to the AOS web page and download/read it there. Assuming you're an AOS member. I tried it because as a member of the publication committee I was asked to try it for myself. Worked for me. The server host updated their own systems around year end/beginning of this year. That created some hell at the AOS website at that time. If you tried logging in at that time try it again now and see what you think.

Speaking as a bookish girl I'm not sure how I feel about 'Orchids' going ebook, but I guess I'll just have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I hate learning new skills. sigh. grumble.


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## Rick (Mar 11, 2013)

mormodes said:


> Y'all can log in to the AOS web page and download/read it there.



It's posted on Ray's website too Mormodes, but I guess they're missing that glossy photo feel and weight:wink:

You a fixin to move out he-er with the rest of us Suthenas?


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## mormodes (Mar 12, 2013)

Rick said:


> You a fixin to move out he-er with the rest of us Suthenas?



Why sugar, I left North Carolina when I was 10 and still miss the fire flies. And the hush puppies.


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## NYEric (Mar 12, 2013)

I finally got mine. Unfortunately there was a notice that this was my last issue, and I had just renewed!


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## gonewild (Mar 12, 2013)

NYEric said:


> I finally got mine. Unfortunately there was a notice that this was my last issue, and I had just renewed!



They don't care if you renewed or not.... your finished. :rollhappy:


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## Rick (Mar 12, 2013)

mormodes said:


> Why sugar, I left North Carolina when I was 10 and still miss the fire flies. And the hush puppies.



Kind of funny that we went in opposite directions ( I grew up in LA, and I don't mean Lower Alabama).


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## SlipperFan (Mar 12, 2013)

gonewild said:


> They function equally.


I haven't had any problems with USPS in years. AOS -- another matter.



NYEric said:


> I finally got mine. Unfortunately there was a notice that this was my last issue, and I had just renewed!


This is an example...


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## Ray (Mar 12, 2013)

More kudos - an old customer ordered some K-Lite today, and stated "I've read the articles about the new K lite fertilizer, and being an environmental engineer with knowledge of toxicity, this seems to make sense."


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## cnycharles (Mar 12, 2013)

Rick said:


> Kind of funny that we went in opposite directions ( I grew up in LA, and I don't mean Lower Alabama).



  the grass is always browner on your side of the fence


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## NYEric (Mar 13, 2013)

i am wondering if there woud be any benefit to using a K-lite regimen and then shocking the plants with a normal K application, and then back to the K-lite regimen?


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## Rick (Mar 13, 2013)

NYEric said:


> i am wondering if there woud be any benefit to using a K-lite regimen and then shocking the plants with a normal K application, and then back to the K-lite regimen?



This idea may have potential for some big specimen plants. Maybe big bushel baskets of short burst bloomers like Catts and Bulbos.

Also I mention in the article that species associated with ants seem to get more K in their diet. So I've been periodically (one every 4 feedings??) hitting my Gongoras, Coryanthes and my lone Catesetum (when in growth) with plain old MSU.

Gongoras doing great, Catesetum did good last year, but presenly dormant. Of my 3 Coryanthes, one looks very good, one has been leafless for the last 2 years, and my best one bloomed and busted last year (died in December).
About the only significant dead plant since going low K.


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## gonewild (Mar 13, 2013)

NYEric said:


> i am wondering if there woud be any benefit to using a K-lite regimen and then shocking the plants with a normal K application, and then back to the K-lite regimen?



Torture is banned now in the USA.
Besides they won't tell you anyway.


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## NYEric (Mar 14, 2013)

Evidently you forget Guantanamo Bay!


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## gonewild (Mar 14, 2013)

Where?


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## NYEric (Mar 14, 2013)

Touche! Well played Sir!


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