FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ah Ha!!! That wouldn't have slipped under your nose now would it! My first accidental division occured about 4 weeks ago and last week Wed. i divided the H. heterodoxa x nutans. I was hoping to get them settled in for a couple years but you know i'm always open for trading. There was a certain TC endeavor you were starting in early August, hint hint I have a H. 'Tequila', 'Amuri', 'Minor', pulchella all on the list for dividing this summer. Contingent of the previous doing well. Keep me posted Matt. I'm hoping to get that flower stalk TCed by the 29th too, not to pry but any mix recommendations??? Sterilization, etc.?

ReefPlant wrote:There was a certain TC endeavor you were starting in early August, hint hint

Are you looking for some Cephalotus in TC? If so, I could probably send you a culture or two in exchange for a Heliamphora division.

ReefPlant wrote:I'm hoping to get that flower stalk TCed by the 29th too, not to pry but any mix recommendations??? Sterilization, etc.?

I honestly have no experience, so I'd only go on my intuition from working with other tissue. For media, I'd probably try something like this:
50% MS
1mg/L BAP
1mg/L NAA
Charcoal 1 gram/L
30 grams/L sugar

Sterilization I would do 2-3 minutes in H2O2 and 10 to 12 minutes in 10% bleach followed by three 5 minute rinses in sterilized distilled water.

But I have no idea if that would work or not

Question for you: What is your preferred growing medium for Heliamphora? (and sorry if I've asked already and forgotten) I just got through looking at your Heliamphora photo album and wiping the drool off the keyboard.

I'm pretty funny with mixes. The generality in every bag of growing media leads to inconsistant mixes and facts. Therefore I typically take each bag and break it down through 3-4 different screens. 1-2mm, 5mm, 5-7mm, and 1cm. Time comsuming but it gives you what you need to succeed solid and accurate grades. From this i measure out the mixes and record them. I think you get a lot more this way and can customize it just right... Either way.

My favorites so far have been:(Ratio:Volume)
2/3 cup Milled LFS Moss (I try to get just the 1-2mm+ after i run it through the 5mm screen) This should give you a grade above dust, which i use for seeds.
1 cup Perlite (Sift out the -5mm pieces and the resift it through the 5-7mm screen.)
1/3 cup Coconut Soil (+1-2mm but -5mm is good.) Or Have fun with adding some Fir bark in the same ratio(5-7mm is good here too) I just use reptile bedding here. Easier to find in the winter. 100% Fir.
- I take this mix and rinse it out through a fine net in the sink to get the fine particals out and then finally rinse it out with boiling water. Let it steep and cool. Ready to serve I always top it off with some live sphagnum! Nature's bandage. Especially divisions/pullings!

Typically, 50:50 LFS and Perlite seems to be safe but my pulchella has a very large amount of bark in the mix and the plant is thriving! I'm not sure if its the nitrogen getting released slowly from the bark, or not using fertilizers is allowing the bark to not break down as fast... Either way, i'm always nervous of nutrient overload and try not to use anything that eventually can leak salts or anything else back out. This is probably just a worry but one i'm not chancing.
These are pretty common mixes but i think that tweeking with the sizes and types has helped me a lot when i'm getting plants approprietly on and off the bench. This is all making me want to start dividing!!!
Thanks Matt!
P.S. - We'll definitely have to work something out trade wise. Let me get my traps out of the fridge first and get this flower stalk taken care of. I really appreciate the TC help Matt, Thanks Again!
Thanks Everyone!

Awesome...but too expensive in electricity costs.

Nevertheless, that is just amazing. They're probably really happy! Still using the fogger?

SDCPs wrote:Awesome...but too expensive in electricity costs.

Nevertheless, that is just amazing. They're probably really happy! Still using the fogger?

Still foggin away! I'm pretty sure i mentioned it before but, the design i had for the previous fogger was not efficient. This system is a lot better and can be used on just about any size setup i'll ever build... Maybe...

The cost of running the tank was definitely in mind while building it. I used to grow a very large amount of coral in the house and on occasion, in the summer, i would see whopping 250.00 here and there. Which did lead to a small down sizing.
I'll have to let you know what my Kill-o-watt meter is reading and work it out. I'm curious too!

Here is San Diego, electricity can be as much as 30 cents a kilowatt hour. In fact, just to make a gallon of water with the distiller costs over 70 cents normally. Four gallons a day for a month can raise the bill over $100. I'm looking at RO units needless to say!

So that's where I'm coming from. So, I grow all my CPs (except my propagation chamber and one nep) outside and that eases up on the load. I figure why pay for light when its all around you?

But I realize that you need artificial lighting in a setup like yours. As long as you really like it then its worth it!

Don't want to discredit what you've done. Its really quite amazing IMHO !

Your recognition is credit enough, regardless! I thank you for even noticing
I didn't, and typically don't. take anything to heart on the forums. It did start a good thought though, can i get more efficient?!?!
i had no idea that electricity was that expensive!!!
I don't blame you at all, Your electrical costs would have my bill around 450. I wouldn't be able to afford that either

Hope all is good to grow on your end SDCP! No Worries! Grow On!

Whoa that's an awesome setup, beautiful!

How is the cooling working? What's the system you use?

Hey Moof~
The cooling system is no more than a box with an overflow wto keep a constant lvl for the ultrasonic humidifier. (In Tank) and the reservoir runs outside of the tank allowing me to cool it if i need to with ice packs or eventually connect it to a chiller. For now, using LEDs and pulling air over from a cold air return have been a great help in killing some unwanted heat from the setup. T5s with a remote ballast keep the heat away from the tank too while blending out the areas the LEDS can't hit spectrum wise.
In the winter i don't even have to cool the reservoir at all.
Thanks for the props MOOF!

You're lucky it works! Myself I had a lot of trouble with builiding a terrarium for my higland utricularias. I finished by using a radiator from a computer water-cooling system, and placing the water pump and the water reservoir in a small fridge. It keeps the water temps at around 4 degrees Celsius, and the pump makes it flow throught the radiator. A fan is spreading the cool air in the terrarium. The only problem I encountered is the lower humidity when the cooling system is on.

What temperatures do you have inside, at day and at night? I've got 19-20 degrees C during the day and 15 degrees C at night

I like the computer cooling idea. I have thought about getting a small chiller for an aquarium and setting something up that way. So far i never get above 78 F but 73 seems to be average during the day, with about 65-F at night. I know its not cool enough but i'm still working out the kinks. The air coming into the tank is around 60F and the water is also at about 60 F. The misting helps a lot.

Aquarium coolers are very expensive, I tought about it but choosed to buy a fridge. I'll post some pics when the plants will grow up a bit. And yes, misting helps a lot, some guys on CPUK tried to make a cooling using a fogger but I can't remember how it turned out.

I made something like that:
http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.ph ... =0&start=0

but with a small termoelectric cooler

Now we're getting somewhere. That is sweet Moof, impressed and i want to make one! i like this idea and the setup!

Other than cost/initially what made you decide against the chiller?
My current setup is not the archetype of its design but a good start. Thank You for the link Moof, you may have started something here. I can chillers, i just want to figure out a way to use them in-mass (Green house, indoor, whatever) or as an individual installation like my tank here. I'll post some more pics soon!

Well the price of the chiller was the main cause, but I also couldn't find any good info on the net about their cooling abilities. I also tought of making a hose sucking air from outside at night and cooling the terrarium, like here:
(One of the most awesome plants I've seen)

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.ph ... mpbelliana

And I finnaly put my hands on these utrics:D that's why I built the new cooled terrarium! (scroll down for the whole terrarium view)

It's great we're having this discussion! Anyone has got other ideas for cooling?

Cooling...evaporation...that's about all I can think of. The other thing is to have a large reservoir of cold water below the tank, then circulate the water through the tank during the day. The water will cool off at night, and help lower the temps a bit. If you can bury the reservoir underground, you have access to almost unlimited cold.

ReefPlant:

Happy Growing! Glad we understand each other!