G. filliformis questions................

[rattler]

a member saw my growlist and asked if i had some availible. i told him i wasnt sure and would check when i got home. well now im home and checked and it doesnt look to good. its in amoungst 15 or so Utrics, all but one or 2 are doing fine and spreading like mad. its growing in peat and its pot is sitting in about 1/3 inch of water. they are all in a 5 1/2 gal tank being lit by a 100 watt compact flourecent. the tank is abou 85% covered with a opening for air circulation. it is recieving normal house hold temps(70-75 degrees). any ideas?

Rattler

 

[Pyro]

G. filiformis can be a tempermental punk in my experience. I actually have found it grows best in pots that have been established for a long time. Right now my best growing one (and that isn't saying much) is in a peat:sand mix top dressed with live sphag. The pot is 2 years old and used to house a D. spatulata. The ones at ABG do really well grown in net potsin deep trays and recieving constant misting but that is difficult to simulate without a greenhouse type set up.

 

[rattler]

darn it the only truely "established" pot i have is a pot of livida so that wont work. ill see what i can change tonite when i can get back home. this is my only Genlisea at the moment and was hoping it would do well.

Rattler

 

[Copper]

I'll help you rattler! Just send it to me, I have lots of established pots

 

[Clint]

whats an "established" pot?

 

[rattler]

established basically eans its either been used for growing a plant for an extended time. prolly 6 months to a year. i guess the "micro enviroment" of the pot has more or less stablized. think of an established fish tank versus a newly made one, chemicals and bacteria and stuff has allowed to balance out. i think Tamlin said he sets pots of peat outside for a year and than plants in them for some species. this would do basically the same thing.

Rattler

 

[pond boy]

He does that to allow the rain to leach the soil though.

 

[Clint]

ooooh so that's what it means. good ananology with the aquarium ^_^

 

[rattler]

well ive transplanted it into coconut fiber witha top dressing of chilien LFS. i think part of my problem is my peat. this last bale has been very inconsistant. some is really good. some turns to a sludge when kept constantly wet. the roots look good so it may survive yet.

Rattler

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Peat quality varies widely, which is why I go with the leaching by rains. Making pots up in advance is very good prorocol: if there are going to be moss and algae issues they become evident BEFORE you plant. I do rinse everything (twice) before I make up the pots. Thanks for reminding me, I need to make up some 50 pots to get ready for the winter. It is no fun trying to rinse peat when the water is just above freezing, and I will need a supply for the gemmae season this fall/winter. MAking up the pots now means they will have time to leach in the rain until it freezes out.

 

[rattler]

i wish i could do that here but its quite windy an average of 4 or 5 days of every week and we get little rain. im hoping a combination coconut fiber and LFS will be a decent substitute for most species. its a lil coarser but not much. maybe add peat in some cases if the plants need a higher ph. my main problem is ill use about enough for about 2 or 3 4-packs. one cell will be fine but the one next to it turns to sludge. luckly its only happened about 3 times. fortunatly, at least till this G. filliformis, its been a really common species and nothing to bad has happened. but now i have a picky species and it happens to be a cell that turned to sludge. oh well. not much i can do about it now. hopefully this coconut fiber solves most problems.

Rattler