Feeding superthrive into the pitcher

[MadAboutCPs]

Hi,

(1) Where do nepenthes plants store their excess energy or do they only take what they need?

I know now that superthrive is not a fertiliser and is vitamins and hormones. (2) Would it be wise to supplement the nepenthes pitcher diet with this or other nutrient solutions instead of insects as it doesn't have to breakdown the insect to make its nutrients but instead it is readily available to the plant? Only a drop or whatever diluted factor according to the pitcher size because it says to use one drop per small cupfull.
(3) Will the digestive juices in the pitcher denature the nutrients in superthrive or will it readily absorb into the plant? (4) And if it does denature the nutrients a way to get around this is to maybe replace the liquid in the pitcher with a made up solution of superthrive and rainwater?
I have tried this a few times on a n.ventricosa in the last couple of months with no ill effects but have not seen any change in growth pattern to the plant....yet. Each consecutive leaf and pitcher is still larger than the previous. Although I've noticed better coloration in the pitchers compared to the previous ones or is this just a natural growth habit?

Any experience on this would be great.

thanks
Christian

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Superthrive doesn't contain any nutrients. It is primarly B vitamins (and they claim some hormones and other vitamins).

Vitamins have not proven to do anything for plants EXCEPT for B1 which has been shown to help plants recover from transplant shock. Personally I don't use superthrive. I don't think it will do much of anything to a healthy established Nepenthes.
Tony

 

[MadAboutCPs]

hi tony,

My terminology of everything is not that hot. hehe. sorry, but my point being is, are there any liquid nutrient solutions available that can be put in the pitcher and be readily available to the plant without the nutrients being denatured by the digestive juices?

Christian

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Are you trying to find something that will not be digested by the pitcher or do you mean your looking for something that simply doesn't need to be digested to be of use for the plant?

Plants can't really absorb complex molecules well.. They wouldn't be much use to the plant if they could anyway. Sounds to me what your wanting to use is inorganic fertilizer. Which is basically a solution of ions the plant can absorb without digesting and put to use. The only one you would need to check is what Nitrogen compound is in the fertilizer. These are bound into a more complex molecule. Urea is the usual one you find and is fairly cheap but does require the plant to alter it the most before it can use the Nitrogen. Ammonia and Nitrate are less common and easier for the plant to absorb and put to use. Nitrate based fertilizer is also less likely to burn sensitive plants.

I used to drench my plants with a dilute fertilizer solution and during the process some would get into the pitchers too. I wasn't too excited by the results though and sometimes the pitchers would brown at the waterline. I didn't do alot of fiddling though with different concentrations or fertilizers so others may have different results.
Tony

 

[Clint]

an orchid grower told me that when he gets new plants, he soaks them in sugar water, so a newly arrived and transplanted nep sugar water and while the pitcher died 2 days later, the new leaf is growing very fast and developing well, and i was surprised at this because it didn't show sign of stress at all.

try it for yourself and see? i've had good luck with it!

 

[MadAboutCPs]

hi tony,

yes I'm trying to find something that can be used by a healthy established nep plant for growth and can also be fed into the pitchers, be readily available to absorb and not denature it (other than insects) instead of misting it on the leaves or feeding through the roots.

Christian

 

[MadAboutCPs]

hi just like a pill,

that's very handy to know and probably better for the plants in the long run. I will most definately give that a try. Any other simple home made recipes you know of? hehehe::

christian

 

[superimposedhope]

A few here have used milk or baby formula in the pitcher in very dilute amount. This does have easily digestible proteins in it. The down side is if any of it gets on the plant or pitcher itself, it needs to be rinsed imediately otherwise the milk or formula will spoil and cause the pitcher and or leaf to die back. This has been done with Sarrs as well. Its still pretty much experimenting though. Most of these guys will tell you just use insects, its the best for the plant and problems are minimal with insects. I occassionally use baby formula mixed with milk, this is very delicate though cause it spoils very rapidly.

Joe

 

[Clint]

i didn't measure it, it was just sugary to the taste but wasn't like very sweet, like hummingbird food.

i gave the pitcher about 10 CC's of it. it was a baby N. belli and the pitcher rotted about 2 days after, but it's really enhancing the growth of the new leaf, in my opinion.

if you think about it, plants use photosynthesis to make sugars in their tissue, so sugar water must be like pure energy, right?