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By davinstewart
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Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410794
Ok, I've been hearing quite a bit about using the fungicide azoxystrobin to affect venus flytrap growth rates so I've decided to test it. This year I'm going to do a proper experiment and hopefully put this topic to rest.

Thesis
Azoxystrobin can enhance the growth rate of venus flytraps under high lighting levels i.e. DLI > 30.

Experiment Details
I will grow 2 identical pots of venus flytraps using the same pots, media, watering cycle, feeding schedule, and overall growing conditions. I will use exactly the same number of rosettes at the same age and of the same cultivar (Maroon Monster) planted in the same configuration at the same time in all new media.

Both pots are Hydrofarm 12"x12" Square White Pots. Each one has window screening covering the holes in the bottom to help retain the soil and is filled with 1 peat : 1 fine perlite mix.

Each pot is planted with 9 Dionaea muscipula 'Maroon Monster' rosettes of approximately the same age and vigor. They are planted in an evenly spaced 3x3 grid pattern within the pot. Each rosette is planted in a 2" diameter column of 1 sphagnum moss : 1 fine perlite that extends to the bottom of the pot. I dug out the column of soil with a large spoon and replaced it with the sphagnum, which the vfts were then planted in. This is the same planting style that Maggie Chen advocates in her video on how to grow award winning venus flytraps.

One pot will be watered with azoxystrobin at a mixture rate of 1 Tbsp of Scott's DiseaseEX granules dissolved into 1 gallon of rain water. This will be applied to one pot as a soil drench once a month for 3 months. The other pot will have a soil drench of just rain water on the same schedule.

Both pots will be kept indoors under a Mars Hydro T1000 light. Growing conditions will be maintained at standard household levels i.e. temperatures between 73-82F, humidity at whatever our house decides humidity should be at, etc.

The light levels at the surface of the pot range from (according to my cheap smart phone ppfd app) 516 PPFD at the outer edges up to 735 PPFD in the center. I'm running them 16 hours per day which gives me a range of 29.7 - 42.34 DLI. This is at the upper range of reccomended light exposure for venus flytraps.

I will periodically post photos of both pots on this forum in this thread to document the experiment progress. Photo evidence will likely be the only metric used to track the progress of this experiement.

Wish me luck!
Attachments:
Azo baseline
Azo baseline
Azo baseline.jpg (3.25 MiB) Viewed 5185 times
Control baseline
Control baseline
Control baseline.jpg (3.21 MiB) Viewed 5185 times
Growing environment
Growing environment
Raised pots.jpg (1.64 MiB) Viewed 5187 times
Last edited by davinstewart on Fri May 13, 2022 2:21 pm, edited 7 times in total.
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410795
Today I watered with azoxystrobin for the first time. Both pots have been growing under the same conditions, I just haven't moved them indoors yet.

Please note that these pictures were taken outside on an overcast day. I've been keeping them together on my back porch until everything was ready for the experiment. Now that they're watered, I'll let them drain and then move them indoors under the Mars Hydro light. Then we get to watch the magic happen!
Attachments:
Azo_20220512.2.jpg
Azo_20220512.2.jpg (2.78 MiB) Viewed 5312 times
Azo_20220512.1.jpg
Azo_20220512.1.jpg (2.56 MiB) Viewed 5312 times
No_azo_20220512.2.jpg
No_azo_20220512.2.jpg (2.9 MiB) Viewed 5312 times
No_azo_20220512.1.jpg
No_azo_20220512.1.jpg (2.89 MiB) Viewed 5312 times
User avatar
By Carnies
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Posts:  1380
Joined:  Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:48 pm
#410823
https://www.nehydro.com/square-white-nursery-pot-5-x-7/

I might have the 9 inch ones available in about a week, gonna do some repotting.
User avatar
By MikeB
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Posts:  1854
Joined:  Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:13 pm
#410858
Sundews69 wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 11:23 pm What pots do you use? Do you have a link? I really like those white ones I see around but I've never found them myself.
FYI - Here's another source:

Monster Gardens
https://monstergardens.com/products/pot ... -pots.html

6" x 6" x 8" : $1.35
9" x 9" x 10" : $3.00
12" x 12" x 12" : $4.00
Sundews69 liked this
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410884
These pots are made by Hydrofarm. I got a full case of them as a gift and I think they were about $5 each ... which seems expensive now that I look at the other options listed above.
Sundews69 wrote:Cool experiment! What pots do you use? Do you have a link? I really like those white ones I see around but I've never found them myself.
The light levels range from (according to my cheap smart phone ppfd app) 442 PPFD at the outer edges up to 590 in the center. I'm running them 16 hours per day which gives me a range of 25.5 - 33.98 DLI. Hmm, now that I actually measure that it seems a little low. I may try to beef that up a bit. Here's a picture of the setup. Please note that my camera dimmed the picture down a bit. It's honestly as bright as the sun in that room.
Attachments:
Initial growing area.jpg
Initial growing area.jpg (2.17 MiB) Viewed 5206 times
Dan V liked this
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410885
One item of note so far is that the azoxystrobin granules did not completely dissolve in the gallon of rain water and some residue settled in the bottom of the gallon jug. I didn't notice this until I had poured all of it out onto the plants and I'm concerned that it may have been a much higher concentration towards the end. There was visible white powder residue on the plants after the leaves dried out. I took the liberty of spraying with a small amount of plain rain water to get the residue off the leaves and flower stalks and that seemed to do the trick. The volume of rain water I used shouldn't affect the soil drench.

In the future, I'll have to make sure I keep the gallon jug agitated the entire time I'm pouring it to help prevent precipitation of the azoxystrobin.
Dan V liked this
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410893
Quick update, I put some 2x4s under both pots and now the light levels should be in the range that I wanted i.e. ~30-45 DLI.

I've updated the main post with all of this info, as well.
By Dan V
Location: 
Posts:  232
Joined:  Tue Oct 26, 2021 4:32 am
#410904
Nice setup, really looking forward to seeing the results - thanks for doing this!

I had the same residue in the bottom of my azoxystobin jug, the last plant watered got a full dose of something? with no apparent side effects compared to the other plants

My setup for two grow boxes. I used cardboard to make my two 2'x2'x4' grow tents/boxes. I lined the insides with reflective material from Amazon, added a couple of 12vdc fans (Amazon) and pairs of cheap BLOOMSPECT 80w and 100w led grow lights (Amazon). Pairing the lights eliminated the center hot spot that all led grow lights seem to have in their ppfd maps and gave me fairly consistent par levels wall to wall in the boxes.
Attachments:
two 80w bloomspect leds in 2x2 box
two 80w bloomspect leds in 2x2 box
20220513_093737.jpg (3.24 MiB) Viewed 5171 times
two 100w Bloomspect leds in 2x2 box
two 100w Bloomspect leds in 2x2 box
20220513_093819.jpg (1.88 MiB) Viewed 5171 times
By davinstewart
Location: 
Posts:  343
Joined:  Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:29 pm
#410911
That's a great setup! Love the cardboard box + reflective material approach. Do you still have the link to the product? Might be something I'd be interested in replicating.

Glad to hear the extra azo didn't affect the plants. I was worried it might have spoiled the experiment before it really got started.

Dan V wrote:Nice setup, really looking forward to seeing the results - thanks for doing this!

I had the same residue in the bottom of my azoxystobin jug, the last plant watered got a full dose of something? with no apparent side effects compared to the other plants

My setup for two grow boxes. I used cardboard to make my two 2'x2'x4' grow tents/boxes. I lined the insides with reflective material from Amazon, added a couple of 12vdc fans (Amazon) and pairs of cheap BLOOMSPECT 80w and 100w led grow lights (Amazon). Pairing the lights eliminated the center hot spot that all led grow lights seem to have in their ppfd maps and gave me fairly consistent par levels wall to wall in the boxes.
By Dan V
Location: 
Posts:  232
Joined:  Tue Oct 26, 2021 4:32 am
#410924
VIVOSUN 6 Mil Mylar Film Roll, 4 ft. x 10 ft. (the price has increased $5 since I purchased) Might find something cheaper by searching. I used a reflective duct joint tape from HD to hang the film.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5 ... =UTF8&th=1

BLOOMSPECT Dimmable SL1000 LED 100w Grow Light, two of these gave me 200watts for $100, not as much par as the 150w Mars but I'm cheap - lol
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CZGXFRK?ps ... ct_details


Cheap 12vdc fans. I run these 24/7, so far so good. I just cut out a square holes in the cardboard and push them in for a friction fit, two fans for cool air intake (bottom) and two for warm air exhaust (top)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CH ... =UTF8&th=1


Universal Power Supply Adjustable. (You can adjust the fan speed) you will need some small gauge wire (18ga) and crimp connectors - connect all fans in parallel.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WRF55DK/re ... s9dHJ1ZQ==

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