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Superthrive - still not clear

Quick question - Should I be applying Superthrive solution to the pitchers or directly to the roots? thanks!

Leo
 
Most people I hear about that use it put one drop per gallon of water for the roots.
 
To the roots my friend. Pitchers CAN have it BUT they are most likely to rot. And they probably will from the overload of nutrients and horomones in the superthrive. And yes Statik is right approx 1 drop per gallon of RO,distilled,rain water.
 
I asked a smiliar question about superthrive a while back, and no one was able to answer me.
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I'm still wondering if putting very diluted amounts of superthrive in Nep pitchers will affect the growth rate. I was thinking about doing this to ampullaria since the vaulted lid wouldn't let the superthrive from getting to concentrated if watered frequently. :| I'm still wondering if anyone knows if something will happen.

Jœl
 
Well, you could dilute Superthrive first and then apply several drops of the concoction to the pitchers and see how that does. If you overstimulate a pitcher with nutrients it will blacken real fast (almost overnight) and there's no goingback once it starts. Unfortunately, I know first hand from last time I fed my plants (with milk & bloodworms)...!

There have been rumors that too much Superthrive will cause the plant to grow and put out leaves but not produce pitchers. however I use it occasionally (in the recommended dosage) and haven't had them stop pitchering. But I don't use it as a foliar feed either, only on the roots like someone above mentioned.
 
Thanks! I'm glad I first asked because I was about to apply it to the pitchers directly.

It says on the package that I can't pre-mix it with water and keep it for later use. Can this rule be ignored? When I only need to use say a pint for each watering session, it's really difficult - well, impossible actually - to try to separate out 1/8 of a drop of Superthrive (1 drop/gal = 1/8 drop/pint, right?).

What do people here do? Leo
 
I keep my superthrive water after I mix it, nothin bad happens, but I shake it up when I want to use it. Haven't mix any superthrive up in a while casue all my Neps are doing good. But I don't see why they have that rule as it doesn't have any bad, or less effects on my Nepenthes if I keep it for a while after i've mixed it up.
 
The only reason I can think of them saying that is, if you keep your superthrive/water mix in an uncovered container it could possibly lead to algae growth in the water (since algae spores are ever present in the air around us) being a plant growth hormone it doesn't care if it's feeding green algae or a higher form of plant life. But if you mix up your superthrive water in a gallon jug with a cap then don't worry that's what I do with no ill effects. I usually use 1 gallon of fertilizer water per month that's two sessions (every two weeks) so mine sits around for 2 weeks ontop the fridge (keeps the water warm-which many plants appreciate).

Just to give you an idea what fertilizer recipe I use:
Add the following ingredients to 1 gallon waste aquarium water (you can substitute distilled or RO if you don't have an aquarium which needs water changes - I only use aquarium water for fertilizing then it's strictly R/O the rest of the time)
-5 drops of liquid Aquarium trace minerals
-1/8th of a tea spoon of Orchid Fertilizer if you can find "Jacks" or another brand which has balanced numbers like 20-20-20 and trace minerals you can leave the aquarium drops out but plants do need Iron and those other elements to give you their best colors. Red tinted species especially require lots of Iron to show their "true colors".
-Occasionally a drop of Superthrive, possibly evey other month (or when I think of it)

The key to doing any kind of chemical fertilizing with Nepenthes is to err on the side of using too little rather than too much. I learned that the same goes for feeding the plant bugs as well-at least, in old pitchers!
Now my alata is uneven (looking great but uneven)!
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