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Discuss water requirements, "soil" (growing media) and suitable planting containers

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By MarcinS
Location: 
Posts:  16
Joined:  Tue Jun 01, 2021 3:28 pm
#383287
I might try something similar
Please share your design when you complete it!
Are you on Facebook?
No, I do not have facebook account, I do not want to have a spy in my computer ;)

Some new pictures of my plants:

Genlisea started to produce traps :)
genlisea.jpg
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Roots of roridula
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Roots of Heliamphora midoxa
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Roots of D. capensis alba
capensis alba.jpg
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Roots of D. capensis typical
capensisi tyical.jpg
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Roots of pygmy droseras
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Roots of D. coccicaulis
roots.jpg
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Drosera regia
regia.jpg
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Drosera hamiltonii
hamiltonii.jpg
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Roots of mexican pinguicula
pinguicula.jpg
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Some venus flytraps
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elaineo, MaxVft liked this
By MarcinS
Location: 
Posts:  16
Joined:  Tue Jun 01, 2021 3:28 pm
#384383
I found that Utricularia calycifida and my two species of genlisea do not like to grow in sand. I replaced sand with peat and they started to grow better. I think it is because I was unable to deliver enough nutrients via leaf fertilisation.
Other plants that grow in pure sand are fine :)

Some venus flytraps:
dionaea 1.jpg
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dionaea 2.jpg
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dionaea 3.jpg
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dionaea 4.jpg
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dionaea 5.jpg
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dionaea 6.jpg
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dionaea 7.jpg
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dionaea 8.jpg
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dionaea 9.jpg
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Aboveground part of utricularia does not look spectacular...
utricularia oboveground.jpg
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But it does below peat surface :)
utricularia belowground.jpg
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Drosera Slackii
slackii.jpg
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and root of this species
slackii roots.jpg
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Drosera schizandra. It has some living sphagnum on the top and some sand under it.
schizandra.jpg
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Young roridulas
roridula.jpg
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Roots of roridulas
roridula roots.jpg
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Drosera regia
regia.jpg
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Drosera madagascariensis growing like crazy
madagascariensis.jpg
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Drosera adelae
adelae.jpg
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Pinguicula gypsicola
pinguicula.jpg
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Pinguicula vulgaris
pinguicula 2.jpg
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Heliamphora x midoxa
heliamphora.jpg
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Traps of Genlisea repens
genlisea.jpg
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By Hendre
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Posts:  91
Joined:  Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:03 pm
#384394
Wow! I have been looking at peat-free means of growing carnivorous plants for some time now, will definitely try this out. Even using standard mix like this, it seriously cuts down on the amount of substrate (and then peat) that you would need.

I wonder if weak nutrient mixes, low in nitrogen, would make for a good additive for this, or at least trace elements? At scale this is probably a fantastic way to propogate sundews as well. I may try this with some wild capensis forms I will be collecting soon. Thanks for sharing!
By MarcinS
Location: 
Posts:  16
Joined:  Tue Jun 01, 2021 3:28 pm
#384401
I wonder if weak nutrient mixes, low in nitrogen, would make for a good additive for this, or at least trace elements?
I tried to add diluted fertiliser to water and it never worked for me. Water and sand were becoming green and plants did not grow well. Carnivorous plants are adapted to very nutrient poor environments so they can grow in such conditions if are fed through leaves.

The only compound I add to water is potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP). This compound is used as pH buffer, it stabilises pH at 4. It is very nice feature of this compound because even if you add a lot of it, the pH will not go below 4. It is also a source of K for plants. In one of my previous posts I wrote that I had observed signs of K deficiencies in some sundews. These signs disappeared after adding KHP.

I do not recommend adding KHP yet because I do not know what are long term effects. I did not observe any adverse effects so far.
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By Hendre
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Posts:  91
Joined:  Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:03 pm
#384404
Ah okay thank you! The KHP seems to be an ideal solution for keeping the water acidic as well as provinding potassium.

topic51264.html Would you mind lending your thoughts on this? Some drosera are not a fan of being permanently wet so I don't think this method would work for them (ramentacea, hilaris etc) so perhaps a low-to-no peat mix would be ideal.
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#388773
I LOVE this idea.

I'm also wondering if this could be adapted to floating platforms over a larger body of water. Seems like floating styrofoam platforms would be ideal for this, would provide a constant level of moisture, and allow the water reservoir to remain cooler in strong sunlight.

In fact ... brb.
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#389179
Also, I looked up prices for potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) and it looks fairly expensive here in the US. Do you top off your plants after it rains or only grow them indoors?
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#389477
That's a good thought. Looks like that would do the trick nicely.

Now I just have to find a source for cheap KHP. I like the buffering effect at ~4 pH, however, all my google searches are coming up with ~$30/25g. Maybe I need to check on Alibaba or something.
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By elaineo
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Posts:  1013
Joined:  Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:07 am
#389756
I sort of replicated the silica experiment. I didn't want to mess with glue, so I supported the fabric using a 2" net pot over a pickle jar. 20-grade silica sand is surprisingly good at wicking water. This is a B52 grown from a piece of flower stalk in pure sand.
IMG_2349.JPG
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MaxVft liked this
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#389936
Interesting! It looks like you're not using a wicking fabric and have the sand sitting directly in the water. That might be too much moisture for the flytrap, don't know.

Have you modified the pH of your water? The OP didn't mention it much but getting the pH down might be very important.
elaineo liked this
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