FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I found a picture of some sars in these little balls that were hanging by a string, and found out it was called "kokedama" or "Japanese string garden"

It would be cool to use this technique with VFT's or other carnivorous plants...I think i'll give it a try Anybody else seen this before?

While it looks cool, I keep wondering how you'd ever keep it moist enough...

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Hmmm well it seems to keep moisture well since the sars in the picture look pretty great=)

I found a pretty good tutorial for making these:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZdTFJjVSEg[/youtube]

Yes that'd be my first question. How would you keep the soil moist enough for the plants?

cdelavan wrote:Yes that'd be my first question. How would you keep the soil moist enough for the plants?

By soaking the "ball" in water.

It looks to me like it would dry out pretty fast (or be a dripping mess half the time). Also, since VFTs benefit from having about 6" of room for their roots, it seems like the LFSM balls would dwarf the plant unless it is very large. You then get into the issue that these need some sort of overhead support, which means growing indoors or a roofed patio/balcony. Then you get into the light issues and the challenges with supporting a heavy mass with constantly moist string and hoping it doesn't break all year.

In short, it may be possible, but I think the headache involved would really make me question if all the effort is worth it.

Wikiwakawakawee wrote:Hmmm well it seems to keep moisture well since the sars in the picture look pretty great=)

They do, however I suspect they were just recently put into that form, then pics taken. I have a lot of reservations about this working. I think they'd have to be soaked at least daily, if not more frequently.

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Guess I'll have to try it and let you guys know then I posted a thread that involved using the diaper crystals to keep the soil even more moist since they can retain a lot of water...maybe I'll knock out 2 birds with 1 stone

Wikiwakawakawee wrote:Guess I'll have to try it and let you guys know then I posted a thread that involved using the diaper crystals to keep the soil even more moist since they can retain a lot of water...maybe I'll knock out 2 birds with 1 stone

Just know if the diaper crystals are anything like the "crystal soil" beads sold, someone here tried it and their plant died very quickly, even though I believe the tds tested low.

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hmm i'm not sure, but they could be the same i'll try some with, and without the crystals...as well as some balls for carnivorous, and non-carnivorous plants to see how well the different soils compare I was thinking about making a rectangular one since vft roots just grow down, and like you said, need at least 6 inches.

Wikiwakawakawee wrote:hmm i'm not sure, but they could be the same i'll try some with, and without the crystals...as well as some balls for carnivorous, and non-carnivorous plants to see how well the different soils compare I was thinking about making a rectangular one since vft roots just grow down, and like you said, need at least 6 inches.

I definitely want to hear how this comes out. I think it would look really cool, and a part of me wants to try it with air plants or something similar, that doesn't need as many special requirements.

Alright its been a while, and these pictures are like a year old but here goes.

I had to soak them in water every 2-3 days and they seemed to be okay. Then i had to leave home for like 3 months while my mom took care of them and a lot of them died on her (She wasnt watering them properly and wasnt hanging them back up to get sunlight) but the ones that did survive are all of the nepenthes and the mini orchid!

Great pictures, and I'm glad they are doing well. It occurs to me that this kind of growing of the plants would also be fine in areas that get more natural rainfall, so that human intervention isn't needed as much.