Orchid Food - Feed ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer for RO/Rain/Tap Water (8 oz)

I literally have written maybe one review on Amazon but this product is so insanely worth it, I just had to leave a review. I noticed back in September, my orchid was looking a bit worn. I know it’s normal, I know it happens with age but I just couldn’t tell if there was something I was doing wrong. So I did research and found this product. I purchased this back in Oct 2025 and still have more than half of the bottle left. I’ll admit, when I first received it, it was so small I couldn’t believe I spent my money on the smallest bottle of fertilizer I had ever seen. HOWEVER if you use it as recommended, you shouldn’t be using much anyways. Granted I only have one orchid so this product hast lasted me some time but I just wanted to say USE THIS, YOU WONT REGRET IT. Photos from Nov to Today!

I bought this because I buy the dead and dying orchids from Lowe's. It has revived all of them and they are profusely blooming. It has easy to follow instructions for year round orchid care. Plus it wasn't formulated buy a large conglomerate. I re-use my 1 gallon water container to mix up the food. Works great and has no smell at all

This stuff is fantastic for orchids. I’ve been using it for 5 years. Each jar lasts about 2 years. My orchid plant is healthy and has grown to about 5 times the size in 5 years. Here’s how I use it. I put the suggested amount of fertilizer and water into a closed pot (with no drainage holes), then I drop my orchid pot into the closed pot for 15 minutes (once a week). I always set a timer because it’s easy to forget about it and orchids are very sensitive to root rot if you leave it in the water too long. This is very important!!!!!!!!! Since using it, I’ve gotten a couple of enormous stems of big healthy flowers year, which last about 4-6 weeks. The two stems come up about 2 months apart. Even when cut and put into a vase these flowers will last about 4 weeks. Be careful not to mistake the stems from aerial roots. I stake them to hold them up.

So I found this product by way of recommendations on a subreddit if I remember correctly. I was hesitant at first due to the small size and price. Let me tell you what though, this stuff is exactly what my phalenopsis needed! I premix half gallon batches according to its instructions (which are for 1gal, so just cut the quantity in half), and keep the mix sealed in an unused amber growler that I've had for years without getting any use. Since I no longer drink alcohol, now my plants get to enjoy the concoction I mix up for them and they really, truly love it. Even other houseplants such as my succulents will get a swig as well. My orchid bloomed twice in one calendar year, with the second time I saw a spike start being when I began this fert routine. The second spike was the first time I saw my orchid with a full spike of 6 blooms. Enough rambling, buy this stuff, it truly works! And you require so little of it that it will surely last you for seasons and seasons to come.

MSU is the standard by which all other fertilizers are measured. This product is used in commercial greenhouses where quality is a necessity. In the smaller containers, such as the one quart liquid, it is well suited to the hobby grower. I use this product for my orchids and have had good results. My plants flower and they grow with sturdy bulbs and shoots. The standard dosing is, I believe, one teaspoon per gallon of water. For orchids, though, the recommendation is water more frequently but at a lower dosage of maybe 1/4-1/2 of the recommended concentration (and, at this concentration, one quart will last you quite a while). One issue that all fertilizers have is that they raise the amount of total disolved solids (TSD) in the water. This is bad for the plant as it will, at higher concentrations, burn the roots of the plants. Orchids are particularly prone to this burning. The MSU formulation does not raise the level of TSD too much (from my normal tap water level of 135ppm to about 350ppm at 1/2 concentration) so it does not harm the plants. For orchids, you still need to flush the plants with plain water every fourth feeding or so. There are several versions of this fertilizer so be sure to get the formulation that is built for your kind of water (note that this review is for the formulation designed for tap water). The other formulations have somewhat different mineral content to compensate for the minerals expected in various water sources. The original formulation I purchased was a pink liquid. It appears the formulation has been somehow changed now to a green liquid. Seems that all the nutirents are there though. The only issue I have with this product is the packaging. The picture shows a cylindrical bottle. The last shipment I received was in a rectangular bottle. Now, one ordinarily expects that would make no difference. However, I found that the new bottle tended to splash liquid about when it was very full. Also, the sides tended to collapse so that more liquide was squished out.

This food was pricey however you use at most 2 tea in spring 1.5 in winter! It will last a long time and I love to grow my orchids!

Working well for my orchids

Perfect for any orchid enthusiast! My orchid was growing a little slow and started putting out a spike. As soon as I started adding this to her weekly soak the spike shot up and it already has buds! She grew a few more roots as well. Her leaves are perfect!