|
Post by carnivorousstu on Jan 10, 2014 21:33:16 GMT
I am growing a lot of VFT seedlings at the moment, currently they are 4 months old, but still very small. Just wondered if anyone has tried giving seedlings a liquid fertiliser to give them a kick start?
|
|
maiden
Full Member
Heliamphora, the magic plant from the lost world.
Posts: 137
|
Post by maiden on Jan 11, 2014 0:24:30 GMT
|
|
|
Post by carnivorousstu on Jan 11, 2014 11:39:19 GMT
Thanks for the reply. do you not need to feed the plants live food? That's what initiates the digestive process and tight trap closure
|
|
maiden
Full Member
Heliamphora, the magic plant from the lost world.
Posts: 137
|
Post by maiden on Jan 12, 2014 0:19:02 GMT
Nah
All you have to do is gently press the sides of the closed trap with 2 toothpicks or your fingers.
This will mimic the stimulation of the insect traped into the trap, and the trap will seal for the digest process and protease production.
|
|
|
Post by John Brittnacher on Jan 12, 2014 4:08:20 GMT
maiden, you need to do an experiment to see if pressing the sides is necessary. I do it, but I wonder if the effect is really to get good contact between the rehydrated blood worms and the leaf or if it really is mechanical. Maybe try squeezing with non-rehydrated dried blood worms and also not squeezing with wet stuff.
|
|
|
Post by hcarlton on Jan 12, 2014 5:24:07 GMT
I've tried just leaving the food in the traps. It seems some of the time the plant registers the prey, but most of the time it doesn't. Might as well do it to make sure the plant gets the food.
|
|
maiden
Full Member
Heliamphora, the magic plant from the lost world.
Posts: 137
|
Post by maiden on Jan 12, 2014 15:05:22 GMT
maiden, you need to do an experiment to see if pressing the sides is necessary. I do it, but I wonder if the effect is really to get good contact between the rehydrated blood worms and the leaf or if it really is mechanical. Maybe try squeezing with non-rehydrated dried blood worms and also not squeezing with wet stuff. Hey john Its already done! Ive tryed with pieces of wood, dead plant tissues, even a metal piece and by gently pressing the sides of the trap, the trigger hairs touch the material many time, the plant think its a moving insect and the trap seal around, and just try to digest about anything. Its pretty amazing. Of course the trap just die very soon after. So for me, the inside contact is a must. If i put rehydrated blood worms in the traps, the trap will close but without more stimulation, almost all the traps will open in the next 24hrs. From my experience, a unsealed closed trap is pretty easy to see. That why i return a hour later and press the sides again, until i can see the little 'enzyme stomach'.
|
|
|
Post by sykosarah on Jan 19, 2014 20:36:57 GMT
Some flytraps, like my own, are nit picky. How big are your traps? I can suggest live food that is the correct size that won't be a pain in your butt to feed to your plant.
|
|
|
Post by sykosarah on Jan 19, 2014 20:52:47 GMT
Also, highly diluted fertilizer can be used on Venus flytraps. I would look online to find out safe levels for young plants, and how often it should be done. Please note that not all carnivorous plants can tolerate fertilizers on their roots.
|
|
|
Post by molson on Jun 24, 2014 14:12:18 GMT
I've read in several places that you can use a foliar spray (without mentioning names a kind made from seaweed, and 16-16-16) once or twice a month to speed up maturity and promote healthy growth. I've been trying this and all my stuff grows as fast as the weeds). If you try this you should use half the recommended amount. They reccommend a heaping teaspoon per gallon, and I've gotten fantastic results with a half teaspoon per gallon, twice a month, just misted onto all the foliage but NOT addded to the water in the soil.
|
|
taz6122
Full Member
Yesterday is History.Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a Gift.Thats why we call it the Present.
Posts: 289
|
Post by taz6122 on Jun 27, 2014 8:06:46 GMT
If you try this you should use half the recommended amount. They reccommend a heaping teaspoon per gallon, and I've gotten fantastic results with a half teaspoon per gallon A half teaspoon is approximately a quarter of a "heaping" teaspoon, not half. The recommended strength is 1/4 of an orchid type fertilizer for most carnivorous plants. What I've been using says 1 tsp per gallon so I use 1/4 tsp. I apply it with a dampened q-tip. Thinking about trying it with a spreader/sticker! I suggest turning the plants on their side to spray so it doesn't get in the soil, if you want to go that way. Let them drip dry before up-righting them.
|
|
|
Post by Not a Number on Jun 27, 2014 16:28:41 GMT
I've read in several places that you can use a foliar spray (without mentioning names a kind made from seaweed, and 16-16-16) once or twice a month to speed up maturity and promote healthy growth. I've been trying this and all my stuff grows as fast as the weeds). If you try this you should use half the recommended amount. They reccommend a heaping teaspoon per gallon, and I've gotten fantastic results with a half teaspoon per gallon, twice a month, just misted onto all the foliage but NOT addded to the water in the soil. I'm not shy about mentioning names. If that is the Maxsea 16-16-16 product Peter D'Amato of California Carnivores recommends a quarter to three quarters teaspoon per gallon. Most people compromise with a half teaspoon.
|
|
|
Post by molson on Jun 29, 2014 14:35:52 GMT
yea that is the one I have been reading about. I'm not quite as particular as taz6122 with a q-tip. I just use a mister and make sure all the foliage is completely soaked. I don't worry too much about it dripping into the soil as all my plants are outdoors, and get rained on so much. Anyway, whatever you try, I've been very pleased with the results I get.
|
|
|
Post by John Brittnacher on Jun 29, 2014 16:21:05 GMT
I use Sun Bulb 8303 Better Gro Orchid Plus, 20-14-13, urea-free plant food. I prefer it over Maxsea because with Maxsea you need bacteria to break down the urea and blood meal whereas the nitrates in Orchid Plus are immediately available to the plant. I don't want to encourage bacteria if it really isn't necessary.
What I do is make a stock solution of 1/2 tsp per gallon. I put the stock solution straight in a sprayer to foliar feed all my carnivores, pipet it directly into pitchers of Darlingtonia and Sarracenia if there are no prey in them, and water my orchids. For seedlings I dilute it down 50% or to 75 to 100 ppm because it also wets the soil.
I have used the 100 ppm solution to water Heliamphora however I have had better results with adult Heliamphora using one Osmocote pellet per pitcher (you have to add water up to the drain hole and keep it there if it evaporates). I also use osmocote pellets in Nepenthes and Cephalotus pitchers ONLY when the plants pump water into their pitchers on their own.
I am going to try Osmocote pellets with some Darlingtonia this year since if you wet prey with fertilizer water it burns the pitchers. Same happens with Sarracenia pitchers except they normally don't have free water in them so I can't use the pellets in the pitchers.
|
|