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Making the most of office space

  • Thread starter LeafKirby
  • Start date
Our office is INFESTED with gnats, cause we've got two people with way too many waterlogged house plants. I thought I'd grow some carns to help out.

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N. ventricosa x
D. capensis x
D. adelae
D. binata var

The Nep seems to be suffering the most, now that the sun is gone. Any small grow light recs? Adelae could be doing better too, but it'll adjust. The other two are doing fantastic.
 
A good idea. I had a friend tell me that he almost completely cleared his house of fruit flies by growing a D. binata "giant staghorn." As for a small light - I use screw-in type standard leds and they do well for me. And you can choose your level of brightness and color temperature.
 
I'm actually impressed with how well binata is doing indoors. The humidity and low light doesn't phase it at all and it's completely full of dew.
 
I've also noticed that binata's pollen only seems to mature AFTER the flower has expired and shut. Is that normal for the species, cause it makes zero sense from my perspective. Maybe one of my growth conditions is off.
 
Pollen on binata plants, when they are healthy, releases almost the moment the flowers open. There's no delay.
 
Pollen on binata plants, when they are healthy, releases almost the moment the flowers open. There's no delay.
Yeah, that's what I thought. I know it was irregular, so I'm just going to assume it's low light in combination of being in contact with a cold window. No big deal though, since I wasn't planning on pollination.

Adelae is doing phenomenal now and the Nep is producing a new pitcher. Do y'all think I could pull off a Heliamphora if I get a dedicated terrarium or is that a little too wild for an office?
 
Do y'all think I could pull off a Heliamphora if I get a dedicated terrarium or is that a little too wild for an office?
A cloche might work. This is a recent Dollar Tree find--it even has closeable holes at the top. It's probably big enough for several small plants. For a Heliamphora, though, maybe you should go for something nice, made out of glass, probably again with a hole, to let the bugs in. Maybe taller and narrower? Either way, it might look less like you are setting up a zoo, then if you used something like an aquarium.
 

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Hello @LeafKirby ! How are the plants doing? @Werdna grows some absolutely stunning Heli just inside his front door with no terrarium, humidifier, covers or anything. Just plants in trays under lights! He gave me a small basic hybrid which I agreed to follow his instructions and it has put on lots of growth, and has now split. It's just on the shelf in my house with the Pinguicula! So don't count it out. :)
 
Here’s a picture of my setup. I should probably make a dedicated post on my technique for growing Heliamphora in low humidity, but I’ll give a basic rundown here.

The most important thing is to acclimate your plants over the course of 4-6 weeks (or longer for more sensitive species) with the bag method. Keep the bag mostly sealed initially to keep the humidity high and start cutting holes after you notice new growth.

My preferred potting media is 3 parts fluval stratum to 1 part pumice (perlite will also work, but is harder to mix uniformly with stratum). Do all repotting with dry media only because it gets very messy to work with wet. I keep my plants in a shallow tray of water (rarely more than 3/4”) and only allow the tray to dry occasionally because stratum doesn’t have the water holding capacity of sphagnum or peat. Refill the water tray by watering from above.

You can fertilize with either maxsea at 1/4 tsp/gal or dyna-gro at 2.5 ml/gal. Sorry for mixing units.

Bright light is also very important. Your plant will tell you if it’s getting enough light. Heliamphora change leaf morphology dramatically depending on the light intensity. Look up pictures of etiolated Heliamphora if you’re unsure if your plants are getting enough light. For reference my plants are currently grown under 2 rows of 40W x 4ft fixtures approximately 6” to 8” above the tip of the pitcher.

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  • #10
Plants doing good. One of the Drosera was struggling for a bit, but it's been moved under the lights now. I'll probably need to get another set of lights to take on another plant, since it seems like I'm maxing out at roughly 2000 lux. 20230309_203639.jpg
 
  • #11
I noticed the big plastic jar. I'm constantly searching for terrarium type containers, especially for Begonias.

I was reminded these exist. I think we're not supposed to mention sources. I can if it's OK, or give them privately. These are at a major national retail chain.

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Here's Begonia bogneri from a few years ago growing in either the 1 gallon (128 ounces) or 1/2 gallon (64 ounces), I don't remember which. I used too much soil. Of course, individual pots could be set in the container.

Begonia bogneri Hocking Jar side view.jpeg


Begonia bogneria Hocking Jar looking down.jpg
 
  • #12
You can, the vendor rule is more like cp vendors being mentioned for the sake of advertising.
 
  • #13
Great. The containers are at Target at those prices.
 
  • #14
A couple from the Dollar Tree:

For $1.25. A small terrarium or propagator, available only around Easter. 10" x 6" x 5". Perfect for cuttings/pullings that need to be incubated in sphagnum. I just got this yesterday, and I used one in the past:

Egg Terrarium from the Dollar Tree.jpg

For $2.50 ($1.25 x 2): a larger terrarium (interior diameter ~10" x height 8 inches). The two halves have a lip that can be held together with a couple binder clips (not shown). This is slightly opaque.

Larger terrarium from the Dollar Tree.jpg

I find either to be better than than a tupperware container with a colored lid, or a pot/container kept in a ziploc bag. And of course the second one is bigger.
 
  • #15
The above posts do give me hope about pulling off a Heliamphora in the office, though it kinda makes me regret getting the giant adalae. I'd probably have space for all three plants in there, if it was a regular sized one. I mean, I probably do have space, but it won't look nearly as nice as if they're all growing into each other. I also have a really small cubey thing that I'm planning on putting some utrics or genlisea in, and I think that'll be enough for the office before my coworkers start complaining, haha.
 
  • #16
I question the notion still of the "giant" adelae actually getting bigger than others (more robust for the average grower's conditions but most adelae change sizes readily), but if you are providing light that is bright enough for a Heliamphora to be happy, then an adelae will never get very large in those conditions. It will remain small and brick red.
 
  • #17
Apparently, I haven't been feeding it properly, cause I did and had an explosion of growth.


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  • #19
How do you feed it?
Freeze dried mealworms I got from a pet store.
At this size, one per pitcher was enough. Two seemed to cause it to burn, but it took roughly a little over month to happen.
The changes were noticeable in about 2-3 weeks.
 
  • #20
Here's an update.

It's messier than expected, but all plants seem to now be thriving.
 
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