FlyTrapCare Forums

Not everyone is a clutz like me, but those large tall plastic pot that they sell at FTS are very easy to knock over
(I have dropped and knocked over several of them!!)

An easy and cheap solution; get some disposible aluminum pie pans (they sell them at the grocery store in packs of 3) that
are wide enough so when you put your pot in it, there is a few inches of space all around.
Now, fill it with pebbles (gravel) as much as it will hold.

This not only adds a nice weight to the pot, it also prevents the pot from tipping over.

You can buy bags of pebbles at Lowes, Home Depot, or any garden store and they come in 10 to 50 pound bags, and cheap!!

I tipped over what I hope to be my last FT today. I was lucky it only fell over, didnt loose much dirt, and no apparent damage
to the plant (it was one of my Jaws!!)

This is particularly useful if you have your plants on a unstable wire shelf, like one of the mini greenhouses

Oh. and HAPPY 4th OF JULY EVERYONE !!!

Some rock have minerals in them, I hope you know...

jamez wrote:Some rock have minerals in them, I hope you know...

All rocks have minerals in them, it's just a matter of how much, and what mineral is leached out from the water.

The rocks I use are harmless to the plant, as harmless as the sand

P.S. also, I should have mentioned, I use "river rocks" they are naturaly pollished from water.
People use them in their garden because they look nice

These are the river rocks (though you can get them much cheaper):

http://www.amazon.com/POLISHED-RIVER-PE ... 547&sr=8-4

Very cool, you could also take a few pebbles, wrap them in plastic and put them inside the cups before adding the mix. That way there shouldn't be any mineral leakage... and the bottoms of the cups are much heavier.

Shimizoki wrote:Very cool, you could also take a few pebbles, wrap them in plastic and put them inside the cups before adding the mix. That way there shouldn't be any mineral leakage... and the bottoms of the cups are much heavier.

That's a good idea

These are river rocks, they will NOT have any water soluable minerals in them.
They have already been tumbling around in some river for eons!!

Nats wrote:These are river rocks, they will NOT have any water soluable minerals in them.

That's not necessarily true. "River rocks" doesn't specify the type of mineral in the rock, only that they came from a river. They could still be composed of minerals that dissolve into the soil.

Matt, they are aggregates, (spelling!!) and are said to be safe for all kinds of plants
(people use them for turtle terrariums too) but I could always do a trace analysis on
them using Mass spec ICP here at my lab and using distilled water to soak them in.
Then testing the water.
Very simple test. But I'm sure there would be trace sodium, since this is one of the most
ubiquidous minerals on earth, it's everywhere!!

Also, I dont think I want to put them in the soil, just place them around the outside of the
pot.
Barring this idea, can you think of another way I can keep my pots from tipping over?

The shelves in my greenhouse are wire mesh and very unstable.

Put them in some sort of tray with a surround of say 5 inches or so ?, or put in troughs rather than
keeping in individual pots.

Rock, rock, rockin round the fly trap....

Haha, I discovered, after watering the plant, what do I do with all that drain water with
these rocks in the way?!
So, I dumpted the rocks out! No more rocks LOL!!

What stupid thing will Nats try next?! :\

Poke holes in the bottom of the tins... then the water will drain out.

Shimizoki wrote:Poke holes in the bottom of the tins... then the water will drain out.

Hey! why didnt I think of that!!??

Ok, the rocks go back in :\

Thanks

Thats why we keep Shimi around I guess.

Shimizoki wrote:Thats why we keep Shimi around I guess.

You may be right! LOL

All fixed, and works great, no more knocking my pots over

Did your VFT's survive their fall? Cos i just knocked over my 2 new ones!!:-/ the one pot did not lose any soil but quite a bit fell out of my other one which i repacked! They seem ok, however the minute they hit the ground their traps shut, cos bits of soil entered traps thus triggering them. Some traps have'nt shut properly cos soil wedged in teeth. I'm just annoyed cos this is the fourth time their traps have shut unnecessarily since i purchased them 6 days ago and its wasting plant energy. Do you think mine will be ok? Will the soil inside traps cause them damage? Any suggestions? Anyway thanks for tip on planters-i think i'll try that. Cheers