Medium and Fertilization Affect Performance of Potted Dendrobium and Phalaenopsis

Abstract

Dendrobium Linnapa `No. 3' plants were potted one per 1.75-liter pot with large or small fir bark with or without 30% peatmoss (by volume before mixing). Plants in each medium were fertilized at each or every third irrigation with 1 g·liter−1 of 20N-8.6P-16.6K fertilizer. Neither medium nor fertilization frequency affected flowering date of the first pseudobulb. Adding peatmoss to both types of bark resulted in taller first pseudobulbs. Peatmoss in the large bark promoted the production of more inflorescences and flowers (20) compared to the bark alone (11). Constant fertilization promoted the early emergence and development of the second pseudobulb and resulted in more inflorescences and flowers (21) than intermittent fertilization (12). Vegetatively propagated Phalaenopsis Taisuco Kochdian were planted in 0.5-liter pots with 1) equal volumes of no. 3 perlite, Metro Mix 700, and charcoal (PMC); 2) 100% large fir bark; or 3) 40% medium fir bark, 20% peatmoss, 10% each of no. 3 and no. 2 perlite, 10% vermiculite, and 10% ParGro rockwool (RM). Plants in PMC produced twice the number of new leaves and 1.5 -fold more leaf area than those in the large bark. PMC and RM resulted in similar shoot weights, but the latter enhanced flower count due to more lateral inflorescences. Most (80%) of the roots on plants in the bark were hanging out of the pots, whereas nearly all the roots remained in the pots with PMC. Although medium had no effect on flowering date, flowers on plants produced in PMC and RM were 10% larger than in those on plants produced in bark.