To all who fertilize neps via pitcher, what fertilizer do you use?
20-14-13 Better-Gro Orchid Plus at quarter strength worked well in the soil (minus the algae problem it caused regardless of how much I flushed), but putting the fertilizer into the pitchers, while the results were fantastic, did seem to shorten the life of the pitchers. The pitcher I fertilized twice (over the last month or so) is dead, and the one I fertilized once is starting to die. Neither of the pitchers were more than a month old.
Observances: The pitcher that was fertilized 10 days ago has a brown spot at its waist that is quickly spreading. Also, the operculum (lid/hood) is beginning to shrivel.
The pitcher that was fertilized twice was completely dead late last week (25 days to pitcher death).
I'm thinking something like Maxsea 16-16-16 might be better suited to fertilizing the pitchers. This particular fertilizer's 0.5% copper and 0.5% zinc content may have everything to do with the pitcher death.
Attachments:
1. (Top left) Pitcher that was fertilized 10 days ago. You can see the brown spot at its waist beginning to spread.
2. (Top right) Same pitcher as 1. This pic shows the operculum (lid) starting to shrivel.
3. (Bottom left) Pitcher that was never fertilized; no issues apparent. It's about two days younger than the one pictured in 1 and 2.
My plant has a few other pitchers as well, and none of them seem to have been effected by this, other than growing like mad.
20-14-13 Better-Gro Orchid Plus at quarter strength worked well in the soil (minus the algae problem it caused regardless of how much I flushed), but putting the fertilizer into the pitchers, while the results were fantastic, did seem to shorten the life of the pitchers. The pitcher I fertilized twice (over the last month or so) is dead, and the one I fertilized once is starting to die. Neither of the pitchers were more than a month old.
Observances: The pitcher that was fertilized 10 days ago has a brown spot at its waist that is quickly spreading. Also, the operculum (lid/hood) is beginning to shrivel.
The pitcher that was fertilized twice was completely dead late last week (25 days to pitcher death).
I'm thinking something like Maxsea 16-16-16 might be better suited to fertilizing the pitchers. This particular fertilizer's 0.5% copper and 0.5% zinc content may have everything to do with the pitcher death.
Attachments:
1. (Top left) Pitcher that was fertilized 10 days ago. You can see the brown spot at its waist beginning to spread.
2. (Top right) Same pitcher as 1. This pic shows the operculum (lid) starting to shrivel.
3. (Bottom left) Pitcher that was never fertilized; no issues apparent. It's about two days younger than the one pictured in 1 and 2.
My plant has a few other pitchers as well, and none of them seem to have been effected by this, other than growing like mad.