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Misting--good idea or not?

Since you all have been so helpful with my last question, here are another two. Thanks again for your attention.

I can't resist the idea that I ought to mist these things at the end of the day with a little distilled water. Is this necessary? The soil is very damp, but there is no cover on the pot and we have forced-air heat.

Also--has anyone ever experimented with a little vinegar in the water for VFTs? If acidity is what they like, distilled vinegar would certainly give it, as well as some antibacterial protection. Vinegar does the job on a lot of slimes and molds.

If it's never been tried, I am willing to give it a shot once I see which of these poor little babies is going to survive my inexperienced care. If misting is a good idea, that is probably how I would deliver the diluted vinegar solution.

--SO
 
Some think misting is a good idea if you live in an especially dry place, so you might want to try it. Just do it on one to see if it makes any difference.
The vinegar might smell a bit
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You might want to try making a 'peat tea' by soaking some peat in water and using that water in the trays.
You only really need to do this if your plants have been in the same medium for a while as it can take a couple of years before there's any noticable drop in acidity. If you were to try vinegar you only need to add it to the trays a couple of times, I wouldn't try misting.
 
Sorry, I forgot you have the 4 rhizomes don't you? Well I wouldn't bother with any misting or vinegar - they don't need it. If you have just planted them up then they'll be in very acidic soil anyway.
You just need to put them in the brightest place you can find - either on a windowsill or greenhouse and keep them warm. Room temperature is fine. If you have only just got them then it can take them a week or so to get over the shock, during which time they might not grow at all.
Patience is what you need for rhizomes. Come June they should be pretty sizeable plants.
 
Peatmoss is naturally acidic and as long as you water with mineral free water it should remain fairly acidic. There should be no need for vinegar or adding acid. One goof and you will make pickles out of your plants.
Tony
 
Thanks, everyone.

I will wait on the vinegar spray until I see mold or mildew; I am hopeful that I never will.

I think I'll go with the tea idea, however, since this will make for less worry later.

I'll mist one of them for awhile to see what difference it makes, if any.

So far, so good--I've got a trap maturing on one of them, and no serious leaf loss yet (only one leaf on one of the plants is a sure goner).  EG sent me some good plants, obviously.

--SO

(Edited by steveo at 4:41 am on April 1, 2002)
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from Tony Paroubek on 3
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6 pm on Mar. 31, 2002
Peatmoss is naturally acidic and as long as you water with mineral free water it should remain fairly acidic.  There should be no need for vinegar or adding acid.  One goof and you will make pickles out of your plants.
Tony
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

*Tasty* pickles?
smile.gif
 
I tried "misting" my plants once and along with the mist came larger drops. These triggered a lot of my traps. So don't mist your plants would be my advice.
 
misting is fine, as long as you use a spray bottle that produces an atomizing mist, i.e. you spray, and the mistl itterally dissolves into thin air.

On top of that, dont aim directly at the plant, but over it, and around it, or if directly at it, be a distance from it where the mist is alread dissipated into the air so your not hitting it with water.

Then, your great.

I mist my flytraps on my back porch every single day, it is hot enough, sometimes, I have to add distilled water to the pitchers of my sars sometimes too...
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from Alvin Meister on 1:31 pm on Mar. 31, 2002
Sorry, I forgot you have the 4 rhizomes don't you? Well I wouldn't bother with any misting or vinegar - they don't need it. If you have just planted them up then they'll be in very acidic soil anyway.
You just need to put them in the brightest place you can find - either on a windowsill or greenhouse and keep them warm. Room temperature is fine. If you have only just got them then it can take them a week or so to get over the shock, during which time they might not grow at all.
Patience is what you need for rhizomes. Come June they should be pretty sizeable plants.
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Thanks! I will be patience itself. They are getting their first dose of appreciable sun today; I am already seeing some slight growth. Is there any data on pot size and transplant shock? The pot I'm using is huge relative to the plants, and as a result there has been virtually no change in moisture or temperature. It seems to be helping.

--SO

(Edited by steveo at 6:27 pm on April 1, 2002)
 
  • #10
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from RamPuppy on 5
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7 pm on April 1, 2002
misting is fine, as long as you use a spray bottle that produces an atomizing mist, i.e. you spray, and the mistl itterally dissolves into thin air.

On top of that, dont aim directly at the plant, but over it, and around it, or if directly at it, be a distance from it where the mist is alread dissipated into the air so your not hitting it with water.

Then, your great.

I mist my flytraps on my back porch every single day, it is hot enough, sometimes, I have to add distilled water to the pitchers of my sars sometimes too...
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Thanks! I'm misting the one plant at night, so that the moisture lingers a bit.

--SO
 
  • #11
I mist the plants I have outside sometimes 5 or 6 times in a day in the heat of summer (102 Farenheit)
 
  • #12
As far as I know vinegar is not a good thing we use it to kill weeds and grass here instead of using chemicals.
I dont know if it kills everything like CPs but I'd be careful and use it on a plant you are prepared to lose.
I think the misting part has been answered so I wont fo into that.
 
  • #13
Peat tea recipe gleaned from the listserv:

Fill a nylon sock with peat (secure the end so none escapes) and submerge in 2 gallons (8 litres) pure water. Let it sit in the hot sun for about a month. Water your acid-loving cp liberally with the solution. One sockful is good for 2 batches.

This solution is especially useful for plants that haven't been repotted for a while, including artificial bog garden which will never have their peat replaced! What the tea does is re-acidifies the medium, I suppose.

I've got a batch brewing outside right now and will report my results.

Chris
 
  • #14
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from Dionaea Enthusiast on 4:44 am on April 3, 2002
Peat tea recipe gleaned from the listserv:

Fill a nylon sock with peat (secure the end so none escapes) and submerge in 2 gallons (8 litres) pure water.  Let it sit in the hot sun for about a month.  Water your acid-loving cp liberally with the solution.  One sockful is good for 2 batches.

I've got a batch brewing outside right now and will report my results.

Chris [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Thanks, Chris.

Sun (peat) tea! I wonder if a person could boil it and get the same results faster. It will be some time before we have a hot sun around here, or sun of any sort!

--SO
 
  • #15
You should be able to squidge it about in the sock to make it work faster.
I once tried the same thing with pine needles but the water absolutely stank so I threw it away!
 
  • #16
How would you go about boiling peat, though? You might have quite a mess to clean up after!
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But that would probably separate the lignins and tannins (the real 'magic' of the tea) more quickly.

Alvin, good idea (not the pine needles idea!). The pine needles idea, like some inventions, may have seemed ingenious and world-changing but turned out to be a nasty volatile sludge. Kind of like those scrubbers you attach to a cat's paws...

Chris
 
  • #17
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from Dionaea Enthusiast on 11:14 pm on April 3, 2002
How would you go about boiling peat, though? You might have quite a mess to clean up after!
smile.gif
But that would probably separate the lignins and tannins (the real 'magic' of the tea) more quickly.

Chris[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

I was thinking double cheese cloth or similar. My first thought was a tea egg, but that isn't large enough. I wonder if I could brew it in an old-fashioned coffee percolator? I can find one around here somewhere...

Sheesh! Why don't I just start drinking it myself?
smile.gif


--Steve
 
  • #18
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from steveo on 10:41 pm on April 4, 2002

I was thinking double cheese cloth or similar. My first thought was a tea egg, but that isn't large enough. I wonder if I could brew it in an old-fashioned coffee percolator? I can find one around here somewhere...[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Give it a try! The experimentation is interesting.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Sheesh! Why don't I just start drinking it myself?
smile.gif
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Please don't give it a try!
smile.gif
You know, I once caught a cat doing just that. Avoid Trichoderma water, too.

Chris

--Steve
 
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