Growth Technology Orchid Focus BLOOM - 1 Litre

"This stuff is amazing. I have half a dozen Phalaenopsis orchids and for the first time every single one is in bloom." Rebecca

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Developed for the Royal Botanic Gardens

Originally developed for the renowned Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London, GT Orchid Focus is now available in New Zealand in two custom formulas: Orchid Bloom for flowers and Orchid Grow for foliage.

Orchid Bloom is the all-in-one complete flower fertiliser formulated for the unique needs of orchids with no need to add extra nutrients to support those gorgeous blooms. 

FREE 5ml pipette included with every GT order makes getting the right dose easy. One 1 litre bottle of GT Focus makes up to 200 litres! 

Why is GT Orchid Bloom different?

🌸 Complete, All-in-One Formula

GT provides all 12 essential nutrients orchids need, and nothing they don't, all-in-one complete formula.

🌸No Nasties

Guaranteed NO chlorine, sodium, chlorides, nickel or cobalt. Common ingredients in fertilisers (even in orchid fertilisers!), that can be toxic to orchids.

🌸 Low Nitrogen

Adjusted nutrient profile with reduced nitrogen to fuel flowering. Most fertilisers are high in nitrogen. Great for foliage, but it can prevent buds and blooms! 

🌸 Includes Calcium

No calcium additives needed. Most fertilisers - even flower fertilisers - do not include calcium, requiring growers to supplement calcium (with products like Cal-Mag), to support buds and blooms.

GT means no guesswork to get calcium levels in balance with other nutrients so calcium can be absorbed.

(getting the balance wrong can block calcium uptake even if you supplement it)

🌸+ Higher Calcium Levels

Higher levels to meet the unique needs of orchids. Helps prevent bud blast and supports growth of bigger flowers that bloom for longer with more saturated colours.

🌸 Orchid-Friendly Nitrogen

Formulated with orchid-friendly nitrogen (ammonium nitrate). Guaranteed no urea.

(urea requires active soil to break it down into a form of nitrogen plants can use, but since orchids are typically grown in bark-based media they lack the required actives in the soil, leading to nitrogen deficiencies)

🌸 Orchid-Safe, Reduced Salt Formula

Reduced-salt formula, gentler and safer for salt-sensitive orchids. Guaranteed chloride-free.

High-salt fertilisers are not good for orchids. High chloride levels can scorch foliage and stunt growth, change soil pH and turn safe nutrients toxic; putting plants at risk of an early, yet preventable, slow death. GT Orchid Focus is free of chlorides.

(potassium chloride has the highest salt index of all common ingredients used in most fertilisers, GT uses chloride-free potassium)

🌸 Maintains the Goldilocks pH Zone

Most orchids we keep are epiphytes which do best with a pH close to that of rain, around pH6.

At the wrong pH, some nutrients can turn toxic while others nutrients can be locked out from being absorbed, leading to excesses and deficiencies - even when all the nutrients are in the bottle.

At a pH of 6, the Goldilocks Zone for orchids (not too acidic, not too alkaline), nutrients stay safe and available.

GT Orchid Focus Bloom and Grow formulas are pH buffered to 6, creating the slightly acidic pH most orchids prefer and keeping all essential nutrients safe and available, no manual testing and adjustment needed.

🌸 Unlocks Metal Minerals

GT uses chelated minerals [pronounced 'key-lay-ted], to help avoid deficiencies of essential metal minerals such as iron.

For orchids to utilise the 5 essential metal minerals, they need to be in a water-soluble form. Chelating attaches organic molecules to metal minerals, keeping them water-soluble, unlocked and available. 

"My orchids have never looked so healthy with absolutely amazing flowers. Thoroughly recommend." Christine

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When should you switch orchids to a flower fertiliser?

In general, indoor orchids in New Zealand prepare to flower from mid to late autumn.

The natural orchid growth cycle usually sees leaf growth in summer through to early autumn, then flower spike/s late autumn to early winter, and all going well, flowering from winter through to spring. It takes an average of 2 to 3 months to go from new growth to a fully developed flower spike, ready to bloom. 

Switch your orchids from a foliage to a flower fertiliser mid-autumn, or at first sight of a new flower spike. That's usually around Easter / April depending on the weather. Continue feeding Bloom until flowering finishes, then shift back to GT Orchid Focus Grow, usually from apring through to mid-autumn.

"...it's the care you give, including what you feed, when an orchid is NOT flowering, that can be the key to unlock successful flowering next season."

Why do orchids need a different fertiliser for flowering?
 

Without all 12 essential minerals made available in the right amounts, at the right time, orchids can fail to flower, or may produce fewer buds and flowers. Buds can also form but fail to flower at all (called bud blast). 

If you've giving your orchid the perfect conditions for flowering but it still refuses to bloom, what you feed could be the cause. No fertiliser is a problem, but the wrong fertiliser can be just as bad. 

Orchids need the same 12 essential minerals all year-round, but the amounts required change depending on lifecycle phase. 

The biggest nutrient change for an orchid is between the vegetative phase (when growing foliage), versus the reproductive state (when flowering). 

The production of millions of pollen grains during flowering is responsible for a huge amount of mineral uptake. It takes a lot of energy to flower!

Why is calcium such a focus for orchids?

Most fertilisers are missing calcium entirely. Yes, even orchid fertilisers, even though orchids have higher calcium requirements than many other plants.

The few fertilisers that do include calcium, are typically in 2-part formulas. Or growers have to resort to supplementing calcium separately (with guesswork to avoid over-dosing). 

Without sufficient calcium, irreversible damage can occur in new growth. Signs also include yellow leaf margins, black leaf tips, early flower drop, buds that form but don't flower, and weak, curled leaves.

GT Orchid Focus Bloom includes calcium, in a single-dose formula, at the higher level orchids need to prevent irreversible deficiencies and support buds and blooms.

NUTRIENT ANALYSIS

GT Orchid Focus Bloom and Grow give orchids all 12 essential minerals orchids need, and nothing they don't. 

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper and molybdenum.

NO nickel or cobalt > Essential for crops such as barley, and legumes such as beans - but even very tiny amounts can become toxic for orchids. 

NO added sodium > Essential for some C4 plants, like celery and spinach - but phytotoxic for orchids.

Directions for use

Dilute 5mls GT per 1 litre water, every time you water. Adjust up to 10mls according to the plant's needs.

FREE 5ml pipette with GT orders makes getting the right dose easy. One 1 litre bottle of GT Focus makes up to 200 litres! 

"Fertiliser to see its result takes time to tell, especially on orchids as they are slow growing plants. I've been using this for 2 years now and I can tell it's really good for my orchids." Sanae

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