How to take care of a new heli division

[jeff 2]

suite

a heliamphora island on the tepui

very interessant like substrat , no?

have you use 'akadama' (bonzaï clay) in replacement to 'seramis' ?

on the tepui no problem with the sandstone ,the granit in mix to carex peat , no problem with iron also very present up there.

but attention with the copper very harmful , in the substrat or in the aerosol bomb or fertilizer.

have you with the perlite some dissolution problem with the water ?

jeff

 

[jeff 2]

suite

have you try 2 bonzaï substrate in mix named ' kanuma ' and ' fuyoo do ' ?

jeff

 

[mato]

Av,
Do you think soaking the division in a solution of SuperThrive would be similarly beneficial instead of using the trichoderma atroviride?

 

[amphirion]

@mato: SuperThrive consists of vitamins and hormones that are said to benefit growth. trich does not offer vitamins and hormones, but instead gives the plant an immune system. it is an endosymbiotic fungus that keeps other harmful fungus at bay so it is impossible to compare the two together in terms of benefits.

 

[Av8tor1]

Ditto on what amp said, two totally different products....

no comparision

 

[mato]

I figured I may have gotten that sort of response with the use of "similar." What I should have asked was: Will soaking the plants in a SuperThrive solution upon arrival soften the roots and prevent any shock that may otherwise happen without it? That is, is it better than nothing? Regardless, I believe I will look into the trichoderma atroviride.

 

[Av8tor1]

Of course its better then nothing, Peter D'Amato seems to be a big fan of it. He and Barry went around and around on listserv about it's use after an article in CPN a year or two or three ago IIRC.

Heliamphora roots are not that delicate.

I really don't understand how the tribal knowledge of them being so fragile got so widespread. Personally, I find them to be rather tough... tougher then most plants. When Im repotting I hold the root ball underwater and tease it apart, sometimes getting rather aggressive.

Jeff, made reference to them being more fragile when grown in different substrates. I can't really comment on this, maybe so.... I can see the logic behind it.

To answer your question, while it can't provide the benefits the trich bath can...it sure cant hurt

Main thing, don't ever start with a plant where the roots have been desiccated and now brittle. Soak them in somthing to reduce the structural stresses of repotting, even if it's just water.

Likewise, IMHO always make sure the plant has been well watered several hours prior to unpotting.

HTH's
Av

 

[mobile]

I guess that this is as close as I'm going to get in the UK to the mix described. I have substituted APS, as it is not readily available and costs £35/4.5kg ($55/10lbs), with a cat litter product that bonsai growers here use.

 

[Av8tor1]

Beautiful images,

That is cat litter?.... wow, what a difference.
The colour and surface texture seem right but the size is gigantic compared to what we know as APS over there.

I am interested in seeing how it does, and I bet it will do well. Have you used this "kitty litter" with Cp's before?

Butch

 

[mobile]

Beautiful images,

That is cat litter?.... wow, what a difference.
The colour and surface texture seem right but the size is gigantic compared to what we know as APS over there.

I am interested in seeing how it does, and I bet it will do well. Have you used this "kitty litter" with Cp's before?

Butch

There's two brands of this type of kitty litter that I'm aware of in the UK. The one I have used is Sophisticat Pink and the other is Tesco Low Dust Lightweight. The Tesco brand has a much smaller particle size and is scented, with the scent being difficult to remove. The Tesco brand is liked by Bonsai growers: Cat Litter as Bonsai Soil. The Sophisticat Pink that I have is not scented. I think that APS has a size somewhere between Sophisticat and Tesco.

Side by side, Sophisticat Pink on left:

Sophisticat Pink:

Tesco Low dust Lightweight:

 

[Av8tor1]

Some cp'ers over here have used certain brand kitty litters as well.... and some are reported to be equal to APS. But after doing some research on the subject I found this may be unpredicatble (speaking for this side of the pond)

Our Kitty Litter and Oil Dri products basically come from one of 3 quarries in the USA. The quarry of origin has a major influence on if the product can be used or not. Some of the products are slightly alkaline and have poor physical and chemical stability. In addition, deodorants and harmful additives may be used.

Since these products are not labeled for horticultural use, they are not worried about suitability and consistancy. You can grab two identical bags off the shelf and one may be ok and one not.

Much less using the same product purchased from two different regions of the country.

Color is some indication of base mineral used, but not always.

In the states, heat enhanced clay based Oil Dri would probably be safer then our kitty litter...


Butch

 

[jeff 2]

suite

attention for the cat littier,read their composition , this one are may be OK , but some others in attapulgite or sepiolite may be more calcareous , I use these last from my pinguicula .

'akadama' more neutral or ' kanuma' more acid , (bonzaï clay substrat ) seem to me also 2 substrate to try with a 'liant' substrat for the capillarity .


jeff

 

[mobile]

attention for the cat littier,read their composition , this one are may be OK

I believe that the one I use is calcined Molar clay.