Axelrod's CP adventures

[Axelrod12]

Axelrod's CPs

Ok new thread, and I'm going to try to confine my questions and stuff to here now that I feel like I might be starting to get the hang of things...a little.

Previous threads:
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/135461-How-am-I-doing-so-far
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...nding-the-collection-have-some-more-questions

I tried to mark out all my questions in this thread in case you don't want to read the whole thing, it ended up being a little long..again.

The heating system has really been drying out our house so I set up a 10g terrarium and moved my Drosera and Utricularia in there. Plexiglass lid with a few 1/8" holes drilled in it, single 2' t5ho for lighting.
I had the top open before the pic so the humidity is a bit lower than usual, it's been around 80-90% for the most part:

I have an order coming soon for a few Sarracenia and a VFT, I've also been in contact with Andrew recently about a few more Sarracenia, a Ping, and probably a VFT that I'll be ordering from him. Some plants will come bare-rhizome, some potted. I plan on potting everything and putting them on the windowsill in my garage, except the ping which will go in the terrarium. Temperatures in there will range anywhere from 45F to 60F until the weather gets warmer, so I figured that would be good for the remainder of winter dormancy until they can go outside. The only other option is the fridge. Feel free to weigh in your opinion, but I think the garage should be ok.

Question #1: What size pots should I use for the Sarrs? I'm not sure exactly how big everything will be but I think they will range from younger plants with a few being a bit more mature.

Next adventure, I was at Lowe's today to look at some mirrors and such and as usual wandered over to the garden section (means I beelined for it right when I walked in the door). They had some of those CPs in their little plastic prisons, and of course I caved and bought a VFT and a S. purpurea. I think S. purpurea ssp. venosa if anyone can clarify that?

I thought both plants looked decent and it turns out the Sarr wasn't so bad, the VFT however, turned out to be a wilted, pitiful looking thing.

Question #2: I'm not 100% sure what to do with them if the VFT even recovers. I'm assuming neither is in any sort of dormancy. So do I try to acclimate them slowly to the colder garage temps and allow them to go dormant for the remainder of winter? Or skip this years dormancy, put them in the terrarium till it warms up outside, and hope for the best?

Next adventure, having cleared off some space on the little stand in my room by setting up the terrarium, I decided to set up a germination station for Sarr seeds. I have a few seeds coming in with my Sarr order. I will still need to source some more though.

Lighting will be a single 2ft t5ho which hopefully won't deform the plastic cover at all. I've heard to use a 50:50 mix of peat:sand for the media. I have issues tracking down sand locally though which brings me to:
Questions #3 and #4: Is Home Depot play sand and acceptable potting media? And can I substitute perlite in these tiny seedling tray applications?

My only other real concern with this kit is the holes on the bottom of the tray seem rather large:

Question #5: Does this look like it will be an issue, if so what could I use to cover them? I think it'll be extremely annoying to cut 55 circles of plastic mesh but if thats my only option I'm prepared to do it lol.

Questions #6: I promise last one before I just throw up some pictures...for now. My D. Capensis 'red' is putting off new growth, yay! Except its not all red, boo The growth started coming in before I put it in the terrarium, but how much artificial light should it take to encourage the red growth again?

And now just pictures, and by the way this is what pictures look like with a DSLR when you don't really have much of an idea how to use it:
N. x ventrata:

D. capensis:

D. capensis 'red', you can see the old and new growth is kinda fuzzy:

D. aliciae:

The little D. aliciae that came attached to the mature one I received:

D. spatulata:

U. sandersonii 'blue':

U. Longifolia:

U. Graminifolia:

And just for fun one of my Black Tiger Orange Eyed shrimp:

And one of currently my favorite fish that I own P. buffei:

 

[NatchGreyes]

Eh, I'm gonna answer these in sections.

Question #2: Yes, that is a S. purp. ssp. venosa. The VFT is suffering from water stress (lack of water), in addition to being obviously under lit. You're gonna wanna slowly, over a few days, introduce it to higher light, but not as high light as it would ordinarily grow under. As long as it had a solid (white/whitish yellow) bulb/tuber/whatever it is called for VFTs, it should produce new, shorter leaves, in time and recover. Although I know a few people who always pass over VFTs at grocery stores, etc., because of their mistreatment, I usually pick them up if they're a good price (and I want a VFT) because a quick check will tell you if it'll live. Honestly, after 3 months, a much abused VFT that traveled, by car, with me from Montana back to New Hampshire looks just as good as one I bought from a reputable CP dealer earlier in the summer.

It doesn't look like your plants will enter dormancy this year, which is okay. They should acclimate and enter it next year. Not all suppliers respect dormancy, and sometimes, you have to let plants skip.

 

[NatchGreyes]

Questions #3 and #4: Yes, I use Home Depot Play Sand all the time (Or Lowes). I've not seen any problems. (It's been recommended to me by more experienced growers and I imagine HD/Lowes would not risk the enormous liability of a $5 bag of poison sand). In place of sand, you can use perlite, but make sure it doesn't have added fertilizers, such as the perlite marketed by Miracle Gro.

 

[NatchGreyes]

Questions #6: Your D. capensis and other plants should color up once exposed to the lights. Ordinarily, new growth does not come out colored (at least in my experience), but colors up over the next few days/weeks as the growth matures.

I'll leave the other questions for others.

 

[UnstuckinTime]

Hey Axelrod, let me provide my input if you answer a question of my own about that picture with the fish!

1: 4" pots would be fine for any small to medium Sarracenia, 6" for larger "mature" plants. If you can find pots that are tall (I think they're often sold as "Rose Pots") those might be better.

2: I agree with what NatchGreyes said completely.

3 & 4. You can't find pool sand? Yes Home Depot play ground sand could work, just be sure you wash it first. I have never successfully used sand in my mixes, however, and much prefer using Perlite. You can find it in a number of different "grades." A fine-grade perlite is what I have used for my Sarracenia and venus flytraps in the past, successfully.

5. You might need to cut out little circles of mesh. Alternatively, you may be able to buy a whole bunch of 1" pots that would fit well enough in those holes, might be worth l looking in to.

6. Lots. The red pigment you see is an anthocyanin, which acts essentially as a "sun block" for the plant. You need to make the plant "think" it needs to lather on the SPF75 to make it turn red. Word of caution: do it gradually.

My question for you: What is that nifty little glass thing in the last picture? Is it related to CO2 injection into the tank? If so, how? I have a nice planted tank and have been toying recently with the idea of adding a CO2 injection system, but have yet to run the logistics of it.

 

[Axelrod12]

Thank you both. Your suggestions with the VFT sound right on target since the media was bone dry when I unpackaged it. I'll be sure to acclimate the plants slowly to the light and I guess I'll be skipping this years dormancy.

The only pool filter sand I've found around here is the really fine grained stuff. I thought larger grains were better, hence the play sand idea.

I will look into the 1" pots. As an alternative do you think I could secure a couple sheets of plastic mesh to the bottom of the tray instead of cutting it up for each individual hole?

And to answer your question. That glass thing is called a drop checker. It is indeed related to co2. You add some 4dkh solution to it with a few ph drops and depending on the color it will let you know how high your co2 levels are. Blue is low, green is around 30ppm, the target ppm, and yellow is higher. How high you want it depends on lighting level. I have mine go just into yellow around the end of my daily co2 injection.

 

[NatchGreyes]

UnstuckinTime may be right about Perlite being better. I haven't used it in my mixes, yet.

Securing sheets of mesh might work, depending on what you secure it with. I'd advise against most things, except silicone glue, as CPs can be sensitive to chemicals in the soil.

 

[Axelrod12]

UnstuckinTime may be right about Perlite being better. I haven't used it in my mixes, yet.

Securing sheets of mesh might work, depending on what you secure it with. I'd advise against most things, except silicone glue, as CPs can be sensitive to chemicals in the soil.

I used perlite in my other potting mixes and was planning to use it with the Sarrs that I ordered so maybe I'll just keep up the trend.

Oh how I hate working with silicone lol. If I can't come up with any other options or if the 1" pots don't work I may try it though.

 

[DavidA]

You could go to a craft store and see if they have any large hole punches about the right size. I believe they should be in the papercrafting section. That would save you a lot of work.

 

[Axelrod12]

You could go to a craft store and see if they have any large hole punches about the right size. I believe they should be in the papercrafting section. That would save you a lot of work.

Maybe, I'll have to go to the craft store anyways for the mesh so I can check while I'm there.

The seedling tray is styrofoam so maybe there is something I can stick into the tray through the mesh that will work but not leech anything into the water as well?

 

[Axelrod12]

Would super glue work? A lot of people use it in aquariums to secure rhizomes and rocks in place. Personally I've never done it so I'm not sure if there's a specific brand that has to be used or not.

EDIT: oh and what size mesh would be good, if it matters? I think I have some with 1/8" openings, and I guess I could always cut away a small hole in the middle of each section. I'm thinking more for root growth than drainage, the foam is 2" deep but I have no idea how big Sarr roots could get while they're in the tray.

 

[NatchGreyes]

Super glue melts styrofoam, fyi. (I had a very expensive kite that when I was 12 which quickly dissipated after being "repaired" with super glue)

 

[Axelrod12]

Super glue melts styrofoam, fyi. (I had a very expensive kite that when I was 12 which quickly dissipated after being "repaired" with super glue)

Ok no to superglue, I'll probably end up with the silicone.

 

[Axelrod12]

My plants arrived today. I got a VFT and a Sarr already potted from the seller. I also order 4 bare root Sarr rhizomes. They came in various sizes. I have 4" pots that are 3" deep for them, I don't know that this will be enough for a couple of them though. One of them has a rhizome that is about 3" long, roots that reach the bottom of the pot and stems coming off it in a 3"x4" area. I'm not sure if I should go looking for bigger pots?

 

[CorneliusSchrute]

Deeper is better for Sarracenia in my experience, but many say that shallower pots create large pitchers. *shrugs* This year I am repotting into 32 oz styrofoam cups. Not the prettiest, but they are uniform and offer heat buffering. Plus, I will have them in large trays to keep them from toppling over.

They will live in the pots you have for sure. If you decide to go with what you have it should cause no problems. If you can find deeper pots somewhere, though, I would recommend them. 6" deep would be a good number to look for.

 

[Axelrod12]

Thanks Corey, The pots were supposed to be 4" deep, they ended up being 3.5". I'll probably look for bigger pots and try to repot them, everything local seems to be shut down until March or low on stock though, even Lowe's and Home Depot.

Now picture time, with one question.

So first the picture that spawns the question:

In the pot of the VFT there are a couple little Drosera. I have the pot outside in the garage for winter dormancy, where temps will range anywhere from 45F-60F until winter is over. I have no idea what species of Drosera they are but I would like for them to pull through and grow larger. Should I attempt to remove them from the VFT pot and move them somewhere else or will they be ok until the VFT comes out of dormancy and the weather warms.

Now just pics, nothing much exciting since I assume everything is dormant:

Dionaea m. 'B-52 x Ginormous':

S. leucophylla:

And four unidentified Sarr rhizomes, the first two pics are of the big one that I think may really be pushing the limits of that pot:

And a quick shot of all 4:

 

[CorneliusSchrute]

The largest is indeed pushing the boundaries of that pot, but it wouldn't die in it. It is best to plant in pots that allow for at least two season's growth as your other three pots do. You could probably squeeze one season out of the big Sarr's current pot, but I bet that would be the max. Now that I have seen pics, I would leave the smaller three alone and upsize the big guy.

How old is that vft? Is it dormant per the seller? It looks quite yong and non-dormant to me. In the temps you mentioned this is probably a non-issue, but sudden changes to growing conditions can jarr those little guys some. Just some food for thought. I am sure more seasoned folks could chime in here.

Great lookng plants, by the way! Awesome stuff. I especially like all the red on those Sarr rhizomes: it makes me think you will have a colorful growing season.

 

[DavidA]

You got your VFT's from the same place I did. Mine came with a D. capensis, but I think mine is an alba. It looks like mine does but with red tentacles. You probably either have the narrow leaf or red leaf variety, who knows maybe both. They probably let their capenses flower and seed and don't do much about it. Hey, gotta love a freebie!

It looks like you have 4 of them in your B52 x Ginormous too. Believe it or not the capensis is actually recognized in New Zealand as an intrusive weed.

I say let them grow for a bit before transplanting them. It should be easier to handle that way.

Looks good man!

 

[DavidA]

How old is that vft? Is it dormant per the seller? It looks quite yong and non-dormant to me. In the temps you mentioned this is probably a non-issue, but sudden changes to growing conditions can jarr those little guys some. Just some food for thought. I am sure more seasoned folks could chime in here.

From what I've read VFT's make smaller traps that stay close to the ground during dormancy (well, most do. some cultivars don't even make traps during the winter). They stay close to the ground so that they are less exposed to potentially freezing air during the winter in the Green Swamp. The traps are small, because growing big ones require energy, which the VFT tries to store rather than spend while dormant.

 

[Axelrod12]

The largest is indeed pushing the boundaries of that pot, but it wouldn't die in it. It is best to plant in pots that allow for at least two season's growth as your other three pots do. You could probably squeeze one season out of the big Sarr's current pot, but I bet that would be the max. Now that I have seen pics, I would leave the smaller three alone and upsize the big guy.

How old is that vft? Is it dormant per the seller? It looks quite yong and non-dormant to me. In the temps you mentioned this is probably a non-issue, but sudden changes to growing conditions can jarr those little guys some. Just some food for thought. I am sure more seasoned folks could chime in here.

Great lookng plants, by the way! Awesome stuff. I especially like all the red on those Sarr rhizomes: it makes me think you will have a colorful growing season.

Ok I'll look for one larger pot for the big one. I'm not sure if I fully understand the forum rules yet but I don't think I can state the seller here. They are very reputable from what I understand though. Not sure of the age, the site just states that they haven't grown any to maturity yet. I was actually wondering about the dormancy with the VFT though, it looked a little too...alive to me lol. If it's not dormant I suppose I could bring it inside to the terrarium?

And I hope I've got some colorful Sarrs there. They came in a grab bag type deal so I have no idea what they are, I'm excited to see them pitcher and get some IDs.

You got your VFT's from the same place I did. Mine came with a D. capensis, but I think mine is an alba. It looks like mine does but with red tentacles. You probably either have the narrow leaf or red leaf variety, who knows maybe both. They probably let their capenses flower and seed and don't do much about it. Hey, gotta love a freebie!

It looks like you have 4 of them in your B52 x Ginormous too. Believe it or not the capensis is actually recognized in New Zealand as an intrusive weed.

I say let them grow for a bit before transplanting them. It should be easier to handle that way.

Looks good man!

Capensis makes sense, I've also read it can be very invasive. Haha too bad they're not 'alba' though I already have a regular and a red capensis. Can't complain about freebie hitchhikers though lol.