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2 Litre Nepenthes Hydroponics

  • #21
Tiny hole can be made by heating a safety pin with a lighter or stove element and pushed through the pop bottle lid. Be sure to use gloves or pliers to hold the pin. Metal is slightly conductive ;)
 
  • #22
Okay, i think that should work; i will try that. should i put another hole in the top to allow water to flow without the creation of a vacuum, or does that make the water flow wrong?
 
  • #23
Completely forgot about the drip system! I use it to give my gecko water while I'm away. With a slow drip flow one reservoir of water can last a while.
 
  • #24
Okay, sooo
<a href="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/vg21f"><img src="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/vg21f.png"></a>
By the way, the straw has a hole in the center to allow the water to enter. will it work?
Yes, i DO have N. robcantleyi, formerly known as black truncata. your argument is invalid, and i hope to make a thread later on about it's growth; there seems to be a fair amount of hype over the new species,
. I bought it while it was still available from California Carnivours.
 
  • #25
I think it would work better if you had a bottle for each plant in this case. If your straw is any bit off level only one plant will get water.
 
  • #26
True enough, but that would mean i would need two bottles, which may be difficult for me to get, but i'll try. if it means the success of my plants, i'll try.
 
  • #27
I think it would work better if you had a bottle for each plant in this case. If your straw is any bit off level only one plant will get water.

+1

I've experienced this with tubing. When you put a splitter in the line and start the siphon of water, it will come out unequally or, even worse, it won't come out one side at all.

Why go through all this trouble just to pot one plant? Won't this cost more than just potting them regularly and watering them as usual? I mean, if you don't have tons of money to spend on this hobby, then why not spend the least amount for the traditional potting method, then use the money you save and the money you get for other stuff to save up for a nice, sealed terrarium? Just get a large glass tank from petsmart ($50), buy a glass hood for it ($10), buy a T5 lighting fixture ($50) and you're done. You can control the humidity as you wish and your plants will love it. If you get a picky plant that likes air flow, get a fish air pump ($3) and air line tubing ($3) and you have air flow AND a way to lower humidity! Heck, if you don't want to pay $50 for a light, put the terrarium in a large, bright window and you have an even better light! I didn't read every post in this thread, so forgive me if I'm completely missing the point of this.

Just my opinion though, you may have other ideas. Good luck with your project! :)
 
  • #28
Maybe you didn't read a portion of the posts; but i would be a hypocrite to blame you, so i will state this.
I am 13, i can't go and buy things, and my parents aren't the kind to take me to home depot over and over and over, so i basically need to mcguyver this, a watering system that will get my plants through a week- im going on vacation in February, and i'm going to receive a ventricosa in a few days, and i don't want it to be shipped cross country, to be meet by re potting and drought. It will stunt the plant, and i don't want that to happen. So, using seltzer bottles, straws, and other household materials, i will construct a drip system to get my teeny tiny plants through the week, eventually i'll save up money for a real project. I'm at a few hundred dollars, which i'm willing to spend.
 
  • #29
I would try not putting a hole in the top. The vacuum formed should still allow a drip, but will be slow, which is what you want. Though, if too small, the surface tension could theoretically prevent a drip. I wish I had experimented with it to provided you with some data, maybe someone else could help with a proper hole size. (Just remember, when resources are scarce, you can always make a hole bigger, or add more holes: you can't make them smaller, or take them away...)

(Idea: What if you cut TWO holes in the cap, and inserted the straws and secured with some sorta putty? The issue then would be a drip rate being too high...)

Also? Plus two for being so young and using the verb "to McGuyver" properly.
 
  • #30
Hmm, i thought as much; once my dad gets through with another bottle of "2 cents, plain" i will begin creating the rigging for the bottle, and poking the hole in the top, then measure the gph (gallons per hour) to see if it matches the average per-day watering of how i do it normally, and adjust accordingly. one last thing; without an automatic timer, what do i do about the grow lights i have the plants under? one of the ultimate catch-22s.
 
  • #31
Maybe you didn't read a portion of the posts; but i would be a hypocrite to blame you, so i will state this.
I am 13, i can't go and buy things, and my parents aren't the kind to take me to home depot over and over and over, so i basically need to mcguyver this, a watering system that will get my plants through a week- im going on vacation in February, and i'm going to receive a ventricosa in a few days, and i don't want it to be shipped cross country, to be meet by re potting and drought. It will stunt the plant, and i don't want that to happen. So, using seltzer bottles, straws, and other household materials, i will construct a drip system to get my teeny tiny plants through the week, eventually i'll save up money for a real project. I'm at a few hundred dollars, which i'm willing to spend.

Spending $20 on this isn't too bad to get them through the week, but let me tell you from my personal experience, you won't have to worry about watering so much with a terrarium. For less than $150, you could set up a terrarium that would keep the humidity so high that the plants wouldn't care if you missed some waterings because they would be so moist. They would grow faster and produce more pitchers too. I went on vacation for a few days a couple weeks ago. I didn't water three days before, during or after. So that's 9 days without watering. Some were still pretty well moistened when I got back, and considerably bigger than when I left. It's something to look into. You have a computer with internet -- make use of it! Go online shopping at petsmart.com or petco.com and figure out what you need + pricing to build a simple terrarium. Just my opinion though lol.
 
  • #32
Dont worry about lights too much. As a college student, I leave my plants in the dorm over thanksgiving (four days) and have left them without any attention for longer than that. You should be fine for the week.

Actually? Come to think of it? If you soak your plants really good before you leave, they should be fine with no waterings, and no light.
 
  • #33
I do understand rigging stuff up is fun, but unstuckintime is right, a good soaking and the plants will be fine for a week without more water. Bigger the pot the better in this case. If your really worried about it water the plant before you leave, and put it in a large ziplock freezer bag, or any bag big enough (even a garbage bag if its a large plant). When you get home pull it out of the bag and all will be as if you didnt leave.

If you cant get your contraption tested and working by the time you leave, this is your best option IMO.
 
  • #34
Okay, that seems like a good idea (soaking the plants) but once again, I'ts going to take a while before i can set up a good terrarium. also, my two plants at this point (N. ventricosa and N. robcantleyi) i both have as highlanders at this point, although my robcantleyi might be growing slower because of it, so a really humid terrarium might not be good, but there are ways around it. if someone can refer me to a good few items, like particular pumps or cheap aquariums, it would make things alot easier, or you could just tell me what you house your plants in.
 
  • #35
Okay, that seems like a good idea (soaking the plants) but once again, I'ts going to take a while before i can set up a good terrarium. also, my two plants at this point (N. ventricosa and N. robcantleyi) i both have as highlanders at this point, although my robcantleyi might be growing slower because of it, so a really humid terrarium might not be good, but there are ways around it. if someone can refer me to a good few items, like particular pumps or cheap aquariums, it would make things alot easier, or you could just tell me what you house your plants in.

10 gallon aquarium from walmart or pet store - $15
fluorescent light fixture from walmart - $20
GE grow light from walmart - $9
aluminum foil from food store - $2
automatic timer from lowes - $15
water mister bottle from dollar store - yup $1

Grand total about $62 for the care of a couple hundred dollars worth of plants.

It all equals happy plants and little maintenance. Mine have gone over a week with no care, and I am growing jamban, hamata among other highlanders. No special pumps or contraptions to worry about.
 
  • #36
Hmm..... Well, i have the lights, the tin/aluminium foil, and the mister, so.... 30 dollars? definitely manageable. But i would have to badger my parents until they took me to lowes and a pet store. I have to ask, though; could i increase the size of the aquarium to fit a large robcantleyi in? or would it just be so hardy when fully grown it wouldn't matter if i forgot to water it occasionally. Also, would i be able to put things like truncata lowland/pasian and rafflesia in there?
 
  • #37
Definently couldn't fit a large robcantelyi in a 10 gal aquarium and you would need to figure out the tempature range out because you couldn't grow highland plants with lowland plants like a rafflesiana together.
 
  • #38
huh.... so only one kind? i think i'll try highland/intermediate. ive got a small robcantleyi and a small ventricosa, any others to think about?
 
  • #39
I would recommend some easier, smaller growing species and hybrids. I would also say lean more towards intermediate plants since they are usually a lot easier to grow than true highlanders/ultra highlanders like hamata, villosa macrophylla, etc.....
 
  • #40
thanks for the tip, but i meant a species, like sanguinea (killed my last one; well, my friend did), alata, what?
 
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