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Succumbing to French Roast Pressure . . .

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vraev said:
[H]ow many times do u run water through the pot/media?
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Welcome back; and I simply run a generous amount of water through the media until it visibly drains -- and is on the clearer side. Any coffee, save for instant, should work. I prefer darker roasts; and the one from the place in my neighborhood happens to be called, "Heart of Darkness."

Makes you sit up and take notice . . .
 
Here is the latest update of the creepy little plants, the largest of which is now 6.3 cm (2.5 in):

Nepenthes villosa: 22.08
 
Looking good!!! I see one is a few leaps ahead of the others, have you tried Osmocote on any of your seedlings?
 
vdub804 said:
Looking good!!! I see one is a few leaps ahead of the others, have you tried Osmocote on any of your seedlings?
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Thanks all . . .

In answer to your question, I don't use Osmocote for any Nepenthes; and it's also rather toxic to most species of sphagnum, in my experience.

It is simply a clear illustration of the genetic variability of seed-grown plants; they were all treated identically . . .

2011
VILLOSA-5-1.jpg
 
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Yea David you're definitely right, the sphagnum on my coffee fed neps is just fine but the osmocote fed ones not so much!
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For some reason, I decided to add a pellet of osmocote to each of my pots before I went to Atlanta last week, only to find the live sphagnum had turned to green slime in many of them after just a week and a half. Not sure how I forgot about that. Suffice it to say, I won't be using that :censor: anymore.
 
Ah I see, I usually just use dried sphagnum and other additives, the osmocote pellets seems fine on the live moss I have though but I only use one pellet per pot. I have thought about using live sphagnum in the compost itself, do you find it to be beneficial?
 
Heli said:
Ah I see, I usually just use dried sphagnum and other additives, the osmocote pellets seems fine on the live moss I have though but I only use one pellet per pot. I have thought about using live sphagnum in the compost itself, do you find it to be beneficial?
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I do find it to be beneficial. Here is a brief excerpt on growing live moss, from a few years back:

"The moss also has the additional benefit of providing local humidity for sensitive species and serves as a good indicator of when water is needed, since sphagnum will quickly discolor as it is dries; and it is also highly-sensitive to fertilizers of any sort, indicating through its easily-burned tps, a potential "early alarm" for the grower. In addition, it tends to eventually crowd out any "unwanted" items in a pot. I have never seen Botrytis, for example, or damping off, where the sphagnum actively grows . . ."
 
Here is a happy little pot of 2013 seedlings, fresh after a French Roast soaking, illustrating something in the way of variation, both in terms of color and size. I am particularly fond of the red-leafed bugger, which promises something special within the next decade.

Nepenthes edwardsiana 12 August
 
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They were from a mixed lot of seed from some Japanese clients, who had been interested in having the species tissue cultured. I also had some site-specific material from them some time ago; but I am not sure of the particulars . . .
 
Oh I see, they look similar to the marai parai ones you posted pics of a while back. I hope to see some villosa pics too soon!
 
Here are some happy seedlings, shortly after their morning biweekly coffee, during the Summer. I replanted the whole lot a while back, in a more ultramafic -- let's risk the finicky plants -- compost; but I have seen little difference, based upon the others. They are doing fine and are, perhaps, a bit greener than before; but that could just be the season . . .

Nepenthes edwardsiana 26 June


 
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