In regards to fertilizing

[krakatoa]

A big part of the reason I don't understand, or push fertilizing is this: It seems like there is no way to determine what is too much - ESPECIALLY when you grow outdoors! I leave the greenhouse open as well in spring/summer and I'll tell you, sometimes you don't want to just walk in there, due to the wasps, and other stinging insects, as well as the flies! So in "regular" plant world, you get your fertilizer, you follow the manufacturer's instructions, and you apply.....simple enough - now we all know what happens when you apply too much fertilizer to any plant, right? So, if we are dealing with a plant that basically feeds itself, how do you know when you're over the limit? When the plant is shriveling up, looking like burned tissue paper? Where is the balance? I've had a lot of my Sarracenias get hardcore indigestion, so I can't imagine applying a fertilizer on top of that, and my original argument was not so much AGAINST fertilizing, but it seems like it's replacing the plants' natural process of carnivory - I mean 'Leah Wilkerson', 'Adrian Slack' and many other plants we want were in the wild, and toughed it out, and nature is far less forgiving than our backyards, greenhouses and grow rooms!

[Richard Davion]

People-of-The-PAST Made-The-Assumption THART Carnivorous-Plants Ate-Insects for-Their Nitrogen-Content.

(1) Simple Foliar-Feeding-Experiments using Organic as-Well-as Various Forms of Inorganic Nitrogen-Sources Quickly-Show The-Error IN-This Line-of-Reasoning ... Since The-Plants Basically 'Stop'-Growing IN-R Matter-of-Days so-to-Speak &-Quite-Often Enter R Quiessent-Stage Lasting Many-Months.

(2) R-Rather Glib-Analogy To-THART of The-Human-Condition of Fattening-UP Whilst IN-An 'Idle'-State Doesn't-Compare For Even-IN This Quiessent-Stage The Plants Do-'Not' Become More-Robust ... Which Implies THART The-Nitrogen Is-'Not' IN-Fact Utilitary but Actually 'Inhibitory'!!! >(*~*)<.

(3) The-Nitrogen-Content of Insects Is Often-Measured IN Nano as-Well-as Milligrams ... so-R-Plant Would-Have to-Consume Many Hundreds-of-Thousand-of Insects 'Just'-to-Obtain R-Single Gram-of Nitrogen. "I" Don't 'Know'-ABART-You ... But-"I"-Don't-'Think' "I"ve Ever Seen-R-Plant Festooned with-Such-an Abundance-of-Insects ... or "I"-Would 'Expect' Some-form of Rot-or-Disease to-Set-IN Rapidily if-Ever Such-R-Situation 'Did'-Occur so-to-Speak!!!

(4) Tissue-Culture of Carnivorous-Plants is The-'Best'-Evidence to-Date THART CPs Can-Live Quite-Happily Without (Necessarily) Consuming Insects Per-se so-to-Speak ... R-Point "I"-'Might'-Add is Often-Overlooked &-Seldom-ever 'Talked'-ABART IN-Any Meaningful-Way so-to-Speak!!! >(*~*)<