Apple Cider Vinegar?

Some claim that apple cider vinegar is a fertilizer. It is not. It contains carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, and nothing else. For very high-light plants in active growth, the carbon may have some benefit, but I believe that is unproven. Other than potentially that...nothing.

The vast majority of orchids prefer a slightly acidic (pH 5.5-6.5) root zone environment. What folks fail to realize, however, is the the solution poured through the medium actually has less of an impact than we realize (and yes, I'm including myself, a while ago), while the potting medium, the microorganisms living in it, and the plant itself pay bigger roles. (Look up the "pour through" test.)

Don't pay any attention to that ancient graph showing the relationship between nutrient availability and pH. That pertains to soils, which have a much higher ability to hold onto nutrient ions (research cation exchange capacity - CEC - and understand most orchid media have so little CEC that it may be considered to be essentially none). Plants take up nutrients from solutions. If the nutrient ions are in solution, they're available for absorption. In soils, courtesy of the clays and ultra-fine organic matter, the pH helps determine what is bound tightly by the soil (hence unavailable), and what is more easily released into solution.

 

Maybe it helps the microrganisims in the soil.

 

Ha ha ha ha!!!
Lol!!!

 

That might be true in soil, but I really doubt that would apply to the typical orchid potting medium.

There are a lot of such stores out there, so it's hard to generalize, but my limited observation of their orchid-growing skills agrees with yours.

However, how would you feel if some stranger walked up to you and criticized the way you were doing your job?

 

Arn't we talking about terestrials?
Maybe I missed somthing.