Its Finally Here!

[ozzi1264]

After years of waiting, i finally recieved my first vft! I ordered a pair of Dionaeas in a pot through petflytrap.com and it arrived in pretty good condition. The plant was packaged very well, although i had a little trouble removing the plastic wrapping around the underside of the plant. Right now its in a 5 gallon tank with 100 watts of lighting. Its also sitting on about an inch of poland spring bottled water -acceptable??-

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of many more to come!

 

[Not a Number]

Its also sitting on about an inch of poland spring bottled water -acceptable??-

Probably not, unless it says Purified by Reverse Osmosis or Distillation and make sure salt was not added for taste. After you get some RO/Distilled purified water, dump what's in the tray, and top water a few times, discarding the runoff water. What are the plants potted in? If it is pure peat or LFS I would let it dry down for a few days then put only 1/2" or less of standing water.

to the land of VFT growers

 

[ozzi1264]

Since the bottle doesn't show anything informative as to whats in the water, i googled poland spring and sure enough they have their own website. Here are the numbers...

Poland Spring® Natural Spring Water — Mineral content analysis
Inorganic Minerals and Metals MRL MCL Level Found
Calcium 0.10 NR 3.7-8.2
Sodium 0.20 NR 2.4-4.7
Potassium 0.10 NR 0.59-0.74
Fluoride 0.100 2.0 (1.4-2.4) 0.052-0.20
Magnesium 0.10 NR 0.76-1.4
Bicarbonate 1.0 NR 7.2-20
Nitrate 0.010 10.00 0.13-0.75
Chloride 1.10 250 1.9-8.8
Copper 0.050 1.0 ND
pH (units) NA NA 6.02-7.6
Sulfate 0.10 250 0.81-5.1
Arsenic 0.0014 0.010 ND
Lead 0.005 0.005 ND
Total Dissolved Solids 1.0 NR 26-60
All units in (mg/l) or Part per Million (PPM)
Report date: September 2004
Testing period: 1st quarter 2004 - 2nd quarter 2004

Level Found - The highest level of each subtance detected at or above the MRL in representative finished product samples.
MCL - Maximum Contaminant Level. The highest level of a subtance allowed by law in drinking water (bottled or tap water). The MCLs shown are the federal MCLs set by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, unless no federal MCL exists.
MFL - Million Fibers per Liter.
MRL - Minimum Reporting Limit. Where available, MRLs reflect the Method Detection Limits (MDLs) set by the US Environmental Protection Agency or the Detection Limits for Purposes of Reporting (DLRs) set by the California Department of Health Services. These values are set by the agencies to reflect the lowest concentration of each subtance that can be accurately quantified by applicable testing methods, and are also the minimum reporting thresolds applicable to the Consumer Confidence Reports produced by tap water suppliers.
ND - Not detected at or above the MRL.
ppb - Parts Per Billion. Equivalent to micrograms per liter(μg/l).
NR - Not listed in State or Federal drinking water regulations.
NA - Not applicable to specific test method or test parameter.

Simply put, yes or no?

 

[Clint]

Pure water is better than that. The TDS of that is good but I like to have the purest water I can get. Get some RO/rain/distilled water. It's cheap.

If you are serious about this hobby and can afford it, a RO unit is a great investment.

 

[Not a Number]

Barry Rice's FAQS gives some pointers on what to do if you should use bad soil or water.

Don't panic, you haven't killed or harmed your plant, it would take several weeks to months before any deleterious effects show up with the water you are using.

 

[z5guy]

you should just use distilled water, i dont know if its the same in your area, but its definately safer and less expensive then poland springs.

 

[Ant]

You never said what of the three types they sell that you got. My first was a typical I got 2 years ago on christmas.

 

[ozzi1264]

I have a pair of typicals. A quick question, since they are sitting on water, do i have to spray mist the plants as well?

 

[Clint]

No.

 

[vraev]

if you can find the regular aquafina...it is RO water. but still expensive....just look for distilled water in Nofrills or A&P.....at 1.20$ for 4 liters....its quite a decent deal.

Remember with VFTs a trick .......I learnt it myself from the veterans here.......EVERYONE HAS their own touch to growing these plants.

SOme don't like being water logged...say it rots the roots. Some think its better to leave it water logged.
I do mine in a watering + semi drying before rewatering....it seems to give a decent result so far.

 

[xvart]

Or repot them in a tall deep pot so the roots don't actually sit underneath the water level.

xvart.

 

[Alexis]

Rain water is the way to go

What's you location by the way? You can put in your profile so we can all see.

 

[vraev]

roger that! give it atleast 20 cm of potting soil. I recently removed a potted VFT and it had like 20 cm long roots. I was shocked by their size.