Fertilisation for Neps

[isaacgoh]

Guys and gals,

For discussion sake, have you tried any fertilisation for your neps?

Those of you who visited Foong's place will probably be shocked at the size of his neps. He told me that he has been giving them the same water based fertiliser for his orchids. The result, the leaves are 1-2feet in length, pitchers size are shocking too. Giant to me especially when grown in 'captivity'. He has also killed some ampullaria with fertiliser, so it's really by chance that some work and some doesn't. His truncata also does not seem very big.

There was a heated debate(I certainly do not want another one) in Pitcher plant forum on this topic. I'd love my neps to grow faster but do not know what fertiliser are safe for them. Sometimes, I'll feed small bits of fish pellets to the pitchers, that's all for my fertilisation. Some people claimed to have double the size of seedlings after using fertilisation.

Those of you who has done it regularly, I'd like to hear from you. I'm also thinking of using some of my aquarium plants fertiliser, dilute them for my nep, what do you think?

I have the following:
1) ADA brightly K (potasium, iron, micro nutrients)
2) Calcium nitrate
3) Azoo Iron liquid
4) Anyone tried organic fertiliser like goat manure?

Please advise. Thanks.

Rgds,
Isaac

[cosmoking]

Orchid fertelizer is usually a weak fertelizer and comes in either Growth Booster or Bloom Booster-the names explain themselves.

As the Orchid Fertelizer is designed for plants sensitive to food, i.e Orchids, that is probably the best thing to use for Neps as commercial fertelizers have a much higher salt and mineral content which could be lethal to Nepenthes.

If you want to use a commercial fertelizer, dilute it to 1/4 to 1/2 strenght and test it out on a cheap plant and see the difference it makes. What you could do is buy 2 the same size and fertelize one and not fertelize the other and see how you go.

[jk]

Fertilizing is a controversial subject among Nepenthes growers, but it has worked well for me. I use fish emulsion fertilizer, an organic product, at half strength mixed with seaweed extract, applied every two weeks or so, for adult Nepenthes plants. Young plants are given a more dilute solution. Salt-based fertilizer also works (many orchid fertilizers fall into this category), but I don’t use it because it requires flushing the plants frequently with fresh water. Otherwise, the salt accumulates in the growing medium and draws water out of the plant. Fertilizing plants has a beneficial effect only when other growth factors, such as light, humidity, and growing medium, are adequate.

[isaacgoh]

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. I started testing my fertilisation mixture on my seedlings and graccilis last night. Let's see how they react and I'll report back again.

Currently using ADA Brightly K (One of the best aquarium plants fertiliser around) 2 drops mixed with filtered water in spray bottle.

Not sure where to get the emulsion fertiliser but I think the orchid fertiliser will be easier to obtain locally. I might try it at diluted level.

Anyone else tried fertilising your neps?

There's also a lot of theories on how neps actually derives their nutritions from. Root? Pitcher? Leaves/foliage?

Rgds,
Isaac

[tarence]

JK : how do you fertilise your neps ? pour into the medium or spray onto the leaves or funnel it into the pitchers ?

isaac : ACE sells this fish fertiliser which i use for my staghorns...i`ll try to post a pic of it by tmrw....mebbe we could use that.

btw, i haven`t tried fertilising my neps.....yet ! but i`m open to the idea....

[artificialive]

Well, most people said that fertilizing neps will result them not to pitcher or even die. Ironically, tissue cultured plants... the medium they use to culture the plants are rich with nutrients..

[isaacgoh]

artificialive said:

Well, most people said that fertilizing neps will result them not to pitcher or even die. Ironically, tissue cultured plants... the medium they use to culture the plants are rich with nutrients..

I tried growing neps, sarras with nursery black soil(I was a noob back then) and they all died. They won't like too fertile or too organic medium. That's why have to be careful.

The hydroponic way of growing neps may work too but it's probably too overkill for us to rig a hydropinic system for them. I think they'll like their water to be circulated. Of course this is only for those that like their roots wet.

Rgds,
Isaac

[tarence]

Naj : i think those folks accidentally fertilised their CPs with full strength baja.....i know my auntie did when i gave her the 1st pitcher plant. the suggestionh here is to use half or quarter or even more diluted doses. I am tempted to try very diluted ( 1 / 10 the suggested dosage for normal plants ) doses for a nep or two.
I have sprayed my droseras with liquid fertiliser but alas, i forgot to monitor their condition after that. Too many plants already. But they did not die. That much I remember.

[David]

So far for me, I've only use spray-on folier fertilisers. It works and I can see growth spurt after that but the top medium grew algae because of the fertilisers. I've also tried plant gerbelines and hormones for water plants on my gracilis before. Seem to give me bigger leaves. But too much also will stunt the growth.

However, I have the same or better effect with actual insect prey. So I just stick to that. Only occasionally I spray the leaves with tillandsia/orchid fertilisers.

[isaacgoh]

David,

So that must be your secret in growing your neps! Fertilisers!

The insect feeding I'm afraid only works for those with bigger pitchers, seedlings and some stubborn ones(like my northiana is growing perfectly and bigger foliage each time but just refuse to pitcher just yet) which does want to pitcher can't use this method.

I'm interested to know which type of orchid fertiliser you use.

Tarence,

Do let me know what you bought from ACE too.

Rgds,
Isaac

[tarence]

Alrighty ! I`ll post the pic from home tonite if the dialup line doesn`t act up. Cheers.

[artificialive]

I spoke to Lau last time. He said he fertilizes his neps, but with chicken manure. Only once every 2-3 months. But i havent tried it just yet! afraid the risks that my precious neps will die ;D

[David]

Actually my secret is not in fertilisers. As mentioned I only use it occasionally because I killed a few neps with fertilisers before. My secret is insects! Nice juicy, fresh, crunchy insect... yum, yum... mix this with sunshine and lots of clean water. Then stir to taste... ok ignore the last sentence.

If the plant does not have pitchers, then I use folier feed fertilisers. Currently I am using HB... something (can't remember). The one that is used for Tillis. I only use on adult plants. Tried this on plantlets before. It stunt their growth and leaves become twisted and deformed. Perhaps I use too much on the plantlets.

Can't remember what orchid fertiliser I used. That was some time ago.

[artificialive]

its HB 101 if im not mistaken. very popular for flowering plants

[tarence]

Here is the fish & seaweed concentrate I`m suggesting to try....the brand is Serbajadi....costs about rm5.90...parkson, etc also can get in their plant section....its only a small bottle, about 5" in height.

[isaacgoh]

Hi David and Tarence,

Thanks for your tips. I'll stock up these mild fertiliser next time I visit ACE.

Currently I'm using my aquarium plants fertiliser for the dark red spots germination, will report back after 3 weeks.

Rgds,
Isaac

[jk]

Tarence, I pour the fertilizer into the medium and also pour it into the pitchers. I would spray the leaves as well, but I'm too lazy. Here's a plant that's been fertilized:

[tarence]

Jk : is that diff in pitcher size after & before the fertiliser application ? I mean in comparision with the background pitcher...

[zakhren]

Wow that pitcher is huge!

But if the pitcher is that size won't natural catching of bugs be sufficient fertilizer?

[jk]

Tarence, I started fertilizing one to two years ago. Unfortunately, I don't remember if that was before or after the plant produced that smaller pitcher in the background, but my guess is that it was slightly before.
Zakhren, I believe that the large pitcher would not have been created without fertilization, but i'm not sure because there was no control plant.
For those who say that fertilizer kills Neps, I wonder if they've actually tried it or whether they are simply repeating something they have read or heard. Sometimes inaccurate information is written down somewhere, then repeated so frequently that it becomes "common knowledge" that is not actually true. Or maybe some of them have tried fertilization and failed because other factors, such as light, water, growing medium, and humidity, were not provided at adequate levels. Or perhaps they used salt-based fertilizer and did not flush the medium often enough to prevent it from building up. I'm quite sure that Neps grown outdoors in tropical or subtropical climates, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, can benefit from fertilization, if done right, because of the naturally high levels of light (may be too high for certain plants, though) and humidity. But it's important that the other factors are provided at adequate levels as well. If any factor is inadequate, that will limit the growth of the plant. For example, if the light level is too low, it doesn't matter how good the other conditions are, the growth of the plant will be limited by the inadequate light. On the other hand, good lighting allows the plant to metabolize nutrients faster and therefore to make use of fertilizer. I would urge those who are thinking about fertilization but are unsure of it, to try it on a plant that they can afford to lose. If a bunch of peole do this, then report their results in 3 months or so, that would provide a better idea of whether fertilization encourages growth, and if it does, what kinds of practices work better than others. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.