- Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:13 am
#181074
Thank you Plantfreak for being on my side, or at least open minded enough to consider alternative ways of dong things.
You're right, a well planned experiment comparing different things would be best but due to the size and possible complexity it would need to be done by someone with a greenhouse. It would be nice if some adventurous company would donate the plants (in the name of science.) Even with things like water quantity, % humidity, light intensity, day length, soil composition and such all made identical, there would still be complicating factors because for these plants, the "food" is the fertilizer. Plus, other things besides foods can also be given as fertilizers either to the soil, the leaves or the traps. Then you have to decide which food/fertilizer you want to compare and give reasons why. So finding the ideal food or fertilizer or method of application is a very large task that would have to be greatly simplified to be do-able.
In my case, I just like to experiment and this was one of them and I'm just reporting that it has been successful. I'm not trying to push my ideas as being better than anything else, it's just that by feeding them like this they seem to be getting a good array of amino acids, vitamins and minerals, plus I don't have to deal with bugs and it's cheap and easy. 'Cause that's the kind of girl I am, haha. If I someday find something better (along with the nutrient breakdown to do a good comparison) I'll change, but for now I like wheat germ and alfalfa. I can even put the same wheat germ on my cereal in the morning and share breakfast with my plants. I'll bet nobody does that with bugs.
While we're on the subject, I don't "know" but I suspect, that fertilization through the traps is probably the best way to go since the roots are too sensitive, foliar feeding can be tricky, but the traps are meant to handle many things. So, for those who want to continue feeding their plants bugs, but also want to supplement with some kind of fertilizer, here's a suggestion. You could make a very dilute solution of your fertilizer of choice,then feed the plant your bug of choice, and before the trap sealed completely, use an eye dropper to put a small drop of fertilizer solution inside the trap with the bug. I haven't tried this, but I like the idea.