What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Is flushing the pot with water necessary?

I have several plants in a Highland Terrarium. I will flush the pots with water every 2 weeks. Is that enough?

Also, after this i have tons of water left. Can i reuse this water?

Is this flushing of the pot necessarily? I mean I do this because I don't can't really tell if the soil in the pot is wet since the moss on top grows super well.

I also have other plants in pots that sits in water trays. Is flushing them necessary?

THANKS!
 
Why are you flushing?
 
I usually just put enough water in my plants till some comes out in the saucer and let it site for a hour or so and keep like a half inch of water in the saucer then after the hour I empty the saucer
 
If they're in a terrarium, you'll want to make sure they're not wet before you start watering on any type of schedule. Terrariums can often stay humid enough that watering isn't necessary but every few months. Really depends on what you have them planted in, too.
 
thanks guys for the feedback.

In my HL tank i have Nepenthes and Heliamphoras. I didn't know I could go that long without watering my pots :). Good to know

I flush because I've read in other posts it helps with oxygen or airflow...... any thoughts on this claim?
 
If that's your reason for doing it, I'd stop. Flushing is usually done to remove a build up of salts and/or removal of excess fertiliser. Not necessary if you don't fertilise or if you use rain/ RO water.
 
perrrrfeeeeccttttttt

cause i was wasting a lot of water
 
thanks guys for the feedback.

In my HL tank i have Nepenthes and Heliamphoras. I didn't know I could go that long without watering my pots :). Good to know

I flush because I've read in other posts it helps with oxygen or airflow...... any thoughts on this claim?

Sounds like one of my statements, but If so I think you've missed the point.

When you top water and the water drains through the substrate, a low pressure zone is formed behind the retreating water.
This low pressure zone is then filled with ambient air due to the higher ambient air pressure.

(simple pressure differential)

This provides a good gas exchange in the root zone.

It's not a "claim", it's pure physics. You are simulating the natural process that occurs in nature when it rains.
( I also use airstones in my plant's water reservoir for similar reasons)

You ask if it is required, well the answer would be no....
if you asked if it would be beneficial, then the answer would be yes.
 
Thanks for the explanation. I've also heard this from other CP seller,youtube, and blogger. Though your explanation is the most thorough.

Can I use the remaining water to do anything else?
 
  • #10
Can I use the remaining water to do anything else?

I have a flood/drain setup-up with various plants (CPs, non-CPs, few Neps) where I pump the water weekly (RO water with ferts added to about 100 ppm) to the tops of the pots then allow the plants to sit in that water for about 30-60m before draining the tank back down. I reuse this water for about 4-6 weeks before remixing another batch.

I can not recall which ones but a few of the fert components are long gone after the first day but I've seen no real world problems yet.

Just a word of caution, if you have an issue with one setup (insects for instance) and reuse that water in another setup that can be really bad. Or invasion CPs, think Utricularia or some of the Droseras.
 
  • #11
You ask if it is required, well the answer would be no....
if you asked if it would be beneficial, then the answer would be yes.

I this opinion or do you have trial results we can check please Av8tor?
 
  • #12
Av8tor1's hypothesis, is just some of what my sophomore year, Soils 252 professor, taught us in that class, plus tons more similar information.

When watering/leeching CP pots, and recycling the water; my first concern, as RSS has mentioned, is the potential of transferring pests and diseases; second is to always be 100% certain that the TDS (total dissolved solids) of the water, always remains low enough that it is not harmful to CP.
 
  • #13
Av8tor1's hypothesis, is just some of what my sophomore year, Soils 252 professor, taught us in that class, plus tons more similar information.

When watering/leeching CP pots, and recycling the water; my first concern, as RSS has mentioned, is the potential of transferring pests and diseases; second is to always be 100% certain that the TDS (total dissolved solids) of the water, always remains low enough that it is not harmful to CP.

Did your professor have trial results? I'm reminded that the 'learned' ones also used to insist that the world was flat
 
  • #14
some stuff is just common sense mate,
 
  • #15
I'll take it that the answer is a no then.
 
  • #16
Well, we actually had many different, "labs", where they had us perform experiments to demonstrate many of these hypothesis. That was almost thirty years ago, and I can't remember all of the details.

Here's a link to such research -> Link.
 
  • #17
That's a link to "Responses of soil respiration and its temperature/moisture sensitivity to precipitation in three subtropical forests in southern China". I didn't think ps3's plants were growing in a subtropical forest in China. The question was quite simple but it looks like I will have to spell it out.

Is there a trial that demonstrates that frequent flushing of medium is beneficial to plants growing in a highland terrarium?

After all we don't want to be wasting time and resources doing things that are unnecessary or of minimal benefit.
 
  • #18
I'm confused about what you need a trial for...are you unsure of the physics of water pulling air down behind it? Or the fact that most plants (some more then others) benifit from more air to the roots? Seems to me like you just want to argue...
 
  • #19
If it's a fact there must be proof that frequent flushing benefits the plants in ps3's terrarium and benefits them enough to warrant the time and resources in doing so. I have encountered so many facts in this hobby that turned out to be anecdotal misrepresentations that to be answered with a glib oxymoron rings alarm bells. Please publish the results of the trials that prove the fact.
 
  • #20
Lets turn this around...show us some trials that prove otherwise.
 
Back
Top