Obregonia advice

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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Steve Johnson
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Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Obregonia advice

Post by Steve Johnson »

Salazar wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 5:51 pmI'll try to find the fertilizer brands you recommended or at least something with a comparable ratio of elements.
Re. the Osmocote Cacti & Succulents slow release fert I had in mind, apparently it can't be shipped outside of Australia, and it's not available in any other countries (including mine). I'd still like to find out if I can give you at least a couple of different options to look for, so I'll work on this and get back to you over the weekend.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
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Steve Johnson
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Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Obregonia advice

Post by Steve Johnson »

Hi Salazar,

Apologies for the delay here, and happy New Year!

I'm running low on the gallon of Dyna-Gro All Pro 7-7-7 I purchased back in early 2012, and since it has been discontinued anyway, I've decided that I'll switch fertilizers to the General Hydroponics FloraMicro and FloraBloom. This is the guaranteed analysis for each fert:

FloraMicro-FloraBloom.jpg
FloraMicro-FloraBloom.jpg (83.55 KiB) Viewed 438 times
If you can't get the GH ferts in the Philippines, look for liquid ferts with this nutrient profile. Please bear in mind that the N, P, and K numbers should be equal -- 5-5-5, 7-7-7, 20-20-20, etc. The only difference is that higher NPK numbers will mean a lower amount of fert going into your watering solution. I grow 64 of my 68 cacti in a hydroponic 60% pumice/40% granite gravel mix, so I have to fertilize every time I water the plants in spring and summer. Since you have a little bit of soil in your mix, I'll recommend that you fertilize with every 3rd watering.

Once you find a fert that suits your needs, let me know what it is, and I'll give you the proper dilution for the capacity of the watering container you use. (And of course I'll need to know the capacity.)
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
Salazar
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Location: Philippines

Re: Obregonia advice

Post by Salazar »

Thanks again and Happy New year to you too

Sorry for the delayed response, been quite busy.

Yes I can get both FloraMicro and FloraBloom
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Steve Johnson
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Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:44 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: Obregonia advice

Post by Steve Johnson »

Salazar wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:38 amSorry for the delayed response, been quite busy.
No worries, and I'm in that situation myself -- too many things to do, not enough time to get it all done.
Salazar wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:38 amYes I can get both FloraMicro and FloraBloom
Excellent! I learned a lot about ferts from horticulturalist-in-residence MikeInOz, so here's a handy tidbit of information -- cacti and succulents thrive when K is 1.5 times higher than N. The only problem with the GH ferts (and the Dyna-Gro 7-7-7 in my case) is that there's not enough K to fulfill that requirement. I addressed the deficiency by adding the right amount of Potassium sulfate to my watering solution. There's no way to add it directly with Potassium sulfate powder because the amount is too small to measure. We can take care of that problem with a dilute Potassium sulfate stock solution going into the watering solution. If you're willing to go that far, I'll give you all of the details you need -- preparing the stock solution, diluting the right amounts of the GH ferts, and how much stock solution to add for your watering solution. Although I deal with US measures, I can give you everything in metric measures since the Philippines runs on the metric system.
If you just want photos without all the blather, please visit my Flickr gallery.
My location: Los Angeles, CA (Zone 10b)
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