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!

Growth and feeding poll - How do you feed and it's effects

  • They catch lots of insects on their own and I don't suppliment.

    Votes: 36 19.1%
  • They infrequently catch insects and I don't suppliment.

    Votes: 22 11.7%
  • They are not able to catch insects and I don't suppliment.

    Votes: 7 3.7%
  • I regularly put food into the pitchers.

    Votes: 62 33.0%
  • I use liquid fertilizer sprayed onto the leaves.

    Votes: 10 5.3%
  • I use fertilizer at the root zone (liquid or slow release).

    Votes: 7 3.7%
  • I drench the entire plant with fertilizer.

    Votes: 9 4.8%
  • I feed the pitchers AND use fertilizer on the leaves or roots.

    Votes: 35 18.6%

  • Total voters
    188
  • #21
[b said:
Quote[/b] (seedjar @ Dec. 13 2004,8:51)]In the past two months, since starting the egg water, my plant has pitchered more than it did in the entire two years I had it before that. It put out two new vines at its base shortly after I began watering, and has developed four tiny pitchers on the new leaders and three modest 2" pitchers (it was in a 2" pot until last week) on the original shoot since.
Before the egg water, I'd had four, maybe five pitchers total in almost two years. I know that isn't much output in general, but I've had this guy on fairly low light (western window and one two-foot 40-watt fluorescent) for the majority of his stay with me. I consider the results I've seen with that egg water stuff to be pretty impressive, and I recommend that everyone try it if they haven't already. The details can be obtained off of Barry Rice's sarracenia.com FAQ page (it's in the FAQ library, with the Nepenthes guide.)
This is from the website:

Egg shells - This is something an old woman told me once. She said that the secret to her beautiful plants was a biweekly shot of egg shell water. Making egg shell water is a simple enough task. First, take the egg shells of six eggs. Put them in an oven at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. Take them out and stuff them in to a 1 gallon water jug which may be capped. Fill the jug with hot water and let it sit in the sun for about a week. After that time, shake the jug vigorously and water your plants liberally.

As you may have guessed, the calcium from the shells probably leeches out during the time in the water, thus producing growth spurts. I have tried this myself except that I did this once a month during my normal feeding/fertilizing time. I did notice a spike in growth and I have been doing it ever since.


I'm curious, does anyone know why you set it in the sun? How would one make this stuff in the winter?
 
  • #22
Just a guess but the sunlight would warm the water. Stuff disolves into warm water more easily than it does into cold water.
 
  • #23
Since I put my highlanders outside they catch enough on their own
 
  • #24
[b said:
Quote[/b] (BigCarnivourKid @ May 05 2005,8:14)]Just a guess but the sunlight would warm the water.  Stuff disolves into warm water more easily than it does into cold water.
That's what I thought... in that case I'll just leave the bottle in my car.
 
  • #25
How often do you feed them? The ones I have outside (which is none right now because the weather has been terrible) catch alot on their own, from ants to wasps to even some rather large bumble bees. The ones I have indoors get fed once per month with mealworms and crickets as well as sprayed monthly with diluted Epiphyte's Delight as recommended in The Savage Garden.

They do well on this regiment but one always wonders if they can do better. Any thoughts?

Steve
 
  • #26
Try egg water - some calcium might give a little extra kick.
And, re: why you leave it in the sun, I think it's not just the warmth but the ultraviolet and/or infrared radiation that helps loosen up the minerals from the eggshell, and perhaps the vitamins in sunlight as well. Think about the way that sun tea tastes different from iced tea, or tea made with boiling water.
~Joe
 
  • #27
[b said:
Quote[/b] (seedjar @ May 25 2005,7:19)]... and perhaps the vitamins in sunlight as well....
Joe, there aren't any vitamins in sunlight. It's strictly energy. Vitamin D is produced in our skin by a reaction between sunlight and the chemicals/pigments that make up our tan. This is over simplified but it's the best I could remember it.
 
  • #28
If any plant responds to any form of fertilizing, then do it! Nepenthes in the wild get hundred times more insects than what we seem to have in our yard. Supplementing them only increases better more uniform growth.
In cultivation of plants (horticulture) we use the best methods to increase productivity. There are two schools of cultivation. One is natural (defined as insects for all food sources) and the other is artificial (or supplemental feeding). If we water "artificially" we should also feed (fertilize) "artificially" as well too! Or just move to Sumatra or Borneo!

MM
 
  • #29
[b said:
Quote[/b] (BigCarnivourKid @ May 26 2005,10:37)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (seedjar @ May 25 2005,7:19)]... and perhaps the vitamins in sunlight as well....
Joe, there aren't any vitamins in sunlight.  It's strictly energy.  Vitamin D is produced in our skin by a reaction between sunlight and the chemicals/pigments that make up our tan.  This is over simplified but it's the best I could remember it.
Ah, I see... that's what you get for listening to public service announcements, I guess. ;P That whole vitamins in light thing never made much sense to me... I can see hydrogen ions making it from the sun to the Earth, or like helium or something, but aren't vitamins complex molecules, or at least diatoms? Maybe the vitamins come from the upper atmosphere or something...? Now I'm just grasping at straws.
~Joe
 
  • #30
Your body needs sunlight to synthesize vitamin D. The light itself doesn't bring any vitamins.
 
  • #31
I would not recommend you leave the bottle in your car. Incase it spills. Then you have rotten egg smelling car. I'm not sure it would be that strong but it might. Th stuff outside has really taken off. Actually jsut the plants with pitchers so far. It has rained a couple times and they get plenty of bugs. Bugs must have something that fertilizers lack.
 
  • #33
I've done two doses of egg water since my previous post (over a month ago). I haven't noticed any difference so far.
 
  • #34
id give the green a miss next time,i think i just burst a retina
trying to focus on it lol
smile.gif

Bye for now julian
 
  • #35
funny that i voted for they catch their own food. now i suppliment and give them fertilize to the root zone...
 
  • #36
I have a N. gymnamphora and N. Ventricosa. I have them in a terrarium lighted with gro light GE 33 watts almost 12 hours a day. I spinkled them with water each day from above. They are not growing any pictures now . What are the best methods to get them going through the winter and get the pitchers going? THe leaves are healthy and there are tendrils growing but no pictcher. Another thread to get humidifier. Or do I need more light too.
any help appreciated.:)
 
  • #37
You may have to wait longer. There are usually small brown points that look like hooks at the end of each tendril. That hook may or may not develop into a pitcher. It starts out small, but as time progresses, that hook curvers upward when it will begin to swell and inflate, and then eventually becoming a visible pitcher. I'd say that light is more of a factor than humidity (unless you're growing lowlanders). Make sure they get lots of bright, but indirect light! As long as they're getting water, but not sitting in it, they should do fine. I heard that spraying their leaves in the morning increases surrounding humidity, but you may want to ask the experts on here before you do so.
 
  • #38
Plants that are fertilized produce bigger pitchers and get huge faster. *
 
Back
Top