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Succumbing to French Roast Pressure . . .

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mobile said:
I'm getting very sceptical with age. I've seen many miracle growth enhancers come and go over the years. Still, at least coffee is a free supply if you have left over in the jug ;)
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You and me both . . .

I had just seen some phenomenal improvement in trays of seedlings and older plants -- especially highland Nepenthes -- by even skilled growers, who weren't starving their prized plants of anything, before I began this thread . . .
 
Here is a recent update on some Nepenthes seedlings, now that warmer days have arrived in Northern California. The "largest" pitchers are now 2.6 cm (about 1 inch):

Nepenthes villosa:
24 March
VILLOSA313_zps3c696067.jpg


20 May




They are not doing too terribly, considering their less than . . . auspicious beginnings:

2011

 
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BigBella, I also use a 30-10-10 orchid fertilizer (though I'm considering this Maxsea stuff) and just started using coffee. How do you fertilize? Foliarly? Or do you pour it through the roots? Your plants are beautiful!!
 
dionysos86 said:
BigBella, I also use a 30-10-10 orchid fertilizer (though I'm considering this Maxsea stuff) and just started using coffee. How do you fertilize? Foliarly? Or do you pour it through the roots?
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Thanks -- I generally pour the dilute fertilizer over the given plant(s) and through the media, followed by a good watering the following day, to ensure that there are no algal issues with the mosses. I have generally had better experiences with the 1:4 strength 30:10:10 than with MaxSea products; though I know of a number of people who swear by them . . .
 
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Out of morbid curiosity, I had been wondering what manner of prey -- if any -- that some of my younger Nepenthes plants, largely grown outside, had been capturing with their tiny 1.9 cm (3/4 in) pitchers; that is, to supplement their already troublesome coffee habit. To my surprise, it was, primarily, a shiny ragoût of fungus gnats . . .

Nepenthes villosa 12 June
 
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mylesG said:
i dont think he was saying anything was affecting them negatively. just joking about the coffee.
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Yes, I was simply pleasantly surprised at the sheer number of dinky prey that the plants had ensnared -- nothing more; and the pitchers that had been trimmed, were older pitchers from last Fall . . .
 
Amazing plants you've got there. I just fed my one and only Nepenthes some coffee the other day--hoping for good results! It's awesome that even those tiny little pitchers can catch their prey.

How do you sit your Sphagnum inside your pots? Mine seems to be drying out and/or dying, and certainly not growing. Do you use a really thick layer or something?
 
incspir said:
How do you sit your Sphagnum inside your pots? Mine seems to be drying out and/or dying, and certainly not growing. Do you use a really thick layer or something?
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Thanks for the kind words; and my compost is primarily live sphagnum moss throughout, with a bit of pumice and fine cedar bark. There is no "layer" per se . . .
 
Huh. I might just need to give that a try. Thanks for the info! I do appreciate the expertise of more experienced growers. Do you ever have issues with the roots being too moist in the sphagnum?
 
Pls tell me how you prepare your coffee BigB. Everytime i tried black coffee without any sugar or so, it just rotted the sphagnum...caused algae to grow in the pot and messed up the media. I never get sphagnum to thrive like yours.
 
Does the coffee act as a sort of fertilizer, as a supplement for added vitality, or both? Either way, I could use it.
 
vraev said:
Everytime i tried black coffee without any sugar or so, it just rotted the sphagnum...caused algae to grow in the pot and messed up the media. I never get sphagnum to thrive like yours.
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I generally make my coffee in a French Press with RO water and dilute it by half -- since I prefer my coffee as a near solid. I pour it through the moss and rinse the pot thoroughly the following day; and there haven't been algal issues to date . . .
 
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BigBella said:
I generally make my coffee in a French Press with RO water and dilute it by half -- since I prefer my coffee as a near solid. I pour it through the moss and rinse the pot thoroughly the following day; and there haven't been algal issues to date . . .
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Thanks BigB. I suppose any kind of coffee would do? Medium roast? or any specific variety you use? Typical Starbucks beans? I might have to get some just to kick start some of my plants. I guess the thorough rinsing is where I messed up. When you say rinse...how many times do u run water through the pot/media?
 
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