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That depends upon your choice of potting medium and your growing conditions. In a standard pot, the evaporation of the water from the medium occurs fastest from the top surface and the medium/pot sidewall interface. If your mix is fine enough that it holds a lot of water in-between the...

Weaver, welcome aboard!

That's the damned truth! Saw this on a pest management site, and it pushed me to get serious: "Mealy bugs are on the move most of their lives, and since they live for six weeks to two months, just one can cover a lot of plant surfaces. Females mature, lay their eggs, then die. The eggs hatch...

Yeah. Three thorough treatments at one-week intervals should do it. I generally use 1 ounce/gallon, but if the bugs are really bad, doubling that is fine.

I see nothing there that makes it stand out as an additive, and agree with Lance about the relative insolubility.

Wow! I totally missed the pregnant part. Congratulations. In that case, I definitely recommend the OrganiShield, as it is not a toxin at all. It is a “super surfactant” that strips protective layers off any soft-bodied insect or mite, including juveniles and eggs, leading to a quick death...

For mealies, the safest bet is a good insecticide - systemic/translaminar is preferred, but not absolutely necessary. Spray all exposed surfaces of all plants to dripping and thoroughly drench the potting media. Repeat that two additional times at 1-week intervals.

While I disagree with Bill’s conclusion jumping, the BioAdvanced (Bayer) products, such as the 3-in-1 Insect, Disease, & Mite Control, are pretty good, generally easily gotten, and relatively odor-free. I have gotten lucky with an extended summer this year and my plants are still outside - it’s...

Nothing was attached, but basalts tend to be made up of various Ca-Mg-silicates. Is your watering and feeding regimen deficient?

Alkalinity or KH targets will vary based upon the fertilizer used. As a plant takes up ammonium ions, it secretes compensatory H+ ions, which acidify the substrate. Urea is also a source of ammonium ions. A plant taking up nitrates secrete OH- or HCO- ions, which raise the pH of the...

I don’t know that there is an “ideal”, just the lower the better.

I was surprised to learn that the pH of applied solutions has very little impact on the rhizosphere pH. The medium, the plant, and the microbes living in them play a much bigger role in controlling that. I used to use 25 ppm N Dyna-Grow 7-9-5 in RO water, and the pH was about 4ish, so I...

That first one is intended to be stuck down into moist soil to read a pH. I serioujsly doublt it'll be very good in orchid media. The better choice would be to collect pour-through samples and measure those with a typical liquid immersion probe.

Just a note to advise that this offer expires tomorrow (Thursday) night at midnight.

The ones I have used are 20” x 10” and polymer coated. I set them in a standard nursery tray with the plants in direct contact. They say “do not submerge”, but I’ve never had an issue with them getting wet or being fully submerged. I had a seedling nursery box (3’ x 6’ x 3’ tall) in my...

Yes, those inexpensive mats are quite nice for warmer growing plants in cooler/drier environments. Folks who grow warmer phals in semi-hydroponics in their homes sometimes use the mats to compensate for the evaporative cooling of the open, airy medium in household air. Heat mat use will...

I have used inexpensive low-wattage mats. They have no thermostat, but boost the root zone by about 10-15F above ambient.

I have no doubt they are greener and will grow faster, but I honestly doubt that’s sustainable if you feed biweekly or more frequently, as you’re applying about 600-650 ppm N. I think you’d be likely to see a gorgeous “emerald” green color, legginess, and fewer blossoms. That said, I think...

These days, all my applications are with a hose-end sprayer. I feed once a week. I add 1 tablespoon/gallon to that the first feeding every month a month, and add Quantum to it a week later. Every now and then, if I miss a week of feeding, I'll double the dose the following week to 200 ppm N...

As I replied to your post elsewhere… 12 years. Plants are doing great. FWIW, I have sold K-Lite to 2378 individuals and institutions; 50 this month alone. There have been at least 4 other vendors carrying the stuff for the last 6-7 years.