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Maxsea Fertilizer on Nepenthes

MODERATOR NOTE:

A thread was recently removed from the forum at the request of the original author. Since there was a lot of good discussion and valuable information in that thread, I thought it was important to have it available for others to read, comment on, and search for.

So... many of the substantive responses have been copied from the original thread into this new one. Some of the continuity may be a little off since many of the responses were not copied due to lack of substance or arguments. For context, the initial post was against using Maxsea (and warning others not to use it) since the user noticed health decline (and a death of a plant) after using Maxsea. If you have any experiences, positive or negative in using Maxsea, go ahead and post it here. I also can't change the timestamps so I will have to just copy this message into the first message of the copied posts.

xvart.

ive never heard of this issue with max sea before
everyone ive seen who has used it, had great results.
maybe your using it in too high of a concentration?
and i wouldnt entirely blame max sea on this, maybe your conditions arent the best for these highlanders?
 
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Did you flush the pots 2 days after you fertilized?
Did you use quarter strength
 
I read on a BACPS article that smaller neps should be treated with a more diluted solution. Perhaps that was the problem.

Jason
 
Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to use it 1/4 strength and flush the pots 2 days later.
 
Glad that I don't artificially fertilize my Neps. Why risk growth of molds and algaes in the soil? Nasty stuff......

The pitchers are where nutrients go...........
 
I used Maxsea at 1/4 strength for the first time in early May, and had no issue with it whatsoever. Typically, I've only used very dilute applications of fertilizers with my plants, generally those intended for orchids and epiphytes . . .

Full strength of anything with carnivorous plants is asking for trouble . . .
 
I was always advised to use 1/4 of that strength -- and that also applied to the use of any and all Orchid and epiphytic fertilizers . . .
 
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Eh who knows, maybe the damage isn't done. Sure you might get a few weird ones that are all burnt or crooked, but one or two nodes after that.... you might be in for a surprise.

Just flush out the soil, and keep caring for them like nothing happened.
 
Just out of curiosity what is your medium you use? Sir K, what is yours? I know Steve uses a very free draining mix with cedar-I think know peat or shpagnum(righ Steve?).

Cheers,


Joe
 
  • #10
Well dosent LFS break down very quickly do to the use of a fert, because it absorbs so much water correct. so LFS wouldnt be a good choice IMO for a media to use while using a fert .
 
  • #11
I meant fertilizers in general that you should use 1/4 teaspoon. I've never researched fertilizing, but I'm pretty sure that for most fertilizers, you should 1/4 of a teapsoon. But the point is is that just because a fertilizer didn't quite work out for you, doesn't mean it's automatically bad. And The Griffin has a good point of the different kinds of soils being used.
 
  • #12
Well dosent LFS break down very quickly do to the use of a fert, because it absorbs so much water correct. so LFS wouldnt be a good choice IMO for a media to use while using a fert .

If you limit the fertilizing to a dilute foliar and pitcher feed, followed by a quick spraying of the moss, you can avoid damaging the live sphagnum. I do that for all of my Nepenthes and Heliamphora with good results . . .
 
  • #13
Just out of curiosity what is your medium you use? Sir K, what is yours? I know Steve uses a very free draining mix with cedar-I think know peat or shpagnum(righ Steve?).

Cheers,


Joe


Joe- my mix varies from what i have handy at the time im making it
but most of my neps are in a mix that consists of equal portions of peat/perlite/sand/lfs/osmunda fiber/orchid bark
 
  • #14
yes we all do make mistakes, I know that I have learned from mine. I will never use this stuff again. Superthrive actually does work great for me. I only ever use that stuff now. The Best part about superthrive is that it's not a fertilizer. It's only Vitamins and Hormones.
Yes it is very true that what works for one may not work out for another. Another part of lifes lessons that must be learned. The more you learn the wiser you become.

Wait what?

What is fertilizer? The ratings on fertilizer is only nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. At least the standard rating. I understand the raw nature of entering this hobby rough but stop there! Superthrive has been debated and defended just as snake oil has been to medicine. (who knows maybe some snake oils were right but sold wrong!) But, you just accidently entered into an argument as saying maxsea is not to be trusted as neptunes harvest or some other random organic / chemical fertalizer. You have a large grow list, but did you post your application result as 50 / 50, or even to what plants? What just bloomed into action as a result from superthrive??? It's helpful to understand those result in order to personally trust or discredit your experience. It doesn't make any sense that you did both applications on the same plants, but with different products when they were never stated in the first place.

A heart medicine to someone may be a liver medicine to someone else! Not the same thing!!! They are both medicines, but not water to the average person. Nor are they a sundew, a nepenthes, a sarra or anything inbetween! ... Let alone nep a, b or c.

Please post more info about this, I'm really confused at this point.

Don't mean to come down hard, but fertalizer is a mystery that needs real research and this hobby has not been shown attention to. In the vacuume of this real reasearch some of this has only been filled in with people guessing, lying, and experimenting on their own collection. But in all, be careful, don't start firing off blanks because you were foxed into a corner.

-Nate
 
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  • #15
Never heard of the stuff myself.
Recommend strength, 1/4 strength..... I guess this is why I stay very far away from any chemical fertilizer being added to pitcher, foliar, or soil.
I use fruitflies, mealworms and superworms to feed my plants that are grown indoors and can not catch any bugs. My plants really love all natural whole foods. LOL
 
  • #16
Never heard of the stuff myself.
Recommend strength, 1/4 strength..... I guess this is why I stay very far away from any chemical fertilizer being added to pitcher, foliar, or soil.
I use fruitflies, mealworms and superworms to feed my plants that are grown indoors and can not catch any bugs. My plants really love all natural whole foods. LOL

That's what I'm talkin' about! I pop beta bites into my pitchers.

I think I'll quote Barry Rice's FAQ here.

"Nepenthes species are huge, spectacular, and often very, very expensive. As such, growers put great effort into growing them, and emotions on how this should be done can ride high. I think this explains why people who have developed different horticultural prescriptions are sometimes very vocal and even combative in defending their methods.

Many of these methods are in direct conflict with each other. Which method should you use? Whatever works! You see, with this genus it is particularly true that what works well for one person does not work well for another. For example, if one person grows their plants in a greenhouse that is slightly less illuminated but much more humid with frequent waterings, the planting mix used does not need to retain much water--the plants might do very well with a planting mix that is almost pure aggregate and is very well drained. Meanwhile, if another grower has a very brightly lit greenhouse that is a little more dry and the waterings are rarer, the planting mix should have more Sphagnum to retain water. Whenever I get a new plant from another grower I repot the plant as soon as possible into a mix that I have found works well for me."
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5428.html

I think those are rather wise words. Instead of bickering about what the supreme nepenthes cultivation technique is, find what works best for you. If you don't want to mess with fertilizer anymore, don't do it. If you think fertilizers are the way to go, that's cool, but don't crucify someone who had a bad experience with them. If I lost a hamata to fertilization, I probably wouldn't touch fertilizer ever again myself.

The bottom line is, if you're happy with how your plants are growing, there's no reason to change your methods. And if someone else is happy with different methods, there's no reason to try to get them to change (I say that to both parties of this conflict).

Jason
 
  • #17
Wow, what a crazy thread! I have used MaxSea, at full strength (1 tsp/gal) for a couple years at least now on all my nepenthes. They grow like crazy! Nothing dies like you describe, or becomes deformed. I use it on my N. edwardsiana! I use it on my new N. albomarginata seedlings barely a half a centimeter wide.

I know a few MAJOR retail growers that use it because it works so well. So this is mystifying to me. I'd submit that for the safety of your plants you should make sure it wasn't something else that caused the problem, but at the same time I'm not challenging your story.
 
  • #18
I have been using MAXSEA 16-16-16 at the rate of 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoon per gallon of water 2 times per month on every nep in my collection from 1/2 inch seedlings to fully mature plants for about 2 years now with excellent results. I highly recommend the product and have turned many folks onto it and they have all had the same excellent results that I have seen.
 
  • #19
There are so many individual factors that can influence the results you achieve. It can't be stressed enough that what works exceedingly well for one person or even a dozen people may have just the opposite effect for another. Cultural conditions such as temperature, light levels, potting ingredients, application method, water quality and method of application as well as amount, can all have a profound impact on results.

I hope you all have read the sticky thread in the Nepenthes forum on fertilzing. I started it 6 years ago and while many of the links to photos are shot.. the information contained is still very valid. Yes there are alot of posts there. But if you are serious about learning and improving your personal results with Nepenthes cultivation regarding feeding your plants, you won't turn around and say 'you expect me to read all that?'. You would be amazed how many people over the years have done exactly that after I told them they should read the sticky then come to me with questions!!

Suffice it to say: Nepenthes do better, a whole lot better, if you feed them. Exactly how you feed them though is a matter of personal choice in what works best for you and your personal environment and cultural practices. While it is possible to do alot of research on what has and hasn't worked for others, the trial and error to discover exactly which methods are best for each individual, falls on that individuals shoulders and noone elses. Whenever trying something new, that goes beyond the scope of tossing some crawly critters or fish food into the pitchers, it is always best to start slowly and with a few plants that are expendable, followed by careful observation and adjustments as necessary to achieve the results you are looking for.
 
  • #20
I use Maxsea now for 2 YEars without any Problems. I use it every 2 weeks with full strenght. Even small and fresh germinating seedlings, Heliamphora and Cephalotus plants get this and all like this.
It just have one negative effect and it is that the plants grow sometime to fast :)
My soil is sometimes pure sphagnum or a cedar/sphagnum/charcoal mix and i do not longer flush the pot since 6months

I believe it is importanbt to let dry out lfs medias and the use of mesh pots
Jens
 
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