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Post by David on Nov 2, 2007 23:49:43 GMT 8
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Post by sweethalo on Nov 3, 2007 0:23:52 GMT 8
wow David! very nice sundews!
Paradoxa looks so pretty!
BTW, u use 100% river sand to pot them? Is that better than sphagnum?
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2007 0:33:41 GMT 8
Thanks for your compliments
Oh no... not 100% river sand. That is just the topping. The media is 2 parts river sand and 1 part peat moss. I use sand as the topping because algae and slime keep growing on the top media. This is because my pots are soaking in water. So I have to keep scrapping and replacing the top layer of the media. Very tiring. Since I use sand as the topping the slime stopped growing as the sand is dry if it is not mixed with peat moss.
You can see in my paradoxa pot that the topping is still not sand yet. If you look carefully you can see a little slime and algae starting to grow.
So far i've experimented with this sand topping for more than 1 month now. No slime ;D Those pots that do not have sand as topping still have the same problem.
I wanted to try with perlite but perlite actualy absorbs alot of water. So can't do.
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Post by lisham on Nov 3, 2007 0:54:39 GMT 8
Thanks David for the tip.... Me oso got slime problem... Ugly wooly ugly green slime... Totally hate em.... I'll go look for river sand tomorrow for my pots... If it works for drosera... Will it work for Sarra/neps/ping/VFTs?
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2007 9:25:33 GMT 8
Hi Lisham,
Forgot to mention. As you know I grow my plants indoors under artificial lights and I water them using the tray method, so no top watering. This might be a reason why the top sand layer is dry and do not encourage algae or slime to grow. If you place your pots under sun and rain, I think the sand might still be wet most of the time unless the sun comes out. Might still have algae growing on the sand.
Also having a dryer top media might mean the humidity around the plants is dryer. But my plants are soaking in a tray of water with an aquarium air pump pumping air into the water. So ok laa since the air bubles that is released in the air would also create humidity in the air. But I think if the air in your garden is already high in humidity, this would not be an issue. I have to worry about this because my plants are indoors where the air is dryer. What more when I have lightings on top the plants. The heat would make the air dry.
I also use coarse sand and not the fine ones. Water can move upwards between the gaps of fine sand as the gaps between each sand grain is very near if not touching each other. This makes the sand wet all the time. Again, might have algae growing because of this. If the sand grains are bigger, there's a wider gap between each grain of sand and water will not move up to the top that easily.
Another thing to note, since the sand on top is dry, sometimes when I move the pots and accidentally tilt the pot, the sand will move. Then i'll get grains of sand stuck on the tentacles of the plant especially the rosette growing ones like burmanii and spatulata. Have to use tweezers to pick them out one by one. But this should not be a problem. Afterall how often do we move our plants, at least for me.
I've not tried with other CPs yet but I think it should not be a problem. But it's just my guess.
By the way, you got to wash the sand very carefully and make sure it is clean. Sometimes there might be minerals or whatever stuff that might harm your sundews. I go another step further by pouring hot boiling water into my pail of sand and leave it there for a couple of minutes. Just a percaution to kill whatever pest / pest eggs / algae spores / slime in the sand... then waa laa... clean steralised sand ready for my little "pets"
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Post by hongrui on Nov 3, 2007 10:31:56 GMT 8
nice sundews, david. love the D. paradoxa and D. dilatato-petiolaris. how do you manage their dormancy? or do they not go dormant when they are kept wet?
i'm kinda surprised how red your D. paradoxa is and then your D. nidiformis is kinda greenish. i assuming they are kept together, getting the same amount of light?
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Post by David on Nov 4, 2007 23:28:08 GMT 8
Hi Hongrui,
So far my paradoxa have been growing eventhough I've placed them on water since I got them from Lim. The nidiformis is new. only a couple of weeks old. Got it from Wee Teck form Singapore. We'll see if it turns red in time under my conditions.
Yes, they are grown under the same conditions.
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Post by hongrui on Nov 5, 2007 7:18:25 GMT 8
the nidiformis is from wee teck? hehe then it's should be one of the seedlings from me.  gotta warn you first then, that it might need cool nights like D. capensis. |
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Post by tarence on Nov 5, 2007 8:32:54 GMT 8
Nice David......my current fav from your sundew collection is the D. dilatato-petiolaris. *smile*
just to share, and i think you have similiar problems.....for me, it`s difficult to take good photos of the paradoxa coz the leaves form a round shape, so you have lotsa diff heights and lengths to deal with . my photos come out like yours, with some parts of the plant burry. Mebbe if we took a side shot against a white backdrop ? mmmmm.....
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Post by David on Nov 5, 2007 13:21:52 GMT 8
Hi tarence,
Ya man! So difficult to focus on the paradoxa. The camera kept focusing on the main stem.
Hi hongrui,
Haa, haaa, like what Tarence use to tell me, "what goes around comes around". Eh, since these are also from your plant stock, any extra cultivation tips on this nidiformis fella for me? I've install a fan sucking hot air out of my grow chamber a couple of week ago. Hopefully this will be enough to cool the temperatures.
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Post by hongrui on Nov 5, 2007 13:54:07 GMT 8
david, i got them as seeds from Triffid Nurseries. hehe i traded some seedlings out just in case mine die out for some unknown reason and also to see what kind of conditions can they grow under.
i do not have any special tips for them ... just the special note that they are south africians so might be as picky as D. capensis wrt temp. a SG grower tried them before and told me they grew okay for a while before declining.
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Post by cindy on Nov 6, 2007 13:19:39 GMT 8
David, let the camera focus on the stem and keep the focus locked with your finger on a half-press. Then move closer or further until you get your focus on the parts you want. |
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Post by David on Nov 7, 2007 21:59:58 GMT 8
Hmm, this is bad news for me hongrui. I really hope it'll survive in the long run  Thanks for the tips Cindy. Will try that next time. |
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Post by David on Nov 7, 2007 23:29:20 GMT 8
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Post by lisham on Nov 8, 2007 0:18:43 GMT 8
david... i think i'm poisoned by the last few pictures... the only cure that i could think of... well... the only cure is for me to have one or two of the babies...  |
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Post by cindy on Nov 9, 2007 11:22:41 GMT 8
I noticed that plantlets from binata cuttings resemble spatulata or intermedia seedlings.  |
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Post by tarence on Nov 9, 2007 11:42:38 GMT 8
David.....your binata extreme plantlets seem to be afloat in the wide open sea.....i swear i can almost see some humans doing freestyle in the 1st photo.
yeah, my binata extreme plantlets also look like yours....i got confused coz i didn`t label it properly.
btw, did you use the magnifying glass in front of the camera lens again to take the pics ? i love how the dew is magnified.
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