MrSleeves wrote:The only difference is I dropped an osmocote pellet into the adult pitcher shown. That's it. Same light same water.
I know most would say osmocote won't cause any issues, I've had my second pitcher die on a second plant after adding one pellet
Quite honestly, I cannot stand Osmocote. The pellets have a coating on them that, if damaged, tends to dump out the fertilizer in a non-regulated manner. Every nep (including my Miranda) that I have tried this on has thrown a fit as a result. Pitcher death, deformations, etc. They do not like it. YMMV.
I'd advise you to stick to the blood-and-guts. Bait and tackle stores are good sources for nep food. I prefer maggots myself, as they tend to plop right in with only minimal objection, and their soft skin is easy to digest for the plants. Meal worms work well also. Open them up a bit (yes, I am telling you to mortally wound the bug. If you have ethical objections, grow petunias
) if you're worried about an escape. These plants evolved to eat anything dumb enough to fall into the traps. Give them what they need.
I have root fertilized with Osmocote in the past, but the only results I obtained were lots of leaf growth and pathetic pitchers. It seems that if the plants are getting root nutrients, they don't put much effort into the pitchers. Lazy...
I do not know about mineral buildup, as I flush my pots with every watering. With some exceptions, the soils that neps are native to are frequently purged of everything they can hold. Orchid pots are key here; they allow a massive amount of oxygen flow, and are easy to completely flush with minimal water. Most of my plants are potted in a varying mix of LFS, peat, pearlite, LECA, orchid bark, missing children, and #12 silica (one of these is a joke). It seems to be close enough to their native environments to produce the non-water retentive jungle debris they're accustomed to.
Maxsea to the root zone hasn't produced results worth discussing for me, and only seems to cause leaf burn on most of my plants when applied to the leaves. I have added it to the pitchers in the past, and it seems to do very little compared to true food.
These guys are carnivores, they eat living things. Give them carnage!
You are on a rock floating through space.
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