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Feeding your plants

  • Thread starter Finch
  • Start date

Finch

Whats it to ya?
SO. I am really curious about how everyone feeds their plants-
Do you still like to watch the kill or are u used to it, and just leave?

Where do you get your bugs?

What is your favorite type of bug to feed? (Mine would be flies, because they are so darn annoying)

How do you feed it?

What is your favorite method of feeding. (for example, do you feed the plant direcly or let the insect wander untill it inevetebly succumbs-

Also i have a theory about a method of feeding, and if any of you would be so kind, could you try this for me (it requiers pitcher plants and i have none) -you dont have to, of course, but it might be neat. Ok i was thinking about how moths are attracted to lights, like portchlights and sutch and moths always ram into [the lights]. I was wondering if you brought a sarr [a species] outside for the night (if the climate was right)

and shone a bright flashlite near the base of one of the pitchars (probably a near empty pitcher -would be better)
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Now if u placed the light so that it shone trough the outside pitcher walls and iluminated the digestive juices and left it there... would the whole pitcher be lit up? and if sooooo.... would any moths be attracted to it, and try to fly into the pitcher. You would need to turn off any outside lights, like porch lights. What do u think? do u think it would work? in the morning would it be filled with moths?

anyway, back to the topic

What kind of plants do you enjoy feeding the most?
 
Hi Finch,
I really only grow Nepenthes but here's my stuff:
I pretty much only use store bought reptile feeder crickets, in juvenile and adult sizes depending upon the size of the pitcher being fed. With 50 or so Nepenthes and several pitchers to feed on each plant. Generally I use 100 small crickets + 50 large crickets each 7-14 days.

I buy the crickets alive and hoppin', bring em home and put them in the freezer overnight (though they are dead after 90 minutes ).
When I wanna use em I just shake out the bag into room temp R/O water and let them defrost for an hour or so ontop of the lowland chamber's hot lid.
To feed I have a real long pair of japanese aquarium planting tongs/forceps. I like them though cos they give me about 12-14 inches of extra reach with very fine tip so I can feed even very small pitchers that are at odd angles and hard to reach places.

My plants seem to like my schedule anyway!
 
Swords: How much did the forceps run you?

Hate to admit, but the critters I use most are jumping spiders. I like them, and they do no harm, but they are around when I need them.
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Pop em in the fridge for a minute, and then give them to the VFT

For neps, I use shrimp pellets for fish or bugs to big to be used for the VFT. The ventrata is busy with a small cutworm now.
 
I just let my plants catch what they can,they dont seem to mind.


Jerry
 
I would really like to get a sarr...cause that would aactually make a big impression outside.
 
i dont feed plants i grow outside- they have to fend for themselves. plants in the terrarium catch their own fodder in the form of springtail , ants, fungus gnats, and other misc. buggies. all my neps i foliar feed with a 1/4 solution of orchid fertilizer.
 
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bump
 
mine generally fend for themselves. every once in awhile i catch a fly that is bugging me and i feed it to my capensis because its less likely to escape again.

Rattler
 
Is there any artificial food such as fish pellets that you can feed VFTs? Recently all the small bugs in my yard and house either disappeared or grew into giant monster bugs too big for even my nephs.
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  • #10
pellets made for bettas should work as they are bug based i believe.

Rattler
 
  • #11
"dead" things, including dead insects and fishfood, when fed to a dionaea, wont work. if you want them to be digested, you must massage the traps several times to stimulate the assimilation process.
 
  • #12
I got those tongs/forceps in a kit of 3 or 4 aquarium planting/landscaping tools, the kit ran me about $40.
I would imagine you could get just the tongs for much less from a reptile shop. Just ask to see a selection of some small tipped or pointed feeding tongs. Also, any medical/scientific supplier online should have a selection of sizes to choose from.
 
  • #13
My plants this year are full to the brim with wasps ,flys, bugs and the odd hornet but i would like to here about what sort of fish food (pellets or flake) is best for neps(goodness and how easily it is obsorbed). As my collection grows so does the demand for prey.

Bye for now Julian
 
  • #14
I have gone to slow release. It works good for me.

Joe
 
  • #15
Someone mentioned Betta pellets (rattler??) on the last page...
Would they work?? A single canister tends to outlast my fish every time....
would one grind them up a bit???
I only just got a Nep with pitchers and figure it'll need to eat soon....
 
  • #16
did anyone ever try that moth thing
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  • #17
For my Neps, it's all about the milk
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They seem to appreciate it quite a bit.
 
  • #18
About the porch light... when I got my first nepenthes I left it outside a few feet from the porch light overnight. The next morning it had 2 or 3 bugs in each pitcher (all pitchers were empty the night before). So I'd say it was a success.
 
  • #19
I usually just let the outside CPs eat for themselves, but sometimes I give them a mosquito or some of those half-inch-long, skinny little ants that dart like lightning and have a real knack for pissing me off.. and during the growing season I give the Sarrs a drop of milk in 20% of their pitchers every month. The plants in the flourescent tank inside don't get too many bugs, but I give the Nep milk as well and the ping and adelaes cheese every month. Dairy products are awesome growth stimulants.
 
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