Post by runnervalentine on Jun 10, 2010 16:44:56 GMT
I have been trying to look up stuff about over feeding VFTs and Pitcher Plants, and i came across a interesting discussion on another forum,
www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/vft-overfeeding-experiment-t3276.html
it this seems to be the general consensus that over feeding stunts growth, initiates dormancy, or even results in death
however, this also raised interesting questions about the idea that, perhaps external visual cues of growth stunt or dormancy are not fully generalizable results and perhaps lots of food may benefit the rizome and root system? it would make sense that one ultimate goal of a plant would be a large strong root system to ensure its survivability.
it seems obvious that the purpose of the traps are to catch prey to feed the plant; and the more traps, the more likely it is to catch prey (seems straight forward)
however, growing traps is at a cost to the plant, it takes energy to grow them and takes it away from strengthening the root system. so why would a plant make more than it needs?
this is where my hypothesis about over feeding comes into play,
A --- an underfed plant will have many traps, because it wants more food, and the more traps the more likely it is to get it.
However is comes at a cost to the root system because it spends energy building traps, not roots or rizomes
B --- an overfed plant may slowdown or stop producing traps because the plant feels as though there is no need because it is getting enough food, NOT because it is going dormant or dying.
and perhaps the saved energy of not growing traps is transferred to the root system, or rizome, perhaps making the plant better off through dormancy and the following years
-so perhaps a season of over feeding could be beneficial for future seasons
Perhaps someone could do this experiment, some ideas would be
several plants preferably the same age and type and aprox. size, starting at the end of dormancy doing an initial weigh in of the plants, all the plants in the same growing conditions, the only thing diff would be the amount of food fed to the plants, some getting a lot, some getting just enough. then at the end of the season another weigh in. this way the root system will be weighed and visually compared between the two groups.
also a continuation of observations should be carried on to the next year, where perhaps the extra fed ones may be better off the following season
www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/vft-overfeeding-experiment-t3276.html
it this seems to be the general consensus that over feeding stunts growth, initiates dormancy, or even results in death
however, this also raised interesting questions about the idea that, perhaps external visual cues of growth stunt or dormancy are not fully generalizable results and perhaps lots of food may benefit the rizome and root system? it would make sense that one ultimate goal of a plant would be a large strong root system to ensure its survivability.
it seems obvious that the purpose of the traps are to catch prey to feed the plant; and the more traps, the more likely it is to catch prey (seems straight forward)
however, growing traps is at a cost to the plant, it takes energy to grow them and takes it away from strengthening the root system. so why would a plant make more than it needs?
this is where my hypothesis about over feeding comes into play,
A --- an underfed plant will have many traps, because it wants more food, and the more traps the more likely it is to get it.
However is comes at a cost to the root system because it spends energy building traps, not roots or rizomes
B --- an overfed plant may slowdown or stop producing traps because the plant feels as though there is no need because it is getting enough food, NOT because it is going dormant or dying.
and perhaps the saved energy of not growing traps is transferred to the root system, or rizome, perhaps making the plant better off through dormancy and the following years
-so perhaps a season of over feeding could be beneficial for future seasons
Perhaps someone could do this experiment, some ideas would be
several plants preferably the same age and type and aprox. size, starting at the end of dormancy doing an initial weigh in of the plants, all the plants in the same growing conditions, the only thing diff would be the amount of food fed to the plants, some getting a lot, some getting just enough. then at the end of the season another weigh in. this way the root system will be weighed and visually compared between the two groups.
also a continuation of observations should be carried on to the next year, where perhaps the extra fed ones may be better off the following season
