vraev
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Post by vraev on Apr 2, 2008 22:10:31 GMT
I think I agree with alexis. All u need is a tall pot. Nice freedraining media. and here ya go...compare to my old pics aove. older pic I am happy enough. 4 months ... nearly 8 + pitchers on plant since that pic in jan in the last page.
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 2, 2008 22:17:18 GMT
Yes, but I want to try growing mine in conditions as close to their natural environment as I can achieve. It is my goal, and if I succeed, I would like to compare my results to the results of people who use less exact growing methods, and see if there truly is a diference. Thank you for your opinion though, and nice plants!
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vraev
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Post by vraev on Apr 2, 2008 22:21:39 GMT
well! Good luck then! It just seems un-necessary trouble. but hey! one man's obsession is not another's. Keep us posted. well...on that note....try using a water circulating setup to emulate water movement through the roots.
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 3, 2008 2:38:20 GMT
That's the whole point of my excersize! I've always been a bit peeved, because when you have a problem like this, all the solutions are expensive, time-consuming, and hard to set up! I'm coming up with an easy way... hence the aluminium foil! Very cheap, easy, and hopefully effective! I'm still working on the water movement idea. There has to be an easy, cheap way to do it, I just haven't found it yet! I'll get there, I just need time. Besides, haven't you ever heard of 'kiwi ingenuity'? ;D
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kby
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Post by kby on Apr 3, 2008 2:51:01 GMT
I think the problem is cheap for me isn't necessarily the same as cheap for you; in terms of $$$ it's nice to know what you are setting as a limit, or, if time, how much time per week or something like that. I use a cheap fountain pump ($20) and the pot is suspended so it drains into (and the pump recirculates water from) one of those Peltier coolers the car coolers or so that you plug in (<$40). Now, I managed to in an accident fry the power supply that I was using to power the cooler, so it actually hasn't been running, but it's been winter so I haven't cared too much. That was also when the plant was new so I wanted to ease its transition to my conditions. I probably will replace the power supply so if it gets really hot I'll have it, but I may not use it as much as I did before. The Peltier coolers aren't particularly efficient, incidentally, so there is electricity cost associated with using it, too. Also true for the pump although that's probably minimal. In terms of maintenance time, it's pretty minimal although there is some fiddling to keep the water flow right, and it does have to be refilled every few weeks. But for me it is a good compromise on time/attentiveness/$$$. For now.-kby
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fredg
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Post by fredg on Apr 3, 2008 13:35:48 GMT
vraev, kath, kby. If you had a location in your profile it would help understand your local conditions.
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Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 3, 2008 18:31:39 GMT
Yes, but I want to try growing mine in conditions as close to their natural environment as I can achieve. Although this landscaping is far from their natural environment, the plants have been growing just fine for several years in this artificial recirculating stream at the United Indian Health Services building in Arcata, California.
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 3, 2008 19:23:59 GMT
Well, pricing...right:
Well, so far all of the things I'm using are just handy household items put to a different use! Most people would have two plastic containers, but if not, the pricing would be at however expensive the containers you chose to buy are. Most people (in NZ at least, but I'm assuming you have aluminium foil over where you are?) would have aluminium foil handy for cooking etc. Again, if you don't, it's the cost of buying that, and because you only use a little you'll have some left over for other things. And I'm fairly sure everyone could make ice, but I suppose if you needed to use rain-water or something, or RO for the water you're freezing it would be different, but then you'd already be using it for your other CP's, so...
My point is, it's pretty much the cost of what you decide to buy. There's no set cost! For some people, they might have to buy nothing. Some people might have to buy aluminium foil, which by all rights shouldn't cost more than 6 or 7 dollars, wherever you are! I'm fairly sure most people have plastic containers, but again, if you don't the price is entirely up to you for that! You could probably get one for free, or you could buy a really fancy one for 20$
I've tested the idea only a little bit, I'll admit, but I left the container above, complete with sphagnum, but no seeds of course, in full sun and heat of close to 30c (85F) for 2 and half hours with only a 1 degree temperature change. There was still big hunks of ice floating around in the water. I'm planning to try it for a whole day, and perhaps eve in the oven, to see what happens! I'm also doing it as a school science experiment for the science fair, and my science teacher thinks it's a good one. The only things are that if you have extremely hot weather in the forties (90-100) you may need to replenish the cold water at some point, I don't know, I haven't tried it, but plan to! The other thing is you may need to replenish the ice water each morning, but then agi if you have cool nights it will cool down naturally!
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Clint
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Post by Clint on Apr 3, 2008 22:34:35 GMT
I'm sorry. After reading your elaborate (and detailed!) guide involving ice cube trays and aluminum foil I saw this: and cracked up I pictured Darlingtonia growing in foil-covered Tupperware along streams in California. One recommendation is to use mylar instead of foil.
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 4, 2008 4:53:56 GMT
Yes, it is rather funny, but remember, from the plants point of view...
What is mylar? If it is going to work better than foil and I can cheaply acess it in NZ I would go find some!
Besides, how is the plant with tin-foil over the water beside it going to know it's not living naturally? It's just to replicate the natural conditions, and I'm not covering the plant or soil, just the plastic around the soil! Thanks for the input...
Could you possibly find and post a picture of mylar?
Oh, and this has nothing to do with Darlingtonia, but another project I'm working on is how sort of put a greenhouse or terrarium over a Nepenthes in ahanging basket, or elsewise raise it's humidity. I have two Nepenthes, Alata and Ventrata (the V's largest) and the N. Ventrata has recently slowed down pitcher production to a minimum. My friends one, which is exactly the same from brand and everything, is doing the same, and it doesn't have special conditions either, so I think it's humidity. It's definitely not water or temperature, and they're in ahanging basket about 1/3 of a metre from alightbulb in the ceiling, so I'm pretty sure it not light... that leaves humidity. And it would make sense...
You see they're potted in sphagnum, which stays damp for them so I only have to water them twice a week. Which is good, because I'm not there to water them more. The thing is-the top-soil, that if it was moist would raise the humidity, dries out from being so near a light source... so the humidity drops... I can't ask to move it, because my grandad drilled a whole in the ceiling to string it up, and produced a minor crack, so it would be awful if I had to move it because the ceiling would be cracked for nothing, and there's no where less lughted and more humidifed to move it without losing the temp's...
So, any suggestions?
Ideas so far:
somehow creating a terrarium to fit over the basket... (just how am I going to do this.....)
somehow keeping the top-soil moist for the light to evaporate the water gradually and constantly to raise humidity...( another ?)
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Clint
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Post by Clint on Apr 4, 2008 14:17:23 GMT
You're over analyzing Mylar is reflective film. You could probably buy a mylar balloon and use that, instead of buying an entire roll since you're working with one plant. If you do want an entire roll, your best bet is to order it online, or find a hydroponics store. This is my terrarium. I've covered the sides (and bottom!) with mylar. In this thread at TF, you can see Max's grow room that is lines with Mylar. It's very superior to aluminum foil I remember when I was working with it, the reflected light from my MH hit me in the face. I was seeing purple blotches for a good three minutes It also doesn't wrinkle as easily as aluminum, but it does attract fingerprints easily, so be careful not to touch the side you want to reflect. terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=867268#post867268Now for your Nepenthes issue, what you want to do sounds impractical, ugly (no offense), and those particular Nepenthes are VERY humidity hardy. You said it's .33 meters away from a light bulb in the ceiling. That's the problem. That's not nearly enough light. I'm assuming you aren't using a CF either, but I could be wrong. I always recommend a minimum of 4 fluorescent lights for almost everything, but more is always better. Don't worry about the top of the media drying out a little bit, or be overly concerned with temperatures for these two plants. If you're dead set against doing anything other than making a "terrarium" over the plant, use a dry cleaning bag. I don't know what your climate is like, but you can probably put it outside and have great success. And I'm going to combine your two posts. A friendly reminder: next time you have something else to say, just click "Modify" instead of posting again.
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 4, 2008 23:08:29 GMT
I just checked, it's actually much closer, like so close I can't actually wrap it in plastic, cos' the plastic would melt! It's also getting sunlight too, an dsome of the leaves have a reddish tinge where the light has touched them. It is a very bright light bulb!
Here's what I mean by distance: Key: | |=walls _____=ceiling/floor
*=light ^=hanging basket
Diagram: ____________ | ^ * | | | | | |___________|
See, the hanging basket is right next to, and a bit under, the lightbulb, and very close to it. If I wasn't careful I could burn myself whilst standin og a chair checking the plants!
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Post by Aidan on Apr 5, 2008 1:56:53 GMT
It also doesn't wrinkle as easily as aluminum... As a matter of interest, it is actually good to have wrinkles. Hot-spots are less likely to develop.
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Clint
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Post by Clint on Apr 5, 2008 13:43:36 GMT
Well, now I know! In that case, it's easy to wrinkle up if you choose to do so
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kath
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Post by kath on Apr 6, 2008 20:18:17 GMT
I've just realized there's actually no real trouble with the Nepenthes after all! It was growing slowly because it's actually growing another stalky thing with leaves from it's roots as well. I just didn't see it because up til now this was under the soil. And I just realized it's exactly one month after I gave it too much fertilizer in one of it's pitchers, killing the pitcher, but not actually effecting the plant. Maybe this sudden off-shoot was something to do with the overdose? Anyway, after the overdose I didn't feed it any insect again, and gave it no fertilizer for a month, and just a bit ago the temperatures rose, and suddenly it's growing a new off-shoot. It's tiny and green, just poking above the ground. And I solved the humidity problem too. I just got some deep containers and set them so they're in the sphagnum. This way, because they're deep, the light will always have water to suck up to keep the humidity up, and I'll just refill them once every 5 days.
The Darlingtonia seeds are good. I checked, and there is no mold, they haven't frozen, they've got plenty of water and they're cold enough. I was very careful and checked every individual one of the 34 seeds (from above without touching or disturbing them) for sign s of mold, and found none. So far all good! 61 days until they should hopefully begin to germinate (this is the 6 weeks they're in the fridge, then 4 weeks for them to start showing signs of life.
I've calculated, with 34 seeds, and a 95% germination rate followed by a 25% survival rate, I should get 5 seedlings +
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