VFT instructions

[jsgossamer]

A friend of mine brought me a VFT from a nursery.  The container has a few instructions on it i wasn't sure of and I figured I see what you guys think.

-plants thrive in humidity greater than 50%.  Placing gravel in the drainage dish increases humidity.  Plants should sit on gravel, not in water.

-If transplanting, use a potting mix similiar to African violet mix.

-use a dilute fertilizer once a month.

These are dumb instructions - right?

 

[EntwinedScylla]

Yep. Categorically dumb.

 

[jimscott]

The first instruction is tolerable, but not wonderful. The second one (African Violet mix) may be dangerous. The third one is just outright crazy! I'm surprised that they didn't say to use tap water. Was this Botanical Wonders or Little Pot Of Horrors or...? I don't understand why they don't understand that they are shooting themselves in the foot with their product.

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

Quote[/b] (jsgossamer @ Mar. 21 2006,1:56)]
-plants thrive in humidity greater than 50%. Placing gravel in the drainage dish increases humidity. Plants should sit on gravel, not in water.

Mine do fine in humidity of 25% and sometimes lower during the summer. I keep them in a shallow tray of water.

Quote[/b] ]-If transplanting, use a potting mix similiar to African violet mix.

Sounds like they want you to kill the plant so you'll go back and get another. African violet mix often cantains fertilizer that will burn a CPs roots. Best to use pure peat mixed with sand or perlite for drainage and to keep the peat from compacting.

Quote[/b] ]-use a dilute fertilizer once a month.

This one is debated off and on over the years. Some recommend it and some don't. I don't do it simply because my plants catch plenty of bugs during the summer and I don't think the fertilizer is worth the risk of killing my plants for the very slight benefit that it might provide.

Quote[/b] ]These are dumb instructions - right?

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[BobZ]

Read the "My vft care sheet" thread at the top of this topic.

 

[EntwinedScylla]

This is why I've taken on the task of printing up single page (double-sided) fliers to distribute at the stores selling CPs.

Incidentally, would anyone want to help me with other CP caresheets, like Nepenthes?

 

[jsgossamer]

Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Mar. 21 2006,4:54)]Was this Botanical Wonders or Little Pot Of Horrors or...? I don't understand why they don't understand that they are shooting themselves in the foot with their product.

No, the little pot of horrors one wasn't so bad.  This is something from a place called bloomrite.com.  It was in an enclosed plastic tube with "Venus Fly Trap - I'm Hungry" on it.  So stupid.  Also, it looks like it's in a 2 inch pot.  Should I replant it into a bigger one or wait?

 

[jimscott]

Not necessary to repot it unless there is something very wrong with the media itself - and there shouldn't be. They don't have a developed root system and don't derive nourishment from the media. And unlike what we know about other plants or tropical fish, competition for space doesn't seem to be an issue. There has been much debate about when to repot and a lot of people do it during the winter, when the plant has stopped growing and hence doesn't notice anything. Expereinced growers will do it either every couple years or at any time. But they also know to take a "plug" of plant and media into a bigger pot, so that its roots aren't disturbed. They will also do so when the media compacts too much, over time.

 

[EntwinedScylla]

Ahhh, Nurserymen's Exchange (AKA "Wal-mart VFTs"). Most of my VFTs come from them.  Remove from the tube, of course, and repot only if it -needs- it. I keep most of mine in the small pots in a 4" saucer half full of water, and refill when they use it all up. For the few I've repotted so far what I do is run a butter knife around the edge between the soil and the pot, then pull out the whole thing, plant and all. I nestle that into fresh, wet, sphagnum peat in the larger pot. Minimal root disturbance.

 

[Lord Humungus]

Some one help me with this. The Walmart's and Home Depot's around here sell VFT's. The directions I've seen on them are vague or incomplete but not wrong. Why would someone give instructions that would kill the plant? They must know the right way. They did get them mature enough to put them up for sale. Some of the things I've heard like in this thread, the plants would have never made it to the store. None of the people I know can believe how healthy my plants are. They think it is impossible to grow VFT's. This makes me sick.

 

[jimscott]

I can't say I know for sure, but there are the people who are growing them from tissue culture and there are the people who buy them. And there are those who manufacture the pots and the those who wholesale and finally the retailers. Perhaps there's too many entities involved and a lot gets lost in the translation?

 

[Lord Humungus]

Good point Jim.

 

[BobZ]

Jim may be right, but there may be a more sinister explanation. Perhaps the intention is to have the buyer not be able to successfully grow them so they will try again and again. Thus, buying more plants.

But, the more likely explanation is that, many, if not most, people that buy plants are impulse buyers. They see something interesting and they buy it without any intention of actually growing it. Look at all the little trays of plant "color" that sell for a buck or two. Some of these plants may actually get planted in the soil, but they will lose their nice greenhouse flowers in a few days. Many people buy the nice flowering plants simply to sit on the table or window sill for a few days until the flowers die and the plant and pot then just get tossed in the trash. That's called the consumer society, folks. It is what keeps the economic engine chuggin' and the poverty farm/greenhouse laborer coming across the border.

 

[jimscott]

I wish I could cite statistics for buy and fail rate, But I can't. Seems as though there should be some correlation between impulse buying and discouragement. I know I was very discouraged after failing 4 times in 28 years.