Worst Death Cube Growing Advice.

[Hermopolis]

It kind of struck me that most of got our start with CPs from the ubiquitous death cube. It also struck me that a lot of different vendors must have used death cubes over the years. And since I remember them in my childhood, they got to been around for probably 40 years old. Many times the instructions on the cubes seems to be conducive to buying more cubes rather than the long term enjoyment of the plant.

So, I'm putting forth the question to the user community. What is the worst (or oddest) horticultural advice you ever received from a death cube? I'll even extend this to any potted CP you bought from a commercial storefront (Home Depot, Lowes, your neighborhood nursery, etc). However, it has to have appeared on a commercially printed packaging or labeling.

My contribution to this question comes a VFT death cube purchased from a Canadian hardware store chain around 1980. The insert recommended that the ideal soil mix was 50% peat, 10% sand, and 40% African Violet Mix.

-Hermes.

 

[swords]

I remember getting a VFT at the grocery store when i was a kid that had a label which said you could feed the plant small bits of hamburger and "tease the traps with a pencil". It said something like "Make sure you only feed it very small pieces of hamburger and don't tease the traps too often". I'm sure the tap water I used on it killed it faster than anything else though.

Incidentally I thought "Death Cube" only referred to the Lowes CPs sold in an acrylic box?

 

[scottychaos]

Incidentally I thought "Death Cube" only referred to the Lowes CPs sold in an acrylic box?

No, "death cube" is usually used as a generic term that can apply to virtually any CP sold with a clear plastic cover..they arent all literally "cubes"..but still, same concept.

my very first VFT was a "death cube" plant..circa 1977 or so..
I dont recall the growing insructions!

Scot

 

[Adam]

My first Was one from a local nursery which said to never use pesticides and keep the soil dry. I kept it wet, My dad got rid of the terrarium i made, and before he got rid of it, I noticed pests. And At My other Nursery, Although This Kind Of Makes Sendse For This Climate, it Said Never Let Temperatures go below 50. well mine are in a garage at about 39 right now

 

[seedjar]

Interesting premise. I haven't seen any good examples. The problem with the instructions on the ones I've seen is that they're painfully vague. Another issue is that they often emphasize details that aren't particularly important; they'll say don't fertilize but fail to mention to use rainwater, or that you can feed occasionally without mentioning anything about lighting.

Incidentally I thought "Death Cube" only referred to the Lowe's CPs sold in an acrylic box?

I think it's the box that makes it a death cube, more than where you buy it. Although, a big stack of them with the ones at the bottom stretched and light-starved, like you find at a big store like Lowe's, certainly helps accentuate the death part.
~Joe

 

[BuddhistAdam]

N. ventricosa- 50% peat 50% sand fertilize with favorite fertilizer once a month at half strength and full light! i was appalled!

 

[cmm889]

I've found labels to just be vague... of course more common than anything is to have completely wrong labels on certain items... i've picked up vft's labeled as neps before... tsk tsk.

the most colorful and stupid growing instructions have always been from the employees at said location. everything from miraclegrow, to near drowning the plant, or constantly keeping the humidity at 100%.. becuase as we all know vft's grow in the rainforest

 

[jimscott]

Ironically, it was that vagueness, that led me to research the plants I had, because "Nepenthes Species" or "Drosera Species" wasn't enough for me. So I found a couple CP books in the chain bookstores and began poring over the pictures (which were inconclusive to me, which led me to the Internet, which led me to the discussion forums.

 

[seedjar]

Hehe - me too, Jim. (I guess for me it was nursery death cube -> internet -> bookstore -> internet -> forums.) I think we're probably in the minority though. People turning to research certainly doesn't seem to be subverting the death cube business model.
~Joe

 

[Hermopolis]

Hehe - me too, Jim. (I guess for me it was nursery death cube -> internet -> bookstore -> internet -> forums.) I think we're probably in the minority though. People turning to research certainly doesn't seem to be subverting the death cube business model.
~Joe

I'll say... my route was...

Attempt 1 (1980's): death cube -> major university library (repeat/loop) --> hiatus

Attempt 2 (1990's): book store & internet -> online nurseries -> death cube -> hiatus

Attempt 3 (Present): online nurseries -> death cube -> internet -> forums

I find it funny how in my every attempt to grow CPs the death cube does play some part in the process. Doing my research at a major biological research library also in no way prevented me from buying death cubes. I guess that there is something about the $5 CP that one finds irresistible. The death cube does, I suppose, act as low-risk gateway into the hobby.

Granted, however, getting readable horticultural literature in the 1980's that a high school student could understand was next to impossible. The internet has done a lot to make that information more accessible.

-Hermes.

 

[swords]

Plant growing hippy uncle drawing my attention to a VFT > me Killing VFT > hiatus > Aquatic plant aquariums > Some kind of weird algae outbreak in my huge tank causing mne to tear it down > Internet & discovery it was not "algae" but Utricularia gibba > Books > hippy uncle gives me a Nepenthes Ventrata cutting along with a bunch of other stuff for my first terrarium (old huge tank) > six or seven years of Nepenthes & Orchids > Hiatus > Succulents > CPs & orchids once again.

 

[Taargus]

the first time I tried a vft (Lowe's Death Cube #1, 2005?) it came with the instructions to use african violet soil/peat and a lot of light. So I bought the soil not realizing it had fertilizer in it (the bag didn't advertize that until I found it later in the ingredients) and the vft slowly perished. I can agree it was the vagueness of that tag that led me to research, but it was not reading the ingredients on the bag that still makes me "facepalm." Not that just african violet soil without the fert. would've been much better.

 

[Adam]

The sarrs I got with the keep above 50 also said to winter at orginial planting depth. Who knows what it means? In April I will be getting more of those Keep above 50 at orginial planting depth. I am calling the nursery soon so I can know what to bring money for.

 

[Clue]

Every death cube I've ever read was to vague to draw conclusions, so I researched!

Death cube plant -> Internet (Barry Rice's FAQ) -> Library (Savage Garden) -> Internet (BACPS and ICPS) -> Forums/Internet -> Nepenthes obession

I still have that same VFT now, but my first, an N. ventricosa, didn't live long enough to tell the tale.