how often should I flush my pots?

[cpbobby]

I used a peaty mix to start but when i actually repot i will move to orchid bark/perlite mix. I am not crazy about repotting and neither are the nepenthes. I generally don't give them much daily water(10cc or so)....basically what they need to keep the soil damp; however with the slow moving water I am assuming at some point I am going to have to add some fast moving fresh water to flush out the slow moving stagnant water trapped in the soil itself to keep the nepenthes happy.....or I could be over thinking it.

If so what would a good recommendation be? flush every 3 months maybe?

 

[dueoka]

I flush out the pots after every fertilization. That's twice a month. I don't know how critical this is, but I would aim for more frequently than every 3 months.

 

[cpbobby]

I don't fertilize the soil, I just squirt some heavily diluted fert into a random pitcher once or twice a month. You are probably right that I may need to flush them out more often; thx for the tip...at least I know I am heading in the right direction. I guess at some point the plants would start to decline but it is longer than 3 months thank goodness.

 

[pebes]

i water every 2-5 days with about as much water as the volume of the pot the plant is in. that means i flush them every time i water. my mix drains very fast and i use net pots so this technique may not work for you.

 

[cpbobby]

it is/sounds effective but I will need a RO setup first however.

 

[Red Lowii]

flush em as often as you flush your toilet.

 

[cpbobby]

if you guys flush em out that often; what do you do about air circulation bc otherwise the media will stay saturated.

 

[pebes]

i have two fans in my tank, the surfaces don't stay wet for long during the day. yeah the media stays wet but not water logged. that's what the airy, fast draining mix and net pots are for.

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

I flush pots every watering. That's how I water with every watering. I even flush my sarrs but less frequently because they are constantly in water.

If you happen to let your pots dry out and tried to only water with ten mls your plants would be in decline.

You cannot over water in one sitting. You over water by watering too frequently. The thing is, my nepenthes are in a GH with misters that come on everyday. I water every two days or so. Sometimes longer. But the pots never dry out.

I water with tap water. 80-90 ppm.

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

flush em as often as you flush your toilet.

My only response to that is that I live in CA. 'Nuff said.


I flush my Nepenthes when I water, too. They are not sitting in a tray of water. The LL'ers are on egg crate and the HL'ers are on gravel. They seem to be happy. The Sarrs get flushed when I top water, about once a week or so. Unless I get lazy and just add water to the tray.

 

[mato]

Since my Nepenthes are not sitting in trays, they're flushed every time I water, which is about every two or three days. Great for keeping the media aerated.