Pineapple's Greenhouse

[Whimgrinder]

Lance has proof of it doubling or tripling the leaf size after treatements. It makes the soil more acidic too.

Of course, it should be noted that none of the evidence anyone provides to support the "coffee is magic!" principle is based on a control study. Unless you have at least two plants (one gets coffee, the other gets just water) of the same variety and measure their responses side-by-side, then this data isn't very meaningful. I think that in many instances, people who have worked hard to meet ALL of the needs of their plants are inclined to point to the coffee as the lone factor that precipitated the leap in growth, when in fact the truth is likely that it is multiple factors that bring about the improvements in growth. I'm not saying coffee treatments might not be a contributor, but I genuinely believe it isn't the only factor responsible for the improvements people are showing.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Of course, it should be noted that none of the evidence anyone provides to support the "coffee is magic!" principle is based on a control study. Unless you have at least two plants (one gets coffee, the other gets just water) of the same variety and measure their responses side-by-side, then this data isn't very meaningful. I think that in many instances, people who have worked hard to meet ALL of the needs of their plants are inclined to point to the coffee as the lone factor that precipitated the leap in growth, when in fact the truth is likely that it is multiple factors that bring about the improvements in growth. I'm not saying coffee treatments might not be a contributor, but I genuinely believe it isn't the only factor responsible for the improvements people are showing.

When I was just using Maxsea on my Nepenthes foliarly, I noticed that the new leaf on my N. alata spotted was twice as big as the last. That was the leaf that was opening when I moved the collection into the greenhouse. It may have been the Maxsea. Two other smaller plants had noticeably bigger leaves than the last. May have been the Maxsea, but as you said, it could have been other factors. I agree with what you're saying... But it does kinda pop out that after coffee, plants will regenerate from dead basal, they will grow like mad and the leaf size doubles or triples. Which has happened in multiple cases with different people on different plants, or so I have read. We'll see how my treatment goes. It may not have been strong enough, Lance says his mix is dark and tastes bitter. Mine was light tea colored and you could barely taste the coffee, but it stuck up the greenhouse lol.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Was trying to move some stuff around in the greenhouse and all of my coconuts (like 5g pots) and my Amorphophallus paeoniifolius spilled all over the floor. When I was repotting them, I saw that the coconuts had germinated after about two weeks and the Amorphophallus is sprouting!

Super happy. Now I can eat some coconuts in like ten years.

 

[sarracenia_X]

lol, you'll need a bigger greenhouse for COCONUT PALMS! do you know how TALL those things get?!?! what,is your plan to get a load of HUGE plants when there just tiny seedlings, stick them in thit li'l GH, and you just figure that by the time theyve grown so tall, there abut to crack there way up and out trough the polycarbonate, you'll have enough money to buy a GH the next size up?

 

[lance]

True, nobody really knows if coffee really works but in my opinion it saved one of my rarest plant cultivars from death... there was supposed to be a person a few years back that would test some flasked seedlings with maxsea and coffee and some with none, but I dont think that happened and they forgot about it.

Goodluck with those coconuts! My banana plant is putting up a third stalk and its roots are growing through the bottom of the pot... oh no!

 

[Nepenthesis]

lol, you'll need a bigger greenhouse for COCONUT PALMS! do you know how TALL those things get?!?! what,is your plan to get a load of HUGE plants when there just tiny seedlings, stick them in thit li'l GH, and you just figure that by the time theyve grown so tall, there abut to crack there way up and out trough the polycarbonate, you'll have enough money to buy a GH the next size up?

Nope, plan is to grow them until they're big enough to be stuck outside of the greenhouse and make it through the winter.

True, nobody really knows if coffee really works but in my opinion it saved one of my rarest plant cultivars from death... there was supposed to be a person a few years back that would test some flasked seedlings with maxsea and coffee and some with none, but I dont think that happened and they forgot about it.

Goodluck with those coconuts! My banana plant is putting up a third stalk and its roots are growing through the bottom of the pot... oh no!

Just flushed all of the pots with around two cups of water. All of the plants look okay. Coffee on seeds, huh? Maybe that will get mine to germinate...

Thanks! The coconuts seem easy enough to grow, and so do my naners. All growing fairly quickly.

 

[Nepenthesis]

New Video!... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlbO_a0dsGE

 

[Nepenthesis]

Walked into the nep shop today. Started walking down the isle with all the Nepenthes. Looked at them, nothing special. I'd seen them all on my last trip. Nothing new. Was really disappointed and felt bad for driving almost two hours to get there. Then I turned around...

I picked it up immediately before looking at the price and said, "BUYING THIS!" Turned it around and it was a little more than I had hoped. I had set a budget for myself so that I wouldn't spend all of my money on pricey neps. My goal was $30 and under... This one was a bit more. I mean, given that it is a pretty rare/nice nep that is one of my faves, I wasn't going to ask if the price could be marked down. More than I wanted to pay, but I guess it's a fair deal, and may even seem like a steal for many others. The owner of the shop walked by and said he had just put the nep out two minutes ago because he found it in the back.

The substrate was extremely dry. The guy didn't even knew he had it. I can't imagine how it survived lol. If they didn't know it was there, it probably wasn't getting watered. I gave it a good soaking once I applied some live sphag on top of the pot. I'm so happy I went! Can't believe I found this! One of my favorite Nepenthes.

 

[mass]

puts my aristos to shame..

 

[Nepenthesis]

puts my aristos to shame..

I'm sure yours looks great too. All aristos pretty much look the same to me. Unless yours is pretty small... Not sure how the very young pitchers look on this species. With time I'm sure yours will look amazing though.

 

[lance]

Very nice!!! If it survived in the back of the shop for all that time than your really lucky because its most likely a hardy clone .

 

[Nepenthesis]

Very nice!!! If it survived in the back of the shop for all that time than your really lucky because its most likely a hardy clone .

Didn't think of it that way. Good to hear that though. He had put it in a tray of water before I found it, it was in there a few minutes. Still wasn't very wet though, and that was after being stuck in a tray of water. I mean, the stuff it was in was bone dry. It was flaking and falling apart on the way home lol. Hopefully it will make it happier since I drenched it after applying sphag.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Played with another camera for the first time... Does pretty good macros...

 

[potted_plants]

Very nice plant indeed.

 

[Nepenthesis]

Very nice plant indeed.

Thanks! It has earned the title of the favorite in my collection.

 

[Nepenthesis]

I kept this little guy in a tiny fish bowl with moist sphagnum for a few days until his tail disappeared. I didn't know what to do with him because there are many dangerous things in the greenhouse to him (heater/swamp cooler/hose water floods) so I just released him figuring he would stay off the floor of the greenhouse and/or venture out. He can catch his own food, or become food, now.

Exiting terrarium...

Climbing up the wall...

 

[potted_plants]

become food?
That cute little guy better not..

 

[Nepenthesis]

become food?
That cute little guy better not..

Well, you know... Nepenthes do have to eat.

I'm not suggesting that I would feed him to one of my Neps... Never would I do that. I couldn't watch an innocent animal drown. Insects are another story because you can just squish them to put them out of pain really quick, then stick them in the pitchers. With a frog... Oh my god, I can't even think about hurting one. Like... I get sad even thinking about how people dissect them in biology lol. I sure hope he and the other three (who are still tadpoles) don't wander into the nep pitchers. Even if they do, they are extremely good jumpers, climbers and swimmers, so they should be able to easily get out.

I think the only real danger to them is being on the floor when I flood the greenhouse with hose water. The only danger to me is them getting into the heater and when it turns on, they would catch fire... You don't think they would do that, do you??

 

[sarracenia_X]

FLAMING DEAD FROGS IN THE HEATER? THATS DESGUSTING!!!

hope that doesnt happen to these little guys!

 

[Nepenthesis]

(Notice there isn't much sphagnum on the other side of the basal)

(Notice this is looking the opposite direction, and where there was no sphagnum, there is no a ton)

That upper has continued to develop without issue from the day I brought it home!...

Aristo's new pitcher has finished opening, but there hasn't been significant sphagnum growth in that area yet... There's about five new heads elsewhere...

Last pitcher left on my boschiana x mira... Good thing another is going to open in a few weeks! I LOVE this guy!