FlyTrapCare Forums

well, I played around with Miracle Grow. Here's the Sarr. Flava Seedling that I got from MaxVft. I fertilized with a solution of miracle grow and fish food, into the pitchers. Since then, it decided to double it's pitcher size.

thepitchergrower wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 5:10 pm well, I played around with Miracle Grow. Here's the Sarr. Flava Seedling that I got from MaxVft. I fertilized with a solution of miracle grow and fish food, into the pitchers. Since then, it decided to double it's pitcher size.

That looks like the first carnivorous/mature pitcher your sarr is producing. This is called a "leaf jump", and they occur every few months or so.
My Flava seedlings from the same batch as yours have also just leaf jumped, e.g.: The miracle-gro may be helping, but I'd doubt it, especially because its meant for things like veggies and flowers to go in the roots, and most of the minerals in it are nit useful for a sarr.
The fish food, on the other hand, often gives cps a little "boost" of growth, making them grow faster for a little bit after each dose.

The sarr in the pic above is the same age as yours and is leaf jumping, yet it has never been fed nor fertilized in its life, just a lot of good light.

That's just my opinion, though. I have never used miracle-gro on cps before, so I don't exactly have a say in this either. Just using what I've heard and read.

How old was it when it did a leaf jump?

The thing is that we have been having very bad lighting for the last few weeks. 100% cloudy. And I don't have growlights. The seedlings were doing nothing before fertilization. They started to grow after fertilization. I also fertilized some of the seedlings that carnies gave me, similar results.

thepitchergrower wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:04 pm The thing is that we have been having very bad lighting for the last few weeks. 100% cloudy. And I don't have growlights. The seedlings were doing nothing before fertilization. They started to grow after fertilization. I also fertilized some of the seedlings that carnies gave me, similar results.

A few weeks of low lighting usually doesn't do anything to affect growth. My seedlings have been doing the same thing, barely any growth all year until a month or 2 ago. The reason behind this is because sarrs, especially seedlings, go through several months of shipping shock and barely grow until they are well established.

Should have done a control group then...

I know someone in western North Carolina who grows large amounts of Venus flytraps with Miracle-Gro fertilizer (standard water-soluble, all-purpose plant food version, 24-8-16) diluted to 1/4 strength. The plants are happy with it. Like all fertilizer on carnivorous plants, it's important to dilute the mix and use it in moderation to avoid poisoning them.

Juvenile Sarracenia plants actually appreciate getting some fertilizer in their soil. Here is an ICPS article about it. I "juice" my seedlings once a month during the growing season to encourage them to put on some size.

MikeB wrote:I know someone in western North Carolina who grows large amounts of Venus flytraps with Miracle-Gro fertilizer (standard water-soluble, all-purpose plant food version, 24-8-16) diluted to 1/4 strength. The plants are happy with it. Like all fertilizer on carnivorous plants, it's important to dilute the mix and use it in moderation to avoid poisoning them.

Juvenile Sarracenia plants actually appreciate getting some fertilizer in their soil. Here is an ICPS article about it. I "juice" my seedlings once a month during the growing season to encourage them to put on some size.

I use both pitcher and tray fertilization. I stopped tray fertilization mostly because it creates a lot of algae...