FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Veronis wrote:

twigs wrote:I have been messaging Zack but I figured I would post the info here for all.

Thanks for all the info Brad. Now I know who to harass when I get cephs.

Twigs? Zack? or Me? (not me i have a ceph now, well i don have it but i orderd it

I bought the better orchid plus today and in the directions it says " Feed at every watering with 1 teaspoon per gallon of water or every 14-21 days using 1 tablespoon per gallon of water". Do I use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon or 1/4 tablespoon(3/4 teaspoon) per gallon? I would think it would be 3/4 teaspoon but I just want to be sure......... Thanks for the info in advance.

I bought the better orchid plus today and in the directions it says " Feed at every watering with 1 teaspoon per gallon of water or every 14-21 days using 1 tablespoon per gallon of water". Do I use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon or 1/4 tablespoon(3/4 teaspoon) per gallon? I would think it would be 3/4 teaspoon but I just want to be sure ......Thanks for the info in advance.

I think I used 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. The water had a slight (but noticeable) blue tint. It is time for me to make up another gallon of fertilizer, so I will do that tomorrow and let you know exactly what I used.

Also, I put up a blog post of the growth of my Cephalotus. I apologize for the crappy photos - half of them were taken with my cell phone, and the other half were taken with my crappy camera skills (ok I guess all of them were taken with my crappy camera skills)

http://www.flytrapcare.com/carnivorous- ... gress.html

Very cool blog. What ratio of soil do you use?

1/4 strength of BetterGro 20-14-13 = 1/4 tablespoon (3/4 teaspoons) per gallon of water; I'm looking at my bag of it now.

Don't do the "1/4 teaspoon per gallon and feed with every watering" option - you can burn your nep's roots that way.

If you water the soil, do what the bag says and splash it all over the leaves too (a little will get in the pitchers, don't sweat it) - don't forget to flush it out with water 2-3 days later to reduce algae craziness, as well as mineral buildup. If you're going to try pitcher-filling, only fill pitchers that have never had bugs, and if the plant has 7 pitchers I don't know that I'd fill all of them on the first feeding (in that case I'd probably fill 3 or 4).

The healthier the nep, the more fertilizer it can take. If it's in less-than-ideal conditions it'll have trouble with too much fertilizer; however if it's in really good light, the leaves look great and it's actively growing, you can probably use a little more. It's all trial and error.

If you've got your neps at a window or under 12 hour light cycles, fertilize about every 3 weeks to a month. If you're simulating summer (active growing season) conditions with light cycles at 14 hours or more, you can fertilize every two weeks.

Take pics before and after you fertilize so you get a good idea of what your results were.

Good luck.

Thanks Veronis I may try it out on my Neps. The main reason why i got it, is for my Cephs.

So if any of my Cephs have had bugs in them before, then I shouldn't do pitcher fertilizing on the ones that have had bugs in them?

ZackNJ wrote:Thanks Veronis I may try it out on my Neps. The main reason why i got it, is for my Cephs.

So if any of my Cephs have had bugs in them before, then I shouldn't do pitcher fertilizing on the ones that have had bugs in them?

It's more a precaution. If you're picking pitchers to fertilize, pick ones that have never eaten anything.

Adding fertilizer to a pitcher that already has nutrients in it can burn the pitcher. Won't always happen, but can.

Also - since you are fertilizing ceph, you should wait to hear back from twigs and then do whatever he did with his fertilizer mix strength and frequency. His results speak for themselves.

Thanks for all the info guys ! It is very interesting. I cant wait to start giving my nep a little boost !

Just remember all - if you feed your neps bugs, do not fertilize. If you fertilize your nep, do not feed bugs. It's too much nutrients for the plants to handle all at once and can burn pitchers and CAN kill the plant or at least make it temporarily "sick". Happy growing

If we waited 1 month after the last insect feeding, then can we fertilize?

ZackNJ wrote:If we waited 1 month after the last insect feeding, then can we fertilize?

Yes. If you're fertilizing the pitchers though, I *think* it can cause rot in the pitchers, but I can't remember for sure. Look it up to be safe.

Sorry for the delay, I have been busy preparing for an interview.

I just made up a batch and the strength I used last time was 3/4 teaspoon/gallon for sure.

My Cephalotus have never been outside, so I don't think they have ever really had insect feeding. (at least while I have had them) I'm not sure how it would effect them if they had both fertilizer and insects. I would imagine they could experience nutrient burn as Veronis says so I would be careful.

1 month seems like plenty of time for the plant to have digested the insect and I'm sure you would be safe using fertilizer in the pitchers.

twigs wrote:I just made up a batch and the strength I used last time was 3/4 teaspoon/gallon for sure.

Cool; that's 1/4 the strength that is recommended on the bag - same as I use for my neps.

I've only fed my Cephs once since I've had them. I fed them crushed up dried meal worms that i bought from petsmart. I did that about 2 weeks ago.